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

Bee amulet

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

Description

Amulet, bee. Late Old Kingdom–Early Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 8–12, ca. 2150–1950 B.C. Carnelian. H. 1.2 × W. 1.4 × D. 0.3 cm (1/2 × 9/16 × 1/8 in.). Said to be from: Aswan (Syene), Southern Upper Egypt. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1959.

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.

Small carved amulet shaped like a bee, with a reddish-orange translucent material and simple modeled wings and body.

The object is shown isolated against a light background. It appears as a small, three-dimensional amulet carved in the form of a bee: a central elongated body with flared segments, two raised wing-like forms near the top/back, and short protrusions around the sides and base suggesting legs or body contours. The surface shows minor chips and smoothing from wear or manufacture. No carved hieroglyphs, cartouches, or other text are visible on the piece in this view. There are no visible attachments such as a suspension loop, though the overall shape may have a flattened/rounded base suitable for mounting or threading. The reddish-orange coloration and translucency are consistent with carnelian or a similar stone, though exact material cannot be confirmed from color alone.

decorative Late Old Kingdom–Early Middle Kingdom (per catalogue) good
Materials carnelian (as stated by catalogue; visual appearance consistent with reddish-orange stone)

Connections

Found at Aswan

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116430946 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 59.103.5 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 555582 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.