Faience scarab bearing the name Amenhotep III

Egyptian, 1390-1352 BC
Found at Ialysos (modern Triánda), Rhodes, Aegean Sea

This seal is made in the form of a sacred scarab beetle, which was a manifestation of Khepri, an Egyptian sun-god associated with resurrection. The flat underside of this scarab is decorated with the name of the Egyptian king Amenhotep III (1390-1353 BC).

This scarab was one of the earliest finds in the Aegean that provided a fixed point in time from Egypt (that is, Amenhotep's reign) which allows us to date the Mycenaean material with which it was found. Links like this, between the Aegean and Egypt, have allowed archaeologists to establish an absolute chronology for the Aegean Bronze Age.