Scarab Inscribed for Hatshepsut

Scarab Inscribed for Hatshepsut

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This scarab was found in one of the foundation deposits placed along the front wall of the lower court of Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri. The inscription on the base records Hatshepsut's personal name (Hatshepsut), which means "foremost of noblewomen." Two other scarabs from the same foundation deposit have similar versions of the same inscription, though the style is not exactly the same (27.3.169, 27.3.172). The backs of the scarabs are also similar.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.