Harpocrates

Cowrie shell Georgian cameo depicting Harpocrates, described by the Greeks as the God of Silence, Secrets and Confidentiality.

Carved Italy c.1800, later Victorian gold frame. 1.2 by 1 inch.

Harpocrates was adapted from the Egyptian child god Horus, who represented the newborn Sun, rising each day at dawn. Harpocrates's name was a Hellenization of the Egyptian Har-pa-khered, meaning "Horus the Child". Horus is represented as a naked boy with his finger to his mouth, a realisation of the hieroglyph for "child".Misunderstanding this gesture, the later Greeks and Roman poets made Harpocrates the god of silence and secrecy.