File:Egyptian - Scarab Amulet - Walters 4251 - Impression.jpg

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Scarab Amulet   (Wikidata search (Cirrus search) Wikidata query (SPARQL)  Create new Wikidata item based on this file)
Artist
Anonymous (Egypt)Unknown author
Title
Scarab Amulet
Description
English: The ancient Egyptians believed that the dung beetle, the Scarabaeus sacer, was one of the manifestations of the sun god. Representations of these beetles were used as amulets, and for ritual or administrative purposes.

The bottom of this scarab displays the figure of kneeling prisoner with his arms fettered behind the back. He wears a headband with curled ends, a collar around his neck, and a short shendyt with belt; a large nfr-sign is placed in front of him. The figure of the captive dominates the scene, but the size and placement of the nfr-sign, which counterbalances the fettered arms of the captive, clarifies that he is part of a perfectly controlled situation. The highest point of the back is pronotum (dorsal plate of the prothorax) and elytron (wing cases). Both parts have incised borderlines, a thick, curved partition line, and a thick line between the wing cases. The semicircular head is flanked by triangular eyes; the plates are irregularly trapezoidal, and clypeus has two very small central base marks.

The proportions of the top are slightly unbalanced, the head and clypeus slightly short, and the pronotum large in comparison to the elytron. The slender extremities have natural form, and diagonal hatch lines on the frontlegs for the tibial teeth. The oval base is somewhat asymmetrical and smaller at the head part.

The scarab is longitudinally pierced, was originally mounted or threaded, and probably served as an amulet. It refers to perfect control of chaotic elements (enemy), and is possibly a statement of the victory over the Kerma Empire. Such an amulet should protect its owner from danger. It is imaginable that the soldiers who protected the southern borders or participated in military campaigns to the south used it. The iconography of the prisoner makes it possible that he represents a man from Kerma, the southern enemy of the Egyptians. The understanding of the figure as hieroglyph for "enemy, rebel" is also possible, but it is more likely that it is a specific icon for the enemies of Kerma, who are now "perfect," because Thutmose I had defeated them.
Date between 1504 and 1492 BC
date QS:P571,-1500-00-00T00:00:00Z/6,P1319,-1504-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,-1492-00-00T00:00:00Z/9
(New Kingdom of Egypt
era QS:P2348,Q180568
)
Medium light beige steatite with green glazing
Dimensions height: 1.4 cm (0.5 in); width: 1.1 cm (0.4 in); depth: 0.6 cm (0.2 in)
dimensions QS:P2048,1.4U174728
dimensions QS:P2049,1.1U174728
dimensions QS:P5524,0.6U174728
institution QS:P195,Q210081
Accession number
42.51
Place of creation Egypt
Object history
Credit line Acquired by Henry Walters
Inscriptions [Inscription] Icon of a kneeling prisoner with his arms fettered behind the back; he wears a headband with curled ends, a collar around his neck, and a short kilt with belt; an nfr-sign is placed in front of him.
Source Walters Art Museum: Home page  Info about artwork
Permission
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Licensing[edit]

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of an original two-dimensional work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason:

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Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current03:55, 25 March 2012Thumbnail for version as of 03:55, 25 March 2012719 × 900 (166 KB)File Upload Bot (Kaldari) (talk | contribs)== {{int:filedesc}} == {{Walters Art Museum artwork |artist = Egyptian |title = ''Scarab Amulet'' |description = {{en|The ancient Egyptians believed that the dung beetle, the Scarabaeus sacer, was one of the manifestations of...