Walters Art Museum (Egyptian) · jewelry

Large Amuletic Bead

Walters Art Museum (Egyptian), acc. 42.382. Public domain (CC0). Copy archived by egyptianinscriptions.org with attribution; original at the holding institution.

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Accession: 42.382
Dynasty: 18th-19th Dynasty
Date: ca. 1300 BCE (New Kingdom)
Date range: 1312 BCE – 1288 BCE
Materials: ['steatite with glaze']
Repository: Walters Art Museum
At source: View original →

Cite & export

Walters Art Museum (Egyptian), Large Amuletic Bead (42.382). Egyptian Inscriptions Database. https://egyptianinscriptions.org/object/220099

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Description

<p>In addition to its original function as a personal seal, the scarab became one of the most powerful amulets, used by the living and entombed with the dead. Countless variations have been preserved, differing in design, size, and material, but always associated with eternity and regeneration. Some special scarabs have human or ram heads (the emblem of the god Amen-Re) joined to the body of the beetle. Others, called scaraboids, have the body replaced with that of another animal but retain the general oval shape. Rarer items are decorated beads, which were part of precious necklaces. Some show a palm tree surrounded by monkeys, symbolizing the daily rising of the sun god.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/42.382' rel='external'>Large Amuletic Bead</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>

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.

Teardrop/oval amuletic bead made of turquoise-blue glazed material, incised with a vertical column of detailing resembling a protective motif or hieroglyph-like sign(s).

The object appears as a large, rounded teardrop/egg-shaped bead with a glossy turquoise-blue glaze. On the front face, raised/incised design elements form a central vertical element flanked by angular, wing-like or feathered shapes. Near the center there is a rectangular or block-like form with a small internal mark, and a prominent right-side extension resembling a stick or leg-like projection. The design is not clearly legible as a specific named hieroglyph from this image, but it clearly functions as an amuletic/protective symbol rather than figurative sculpture. No cartouches, royal titulary, or clearly identifiable deity iconography is unambiguous from the available view. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible.

decorative Ancient Egyptian (amuletic bead; specific dynasty/period unclear from image alone). good

Materials turquoise-blue glazeglazed steatite/ceramic-like core (exact core material unclear from image)

Signs Incised/relief protective symbol or hieroglyph-like motif (exact sign unclear)

Connections

Deities Amun Ra

Materials Turquoise-Blue Glaze

Cross-references (2)

Walters-AccNum 42.382 tier-2
Walters-id 6355 tier-2

About this record's data

From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Walters Art Museum (Egyptian).
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.