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Scarab from mummy wrappings

Third Intermediate Period or later
ca. 1080–664 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 130
The holes on the sides of this relatively flat, uninscribed scarab indicates that there were once separately molded avian wings attached to the sides (see for a complete example 25.5.1a-c. The holes were also used to sew the amulet to the chest of the wrapped mummy or attach them to a beaded mummy net. Representing the god Khepri, incarnation of the sun god at dawn, this would magically protect the deceased individual and guarantee their rebirth through association with the solar cycle.

The type of winged scarab is known from Dynasty 25 onward.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Scarab from mummy wrappings
  • Period: Third Intermediate Period or later
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 21–25
  • Date: ca. 1080–664 BCE
  • Geography: From Egypt
  • Medium: Faience
  • Dimensions: L. 6.1 × W. 3.8 × H. 1.2 cm (2 3/8 × 1 1/2 × 1/2 in.)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Joseph W. Drexel, 1889
  • Object Number: 89.2.388
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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