Agate, 1.44 grams, 17.71 mm. First Intermediate Period (2181-2040 BC). The ran cartouche is symbolic of the protective power of the individual's name which appeared within a cartouche in written texts. The piece is icarved in a banded brown-yellow-white stone (possibly agate), and is made with a transverse piercing in the quadrangular block for suspension. Reference: Flinders Petrie, W.M. Amulets Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College, London, London, reprinted 1994, p.21. Some percussion damage to lower edge but otherwise very fine condition. Provenance: from an old English collection.