AN EGYPTIAN GRAYWACKE HUMAN-HEADED SCARAB
AN EGYPTIAN GRAYWACKE HUMAN-HEADED SCARAB

NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XX, 1196-1070 B.C.

Details
AN EGYPTIAN GRAYWACKE HUMAN-HEADED SCARAB
NEW KINGDOM, DYNASTY XX, 1196-1070 B.C.
The beetle well-detailed with hatching on the legs and fine incision for the wing case, the human head with a square chin, triangular nose and large spiraling ears, the eyes and brows deeply drilled for now-missing inlays, perforated below the ears for suspension, the underside inscribed with eleven lines of text, partly in hieroglyphs, partly in hieratic, with a form of Chapter 30 from the Book of the Dead, reading: 1) "O hut(?)-asha, 2) My heart of my mother (twice), my heart 3) ...do not stand up against me as a witness... 4) [before] the lords of offerings, do not me, that he may make(?)... 5) ...against me, do not bring into being the ones who do things, do not... (or, in...) 6) (twice). Hail to you (O) Heart! Hail to you (O) gods 7) ...who are at the head of the Long-Tressed Ones, sacred... 8) ...on the Dam-scepters. Recount ye my goodness to Re, 9) command ye me to heb-kau. Now I... 10) ...there/therein, without(?) allowing putrefaction to endure, that [I] may not 11) ...things/offerings(?), that may live there/therein"
3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) long
Provenance
French Private Collection, 1970s.

More from Antiquities

View All
View All