Scarab with Sobek and Uraei

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The wings of the scarab are not indicated, but the back is decorated with finely incised branches. This is a common feature on Canaanite scarabs of the Second Intermediate Period (late Middle Bronze Age, ca. 1700–1500 B.C.). The underside of the scarab shows a standing anthropomorphic figure with the head of a crocodile, holding a uraeus that faces him. Another uraeus rises up at his feet, facing away from the deity. A large basket (neb), decorated with vertical hatching, is placed below. Similar compositions generally show human figures or falcon-headed deities with uraei and neb-signs; crocodile-headed deities are not frequently depicted on scarabs during this period. Even though the scarab is of Canaanite manufacture, the figure most likely represents the Egyptian crocodile god Sobek. The fact that the motifs are decorated with hatching is also representative for this type of scarab. The design as well as the details on the back and legs of the scarab assign it to the later phase of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1640–1500 B.C.).

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