ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art
Scarab
AAT Object Form/FunctionDevontional Jewelry
AAT Object Form/FunctionAmulet
AAT Object Form/FunctionScarabs
Place CreatedEgypt, Africa
CultureEgyptian
Date722-30 BCE
MediumGold
Credit LineCollected by William A. Shelton, funded by John A. Manget
Dimensions1 1/8 x 11/16 in. (2.9 x 1.7 cm)
Object number1921.192
Label TextThe scarab beetle was a symbol of resurrection and rebirth, and amulets in its image were frequently placed on the mummy near the heart. The beetle hieroglyph represents the word meaning "to come into being," indicating its potency. Amulets were often mass-produced in the Late Period by hammering sheet gold into stone molds, which is how this piece was manufactured.Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 2001 - March 30, 2015
Published ReferencesPeter Lacovara and Betsy Teasley Trope, The Realm of Osiris (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum 2001), 60.
Rune Nyord, Seeing Perfection: Ancient Egyptian Images beyond Representation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 52, Figure 14.
ProvenanceAcquired for Emory University Museum by William Shelton (1875-1959) from E.A.. Abemayor, Cairo, Egypt, ca. 1921.
Status
Not on viewCollections
- Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art
1076-332 BCE
282-246 BCE
1539-1292 BCE
282-246 BCE
664-525 BCE
second quarter of the 4th Century BCE
after 1539 BCE
after 1539 BCE
1930s
722-30 BCE
3rd Century CE
