Owl Amulet

Description In Mesopotamia, jewelry was both worn and offered in temples as gifts to the gods. Its purpose was often more functional than ornamental: pendants worn on the body served as talismans to ward off evil and to increase the wearer's power. Mesopotamian amulets depict a large range of animals native to the Near East, illustrated here by an owl.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
2/16/1979	Examination	examined for condition

Exhibitions

• Jewelry - Ancient to Modern. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1979-1980.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry from the Walters Art Museum. Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006-2009.
• Bedazzled: 5,000 Years of Jewelry. El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso. 2010.

Provenance Sale, Sotheby and Co., London, November 26, 1968, lot 20; Walters Art Museum, 1968, by purchase.

Credit Museum purchase, 1968