Scarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric Motif

Scarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric Motif

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Some Middle Kingdom scarabs show a decorative oval motif, often accompanied by hieroglyphs. On this late Middle Kingdom scarab from Lisht, the hieroglyph for good and beautiful (nefer) is placed on either side of it. The meaning of the oval motif remains unclear, but the signs and symbols with which it is associated on seal-amulets have a positive and protective nature.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric MotifScarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric MotifScarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric MotifScarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric MotifScarab Incised with Hieroglyphs and Geometric Motif

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.