scarab

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

Object Type
Museum number: EA27570
Description: Mould-made scarab in glazed composition (unlikely in steatite); back simply modelled with single lines for prothorax and elytra; at side, legs very simplified, indicated by two horizontal grooves; underside bearing a hieroglyphic inscription arranged horizontally consisting of three deeply impressed hieroglyphs; hieroglyphic motif clearly moulded or stamped, not incised; pierced longitudinally; dirty brown glaze, maybe yellow originally; hard, pale yellow core.
Cultures/periods
Production date: 664 BC-510 BC (?); 589 BC - 570 BC (?)
Production place: Made in: Egypt
Excavator/field collector
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: Naukratis, 103
Materials
Technique: glazed; mould-made; pierced; stamped (possibly)
Dimensions: Height: 0.60 centimetres; Length: 1.35 centimetres; Width: 1 centimetres
$Inscriptions
Inscription subject
Curator's comments: Petrie published this piece as a stone scarab (Petrie 1886, pl. XXXVIII, no. 185). The name of Wahibra, the prenomen of Psamtek I or nomen of Apries, appears on a number of scarabs discovered in Naukratis (Petrie 1886, pl. XXXVIII no. 184 and 187; Gardner 1888, pl. XVIII no. 27 and no. 65). This name is rather frequent on scarabs of the 26th dynasty (for example: Fraser 1900, 46, 374; Newberry 1906, pl. XXXVIII, 10; Hall 1913, 251, nos. 2506-2508; Petrie 1917, LV 26.1,19/ 21; Vercoutter 1945, 95, 5; Matouk 1971, 200, 835/ 221, 871-872; Hornung and Staehelin 1976, 285, 469; Ben-Tor 1989, 79, 13; Jaeger 1993, 116; Magnarini 2004, 421, 11.77). The reading direction for the inscription is inverted, which is not uncommon. Ben-Tor, D. 1989, The Scarab : A Reflection of Ancient Egypt, Exhibition of the The Israel Museum of Jerusalem, Summer 1989, Jerusalem. Fraser, G. 1900, A catalogue of the scarabs belonging to George Fraser, London. Gardner, E. A. 1888, Naukratis. Part II (Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund), London. Hall, H.R. 1913, Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs, etc., in the British Museum, Vol. I Royal Scarabs, London. Hornung, E. and Staehelin, E. 1976, Skarabäen und andere Siegelamulette aus Basler Sammlungen, Ägyptische Denkmäler in der Schweiz I, Mainz. Jaeger, B. 1993, Les scarabées à noms royaux du Museo archeologico de Bologna, Bologna. Magnarini, F. 2004, Catalogo ragionato di una collezione di Scarabeo-Sigillo Egizi, BAR International Series 1241, Oxford. Matouk, F.S. 1971, Corpus du scarabée égyptien. T. I: Les scarabées royaux, Beyrouth. Newberry, P.E. 1906, Scarabs: an introduction to the study of Egyptian seals and signet rings, London. NFA Classical Auctions, Inc. 1991, Scarabs and design amulets : a glimpse of Ancient Egypt in miniature, Auction catalogue held in December 11 1991, New York, 265. Petrie, W.M.F. 1886, Naukratis. Part I, 1884–5 (Third Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund), London. Petrie, W.M.F. 1889, Historical scarabs: a series of drawings from the principal collections arranged chronologically, London. Petrie, W.M.F. 1917, Scarabs and cylinders with names, British School of Archaeology in Egypt 29, London. Vercoutter, J. 1945, Les objets égyptiens et égyptisants du mobilier funéraire carthaginois, BAH XL, Paris.
Bibliographic references: Petrie 1886 / Naukratis. Part I., 1884-85 (pl. XXXVIII, no. 185) (said to be in stone); Petrie 1889 / Historical scarabs: a series of drawings from the principal collections arranged chronologically (pl. 62, no. 1979); Hall 1913 / Catalogue of Egyptian scarabs, etc. in the British Museum (no. 2507); Villing et al 2013-2015 / Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt (OC.097) (phase 3)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2016, 19 May-27 Nov, BM exhibition Sunken Treasures
Condition: Rather fair, glaze worn away and bit chipped.
Associated names: Named in inscription: Psamtek I (?); Named in inscription: Apries
Acquisition name
Acquisition date: 1885
Department: Egypt and Sudan
BM/Big number: EA27570
Registration number: 1885,1101.68

Free entry

Opening hours