"A necklace with a figurine of the Egyptian god Pataikos has been unearthed in an excavation of the ancient city of Perre, in southeastern Turkey. The faience amulet is the largest piece on a necklace or bracelet of beads, including other apotropaic emblems like glass evil eyes. It was discovered in a 2,100-year-old chamber tomb from the Hellenistic period, and is the first representation of Pataikos to be found in Anatolia."
"Pataikos was a protective god who was depicted as a bald, bow-legged dwarf, often standing on crocodiles and handling snakes. He warded off evil to aid the souls of the deceased in their voyage to the afterlife. He was a minor god, not part of the elite cadre of state-promoted deities like Osiris, Isis and Horus. There are some textual references to him, mainly on wall inscriptions and a few surviving papyri,"
A faience Pataikos amulet served as the central piece on a necklace of beads and glass evil eyes uncovered at Perre in southeastern Turkey. The amulet was recovered from a 2,100-year-old Hellenistic chamber tomb and represents the first known Pataikos depiction in Anatolia. Pataikos functioned as a protective, apotropaic dwarf deity depicted with crocodiles and snakes, intended to ward off evil and assist the deceased’s voyage to the afterlife. The deity is better known from figurines and amulets than from Egyptian texts. Pataikos images spread beyond Egypt by the late Bronze Age via Phoenician trade routes. Perre belonged to the culturally syncretic Commagene kingdom where diverse deities were venerated.
Read at www.thehistoryblog.com
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