Funerary Scarab
This scarab amulet depicts the scarab beetle with a naturalistic underside and a loop at its belly. Scarabs in this shape may have been used only as amulets for mummies and they are often called naturalistic scarabs or funerary scarabs. They can easily be differentiated by their shape from the most common type of scarab, which has a flat underside with designs or a short inscription. The latter could be used for sealing purposes as well, which is why it is called a seal amulet; it is usually pierced lengthwise. The scarab beetle’s behavior of rolling large dung balls was associated by the ancient Egyptians with the movement of the sun through the sky. They also thought that this beetle generated spontaneously in the ground. The belief in the scarab’s self-generation and its association with the sun god made it a potent amulet that was thought to bear the power of life and regeneration.
Artwork Details
- Title: Funerary Scarab
- Period: Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
- Date: 664–30 B.C.
- Geography: From Egypt
- Medium: Green and black mottled stone
- Dimensions: L. 1.9 cm (3/4 in.), w. 1.4cm (9/16 in)
- Credit Line: Gift of Helen Miller Gould, 1910
- Object Number: 10.130.744
- Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
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4th century B.C.
360–343 BCE
278–270 B.C.
690–610 B.C.
300–250 B.C.
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