Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah

Middle Kingdom

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 109

The hieroglyphs on this late Middle Kingdom scarab form an inscription saying that Ptah is satisfied, Ptah-hotep. Ptahhotep was a common personal name during the Middle Kingdom, but the inscription is here more likely meant as a blessing related to the god Ptah. On either side of the inscription are decorative papyrus plants with one straight and one drooping stem.

Based on the characteristics of its back and sides, this scarab was manufactured at a workshop active during mid to late Dynasty 13 (ca. 1750-1640 B.C.). It was probably located at a site that is now known as Tell el-Dab’a, in the eastern Nile Delta.

Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah, Glazed steatite

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Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah, Glazed steatite
Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah, Glazed steatite
Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah, Glazed steatite
Scarab with Inscription Related to Ptah, Glazed steatite

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