Scarab Inscribed for the God's Wife Hatshepsut

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The inscription on the base of this scarab reads: God's Wife, Hatshepsut. In the late Seventeenth early Eighteenth Dynasties, the title God's Wife was held by the principal queen or the queen mother. Hatshepsut inherited the title while she served as principal queen of her half-brother, Thutmose II. Later, shortly after she took on the titles of king, Hatshepsut passed the title on to her daughter, Neferure (see scarab 27.3.325). Slight variations of the same inscription may be found on two other scarabs (27.3.185, 27.3.187) and a cowroid seal amulet (27.3.191). Although the hieroglyphs are not in exactly the same configuration, they have been carved in a similar fashion. For example, the seated figure leans back and both of her arms are indicated. For different versions of the same inscription, see 27.3.174-27.3.184, 27.3.188-27.3.190.

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