Sealing with Scarab Impressions from Heqanakht's Letters
Middle Kingdom
Heqanakht was a native of Thebes (present day Luxor) during the early Dynasty 12. Letters and accounts written by Heqanakht and one or more scribes on sheets of papyrus were discovered by Museum excavator Herbert E. Winlock in one of the rock cut tomb complexes along the cliff overlooking the temples at Deir el-Bahri. The documents - some still folded, tied and sealed, when found - provide unique insights into the domestic and financial affairs of an average middle class family that lived almost four thousand years ago.
Accompanying the account written by Heqanakht (2018.595.1) is this small unbaked mud sealing, with strands of string passing through it. It still bears the impression of a symmetrical design identical to one that was found on another of Heqanakht’s letters in our collection (22.3.518).
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