Strand of Scarab and Scaraboid Beads

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Almost 400 scarabs, most now strung on a strand about 13 1/2 feet long (more than 4 meters), were lying loose on the floor of a coffin inscribed with the name and title of the scribe Amenemhat. Only thirteen of the scarabs were inscribed and these are now strung separately. They had probably been inside a disintegrated basket found near the head of Amenemhat's mummy. Amenemhat was buried in a family tomb established by his father, Neferkhawet. The damp conditions inside the tomb, which was dug into the desert floor near the edge of the cultivated land, had caused the basket and other organic material to disintegrate.

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