Scarab set in a ring bezel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This carnelian scarab is set in a gold mount that was intended to swivel on a wire ring like one found in the tomb of Hatnefer (36.3.3). On the base, it is inscribed with a simple X. The scarab was found tied with linen cord to the left hand of the mummy of a twelve-year old boy named Amenhotep whose tomb was located on the hillside below the tomb of Hatshespsut's best-known courtier, Senenmut (36.3.252). Amenhotep had been provided with food offerings of bread, raisins, dates, pomegranate, sycamore figs, and dom palm nuts. There were also jars that may have held beer (36.3.161, 36.3.162, 36.3.164).

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art