Scarab Inscribed with Hieroglyphs

Scarab Inscribed with Hieroglyphs

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The majority of design scarabs of the late Middle Kingdom (late Dynasty 12–Dynasty 13, ca. 1850–1640 B.C.) are decorated with symmetric compositions of protective hieroglyphs and/or scrolls. This scarab shows the sign for good and beautiful (nefer) and a sun disk placed inside an oval, which is a debased version of the royal cartouche. The combination of signs possibly forms an inscription referring to the sun god Re. The oval is surrounded by symmetrically arranged hieroglyphs such as the sign of life (ankh), the djed-pillar (stability), and the ostrich feather (maat), adding to the protective nature of the amulet.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scarab Inscribed with HieroglyphsScarab Inscribed with HieroglyphsScarab Inscribed with HieroglyphsScarab Inscribed with HieroglyphsScarab Inscribed with Hieroglyphs

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.