
Scarab Incised with Hieroglyph and Papyrus
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
Papyrus plants and other floral designs often decorate the underside of seal-amulets because they refer to life, renewal and regeneration. This scarab shows a three-stemmed papyrus plant with one straight stem flanked by two stems hanging down. The hieroglyph for good and beautiful (nefer) is placed above, reinforcing the positive power of the design.
Egyptian Art
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
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.