Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile

New Kingdom

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130

The underside of this scarab shows a hippo and a crocodile. While these animals can embody hippo or crocodile deities, the absence of other motifs, attributes or an inscription suggest that they function here as general apotropaic symbols. The hippo and the crocodile both live in and along the Nile and through this close association with the river, and thus with life and the annual flooding, they refer to renewal and regeneration.

Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile, Glazed steatite

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Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile, Glazed steatite
Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile, Glazed steatite
Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile, Glazed steatite
Scarab with a Hippo and a Crocodile, Glazed steatite

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