Scarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and a Cruciform Design

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The underside of the scarab is finely decorated with a cross design consisting of scrolls centered on convoluted coils. Coil designs are not often combined with cruciform patterns; this is a rare and elaborate example dating to the late Middle Kingdom (late Dynasty 12–Dynasty 13, ca. 1850–1640 B.C.). Hieroglyphs associated with positive ideas such as life and regeneration, namely lotus flowers, the papyrus stem, and the hieroglyph for good and beautiful (nefer), are placed between the scrolls.

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