Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · jewelry

Heart Scarab

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Caption: Heart Scarab, ca. 1539–1075 B.C.E.. Stone (basalt?), 13/16 x 1 1/2 x 2 1/8 in. (2 x 3.8 x 5.4 cm) Weight: 0.2 lb. (74.15 g). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.488E.

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

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

A scarab amulet depicted from above showing its beetle shape.

The artifact is a scarab amulet, carved to resemble the shape of a beetle. It likely served as a symbol of protection, rebirth, or renewal, motifs common in ancient Egyptian representation. It appears to be made of a dark stone, possibly steatite, which was often glazed for sheen. The lines representing the beetle’s carapace are detailed and symmetrical.

decorative Middle Kingdom excellent
Materials stone

Connections

Found at Egypt
Materials Stone

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 37.488E tier-2
  • BKM-Object 124484 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • 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.