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

Scarab of an Official

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

Description

Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 12–Dynasty 13, ca. 1850–1640 B.C. Green faience. L. 2.3 × W. 1.5 × H. 0.9 cm (7/8 × 9/16 × 3/8 in.). From: Cemetery, debris, Lisht North, Memphite Region, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations. Subject: Scarabs. Credit: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1922.

The same text in other collections

Linked by shared inventory number (MET-Object 545260). Each record below describes this same artifact or text from a different angle.

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.

Oval seal/scarab-like amulet with a worn incised design, photographed against a light background.

The object appears as a small, rounded-oval to scarab-shaped base with a dark brown to greenish patina. The surface shows a central incised motif composed of rectangular and linear forms, with scattered small marks/lines that may be part of an inscription or decorative field; however the details are heavily worn and cannot be confidently read. No clear cartouche is visible, and there are no clearly identifiable royal names. No deities can be securely identified from the worn incisions. The underside and any suspension hole are not visible in this image. The cataloged material as green faience cannot be confirmed visually because the patina/oxidation and wear dominate; nonetheless a faint green tint is present in spots, so material evidence is inconclusive rather than contradictory. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. No inscription excerpt can be provided due to illegibility.

unclear Middle Kingdom (per catalogue; incised details not legible enough to refine) poor
Materials stone-like/dark patinated surface with faint green staining (faience not definitively confirmable from photo)
Signs Unclear incised linear/rectangular group (possibly inscription or decorative glyphs)

Connections

Found at Lisht
Deities Ptah

Cross-references (5)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116244535 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 22.1.420 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 545260 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • PNM-Object pnm:83889756 tier-2 (inventory-match)
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.