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Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · jewelry

Scarab

Source of record: Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, early, ca. 1550–1458 B.C. Glazed steatite. L. 1.5 cm (9/16 in.). From: Asasif, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: Carnarvon excavations, 1911 (?). Subject: Scarabs. Credit: Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926.

AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano

Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

Green glazed steatite scarab with an incised hieroglyphic-style cartouche-like design on its face.

The image shows a single small, oval scarab amulet viewed straight-on. The surface is predominantly light green with darker green/blue-green glaze pooling in the recesses. The face contains raised/incised decorative bands and grouped symbols resembling hieroglyphs arranged in a rectangular frame. At the center there is a vertical, pole-like stroke topped with a small element and accompanied by additional small marks; surrounding elements include curled loop forms at left and right and a rounded/arched element above, all consistent with an inscription or name-form rather than figural imagery. No clear deity figure, royal cartouche, or explicit name is fully legible at this resolution. No other text is visible on the background. Edges show typical scarab contours; the underside is not shown.

decorative New Kingdom (per catalogue); inscription style suggests non-royal name/epithet, exact period not fully verifiable from image alone. good
Materials glazed steatite
Signs incised/relief hieroglyphic group (exact signs uncertain) ×8
Visible text "Unnamed hieroglyphic-style inscription; individual sign readings unclear at this resolution."

Inscriptions (1)

Inscription #1 AI reading of the photograph

Visible text (machine reading)

Unnamed hieroglyphic-style inscription; individual sign readings unclear at this resolution.

Connections

Found at Asasif
Materials Glazed Steatite

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116247640 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 26.7.614 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 552414 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access).
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.