Bead in the form of a frog

This bead is virtually a flat lentoid, pierced by a hole through the frog’s mouth. Hardstone carvings of this kind are notoriously difficult to date. However, since the bead resembles the flat carnelian lentoids used with cowroid shapes in the girdles of the early XIIth Dynasty, that date has been selected here. Such girdles were used to protect the fecundity of the wearer. Numerous small figures of frogs have been found among the offerings at the early temples and shrines in Abydos and Hierakonpolis. The frog goddess Hekat was a protectress of pregnant women, and the frog occurs, along with other creatures natural and fabulous, on wands used for the protection of infants in the Middle Kingdom. For discussion of the frog in Egypt, see Needier (1984: 370-73).

Entry taken from Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection 3 volume catalogue, edited by Steven Hooper (Yale University Press, 1997).