Egyptian Amulets

Not only am I a sci-fi/fantasy geek, I'm also pretty geeky about ancient history; to the tune of spending five and a half years of my life completing an Archaeology and then Egyptology degree.  History, and mythology in particular, is one of my great loves.

So it's been knocking around in my head for a while that I'd really like to make a series of Egyptian amulets - possibly other cultures at some point in the future too, if people are interested, but the Egyptian ones are particularly well known and there's a heck of a lot to choose from.

Of course there's Ankhs and Eyes of Horus/Ra aplenty out there in New Agey stores, most of them overly stylised in a way makes me cringe a bit to be honest.  But there's *so* many more from ancient times that you never see.  The Egyptians had an amulet for pretty much every situation, and most of them are steeped in rich history and symbolism. 

So I've been working on recreating a decent number of them, and while there's still a way to go before I have the full planned set up and running, I'm starting to get some finished ones through.  Yes, I've made Ankhs and Eyes of Horus - the set wouldn't be complete without them - but I've also carved the lesser known ib (heart/strength), the au (gold/fortune), and the sa (protection), among many others. 

The first set I want to keep for myself as I fully intend to be buried with them - hopefully many long years from now.  But with my archaeological training it gives me a little laugh to think of some future archaeologist unearthing my body, bedecked with Egyptian amulets, and thinking "What the...?"
I'm sure there are other people out there with the same sense of humour as me.  ;-)

Anyways, here are some photos of the progress so far.  Let me know in the comments if you want to know what any of them mean.

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