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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, mid Dynasty 13, ca. 1760–1670 B.C. Brigth blue glazed steatite. L. 2.3 × W. 1.6 × H. 0.9 cm (7/8 × 5/8 × 3/8 in.). From: Cemetery, Lisht North, Memphite Region, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations. Subject: Hieroglyphs. Credit: Rogers Fund and Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1920.

The same text in other collections

Linked by shared inventory number (MET-Object 545697). 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.

A glazed scarab-shaped Egyptian seal with a framed oval back filled by turquoise-blue applied hieroglyphs.

The image shows a single scarab-like amulet viewed from the front, with a thick oval outline. Inside the recessed/inscribed field, numerous turquoise-blue glazed hieroglyphic signs are arranged in rows and columns across the back. The blue pigment/glaze appears glossy and contrasts with a light, beige/stone-colored body. The right-lower edge is damaged or chipped, with loss of some blue signs near the border. No distinct royal cartouches or names are clearly legible at this resolution; the signs are consistent with an inscription identifying an official. No deities are clearly identifiable from the visible signs alone. No Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible.

decorative Middle Kingdom (consistent with catalogue); inscription style appears Middle Kingdom/early Second Intermediate period but is not certain from image alone good
Materials light-colored stone/steatite bodyturquoise-blue glazed surface (glaze)
Signs multiple non-fully-legible Egyptian hieroglyphs forming an inscription ×20

Connections

Found at Lisht
Deities Ptah

Cross-references (5)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116243560 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 20.1.15 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 545697 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • PNM-Object pnm:83889796 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.