.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
E. Drioton, "Notes Diverses, extrait des Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Egypte," Cairo, 1945, pp. 33-37.
C. Blankenberg-van Delden, The Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III, Leiden, 1969, pp. 57-61.
Exhibition catalogue, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo!, Antikensmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig und Museum August Kestner Hannover, 2008, p. 133, no. 82.
Scarabs fulfilled two functions; a protective one, as amulets and seals, and a political one, as a propaganda tool for clergy and royal powers alike. Two hundred scarabs for Amenhotep III are known, but only four describe the wild bull hunt. These scarabs have traditionally thought to be commemorative, narrating true events. Recently, it has been suggested that they were used as protective amulets, and were probably gifted by the king to local officials. Hunting wild bulls, which were dangerous creatures from the desert and a menace to the Maat (cosmic order), was a way to secure victory over chaos.
E. Drioton, "Notes Diverses, extrait des Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Egypte," Cairo, 1945, pp. 33-37.
C. Blankenberg-van Delden, The Large Commemorative Scarabs of Amenhotep III, Leiden, 1969, pp. 57-61.
Exhibition catalogue, Köstlichkeiten aus Kairo!, Antikensmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig und Museum August Kestner Hannover, 2008, p. 133, no. 82.
Scarabs fulfilled two functions; a protective one, as amulets and seals, and a political one, as a propaganda tool for clergy and royal powers alike. Two hundred scarabs for Amenhotep III are known, but only four describe the wild bull hunt. These scarabs have traditionally thought to be commemorative, narrating true events. Recently, it has been suggested that they were used as protective amulets, and were probably gifted by the king to local officials. Hunting wild bulls, which were dangerous creatures from the desert and a menace to the Maat (cosmic order), was a way to secure victory over chaos.