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This hedgehog (<em>Paraechinus aethiopicus) </em>stands in the round on an oval base, with openwork defining the legs. The carving is delicate and spirited. The face features large, round eyes; widely spaced, short ears; bulging cheeks; and a protruding snout. A tiny tail hangs at the rear. Crosshatching on the back represents the animal's spines. The design on the base begins at the head with a winged sun disk with pendant uraei. Below is a cluster of hieroglyphic signs, including an ankh-sign, a falcon with a sun disk, a hoe, and a <em>maat-</em>feather. A <em>neb-</em>sign fills the balance below.<br><br>The significance of the hedgehog has multiple theories. As a hibernating animal, it may have associated with the powers of self-renewal and resurrection. Another lies in the animal's defensive strategy of inflating itself into a ball and projecting its spines, a posture of obvious apotropaic significance. Lastly, Egyptian folklore maintained that hedgehog amulets provided protection against snake bites, a belief grounded in the animal's natural resistance to poison.
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- Page
- 1
- Source index
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- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 5683e6bfbd3da50e
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 148266
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
{
"id": "148266",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Hedgehog",
"description": "This hedgehog (<em>Paraechinus aethiopicus) </em>stands in the round on an oval base, with openwork defining the legs. The carving is delicate and spirited. The face features large, round eyes; widely spaced, short ears; bulging cheeks; and a protruding snout. A tiny tail hangs at the rear. Crosshatching on the back represents the animal's spines. The design on the base begins at the head with a winged sun disk with pendant uraei. Below is a cluster of hieroglyphic signs, including an ankh-sign, a falcon with a sun disk, a hoe, and a <em>maat-</em>feather. A <em>neb-</em>sign fills the balance below.<br><br>The significance of the hedgehog has multiple theories. As a hibernating animal, it may have associated with the powers of self-renewal and resurrection. Another lies in the animal's defensive strategy of inflating itself into a ball and projecting its spines, a posture of obvious apotropaic significance. Lastly, Egyptian folklore maintained that hedgehog amulets provided protection against snake bites, a belief grounded in the animal's natural resistance to poison.",
"date": "c. 1391–1353 BCE",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.24",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60761839"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Scarabs"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 1.7 x 1.8 cm (11/16 x 11/16 in.)",
"cul": [
"Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)"
],
"accession": "1975.24"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "148266",
"label": "Hedgehog",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "148266",
"contentType": "object",
"title": "Hedgehog",
"description": "This hedgehog (<em>Paraechinus aethiopicus) </em>stands in the round on an oval base, with openwork defining the legs. The carving is delicate and spirited. The face features large, round eyes; widely spaced, short ears; bulging cheeks; and a protruding snout. A tiny tail hangs at the rear. Crosshatching on the back represents the animal's spines. The design on the base begins at the head with a winged sun disk with pendant uraei. Below is a cluster of hieroglyphic signs, including an ankh-sign, a falcon with a sun disk, a hoe, and a <em>maat-</em>feather. A <em>neb-</em>sign fills the balance below.<br><br>The significance of the hedgehog has multiple theories. As a hibernating animal, it may have associated with the powers of self-renewal and resurrection. Another lies in the animal's defensive strategy of inflating itself into a ball and projecting its spines, a posture of obvious apotropaic significance. Lastly, Egyptian folklore maintained that hedgehog amulets provided protection against snake bites, a belief grounded in the animal's natural resistance to poison.",
"date": "c. 1391–1353 BCE",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.24",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q60761839"
],
"genreSpecific": [
"Scarabs"
],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Overall: 1.7 x 1.8 cm (11/16 x 11/16 in.)",
"cul": [
"Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE)"
],
"accession": "1975.24"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "steatite, originally glazed",
"tombstone": "Hedgehog, c. 1391–1353 BCE. Egypt, New Kingdom (1540–1069 BCE), Dynasty 18, reign of Amenhotep III (1390–1352 BCE). Steatite, originally glazed; overall: 1.7 x 1.8 cm (11/16 x 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Guerdon S. Holden Memorial Fund, 1975.24",
"collection": "Egypt - New Kingdom",
"didYouKnow": "Hedgehogs were common on amulets in the New Kingdom (1500s–1000s BC) and can also be seen on the backs of seals and scaraboids.",
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. “The Year in Review for 1975.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 63, no. 2 (1976).",
"page_number": "no. 5",
"url": "https://www.jstor.org/stable/25152624"
},
{
"citation": "Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač.<em> Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art.</em> Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999",
"page_number": "Reproduced: p. 296; Mentioned: p. 296-297"
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1975.24",
"creditline": "Guerdon S. Holden Memorial Fund",
"updatedAt": "2026-06-10 19:45:01.455000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 148266,
"dept": "Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art",
"coll": "Egypt - New Kingdom",
"med": "steatite, originally glazed",
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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"pageIndex": 0,
"type": "photo",
"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1975.24/1975.24_web.jpg",
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}