- Museum number
- EA64661
- Description
-
Steatite lion hunt scarab of Amenhotep III: this large, dark green blue, glazed steatite scarab, with standardised markings on the back to indicate the head, prothorax, wing cases and scorings on the legs imitating feathering, is one from a series which were produced during the reign of King Amenhotep III to commemorate various important royal events. The incised inscription on the underside of this example records that in the first ten years of his reign the king himself shot with bow and arrow 102 lions. It also provides the full royal titulary of five names borne by Amenhotep III and states that Queen Tiye was his chief wife. The scarab is pierced longitudinally.
- Production date
- 1380BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 5.70 centimetres
-
Width: 4 centimetres
-
Depth: 2.30 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
-
- Inscription subject
royal
- Curator's comments
- Other scarabs in the series record his marriage to Tiye (by whom he became the father of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten), the arrival of a princess from Mitanni (located at the headwaters of the river Euphrates) to join the royal household, the digging of an artificial lake and a wild bull hunt. These large commemorative scarabs with regnal dates are unique to the reign of Amenhotep III. Over 170 examples from the five different sets survive and have been found not only in Egypt but as far north as Syria and in the south, beyond the Second Cataract in the Sudan. It has been suggested that they were sent out to the provinces like palace bulletins to keep officials there informed of the personal affairs of their sovereign. One authority has even likened them to modern newspapers. Whatever the specific function of these particular scarabs, any object in the shape of the dung beetle retained the underlying amuletic significance of affording new life or resurrection.
Bibliography:
'Egyptian Treasures' [exhibition catalogue] (Shanghai, 1999), 278-279 No 86.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1995 Feb-May, Atlanta, Emory University, Reflections of Women in the New Kingdom
2011 Jul–Sept, Newcastle, Great North Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Oct–Jan, Dorchester, Dorset County Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Feb–June, Leeds City Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Jul-Oct, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2012 Nov– Feb 2013, Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2013 Mar–Aug, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2016 8 Mar–12 Jun, Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2018 7 Jun–16 Sep, Barcelona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2018-2019 16 Oct–20 Jan, Madrid, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2019 19 Feb–25 Aug, Girona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2019-2020 24 Sept–12 Jan, Seville, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2020–2021 11 Feb–21 Feb, Tarragona, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2021 25 Mar–15 Aug, Santiago de Compostela, Museo Centro de Gaias, Pharaoh King of Egypt
2021-2022 15 Sep–9 Jan, Zaragoza, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2022 10 Feb–15 May, Palma, La Caixa, Pharaoh King of Egypt
2022-2023 21 Jun–26 Feb, Valencia, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
2023 29 Mar–23 Jul, Lleida, La Caixa, Pharaoh: King of Egypt
- Condition
- good
- Acquisition date
- 1946
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA64661
- Registration number
- 1946,1204.185
