A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia

1991 Australia Galleries

Condition: Scattered mineral deposits and root marks on the surface

A graceful and remarkably well-preserved wooden figure of an Egyptian dignitary

and is a symbol of fruitfulness and prosperity

A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron Mesopotamiacarved from steatite, with naturalistically rendered legs, pierced horizontally for suspension. Functioning as an amulet, the base is finely inscribed Men Kheper Ra Khmeny. Men Kheper Ra Khmeny was a vassal king of the 25th Dynasty, and all evidence indicates that he ruled in Upper Egypt at Hermopolis. He appears with full royal titles on a plaque in the British Museum. For a related example, see Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders, pl. LIII, no. 25c 7.