Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children

Third Intermediate Period

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130

Scarabs bearing wishes and blessings related to divinities whose protection individuals wished to summon are particular popular during the late New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1295-664 B.C.).

The hieroglyphs inscribed on the base form a wish for offspring. By having this wish inscribed on a protective amulet such as a scarab seal, the owner expressed the very specific desire to have children.

Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children, Green glazed steatite

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Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children, Green glazed steatite
Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children, Green glazed steatite
Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children, Green glazed steatite
Scarab Inscribed with a Wish to Have Children, Green glazed steatite

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