Ring with a scarab inscribed with an ankh

Ring with a scarab inscribed with an ankh

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Set into a gold foil housing and used as the bezel of a silver ring, this scarab is made of travertine (Egyptian alabaster). On the base is an ankh, theancient Egyptian hieroglyph for life. This ring was likely discovered somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was originally part of the collection of Luigi Palma di Cesnola, first director of The Met, and was purchased in 1874. It bears the earliest accession number in the Museum's collection of ancient Egyptian art.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Ring with a scarab inscribed with an ankhRing with a scarab inscribed with an ankhRing with a scarab inscribed with an ankhRing with a scarab inscribed with an ankhRing with a scarab inscribed with an ankh

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.