Hedgehog on box pendant

Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
perhaps 4th century–30 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 134
This box pendant is topped with a tiny hedgehog whose round eyes and pointed snout have been indicated with wire tube whose projecting tongue is created with a granulated strip.

The hedgehog was well-known and observed throughout both Egyptian and Greek antiquity. Egyptians had long worn amulets of the small animal - possibly connecting its ability to hibernate and reemerge with rebirth - and its ability to roll into a tiny ball was admired.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Hedgehog on box pendant
  • Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
  • Date: perhaps 4th century–30 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Gold
  • Dimensions: L. 4.9 × W. 1.1 cm (1 15/16 × 7/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Helen Miller Gould, 1910
  • Object Number: 10.130.1516
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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