Metropolitan Museum of Art — Egyptian Art (Open Access) · jewelry
Scarab of an Official
Description
Steatite
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.
An ancient Egyptian scarab seal featuring hieroglyphs.
The artifact is an oval-shaped scarab seal made of steatite with detailed carvings on its flat side. The hieroglyphs are well-preserved, showcasing intricate workmanship typical of seals used for personal or administrative purposes. The style suggests a delicate craftsmanship associated with the Middle to New Kingdom period, often used for magical or protective symbolism.
hieroglyphic only
Middle Kingdom
good
Materials
steatite
Signs
ankh
reed
vulture
Cross-references (4)
- Wikidata-Q Q116244763 tier-1
- Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- Inventory-Number 22.1.324 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
- MET-Object 545220 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.