Scarab with Lotus Decoration

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The somewhat-rounded shape of the scarab is characteristic for early Dynasty 18 scarabs (ca. 1550–1458 B.C.). Two lotus flowers, incised in a careful and detailed manner, decorate the underside and merge with each other at the stem. For the ancient Egyptians, the lotus (or actually the water lily) is the symbol of Upper Egypt and, perhaps most relevant as a motif on amulets, of rebirth.

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