Scarab Ring of Ruiu

The burial the House Mistress Ruiu was found in the tomb of her father, Neferkhawet, which was excavated by the Museum’s Egyptian Expedition in 1935. On the left hand of Ruiu's mummy were three scarab rings. The scarabs were made of glazed steatite and the ring bands were silver. The scarabs had been mounted by passing a silver wire through a hole running from head to tail. The wire was then lashed to the ring with finer silver wire. Silver deteriorates over time when exposed to dampness, and the rings were badly corroded. The scarabs were all originally glazed blue, but the glaze has almost entirely disappeared from wear and from the damp conditions inside the tomb.

This ring is inscribed on the base with a pattern of hieroglyphs including two wedjat-eyes at the top with three neb-baskets, a ka flanked by two nefer hieroglyphs, and what appears to be a kha hieroglyph which represents the light of the sun appearing over a hill. This design, especially the writing of the ka hieroglyph, is typical of scarabs dating to the Hyksos period, a century or so before Ruiu's death, sometime in the sole reign of Thutmose III. The other two rings and two scarabs belonging to Ruiu also appear to be Hyksos in origin.