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

Scarabs Inscribed for the God's Wife Neferure

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

Description

Scarab; Neferure, God's Wife; detailed back. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, early, Joint reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, ca. 1479–1458 B.C. Steatite (glazed). L. 1.7 cm (11/16 in); w. 1.3 cm (1/2 in); h. 0.8 cm (5/16 in). From: Temple of Hatshepsut, Foundation Deposit 7 (G), Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt, Thebes, Egypt. Excavation: MMA excavations, 1926–27. Subject: Hieroglyphs, Scarabs. Credit: Rogers Fund, 1927.

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.

Green glazed steatite scarab with an incised hieroglyphic inscription and a central vertical column bordered by additional signs on both sides.

The image shows a single oval scarab with a high-gloss green glaze over a yellow-green body. The top of the scarab appears slightly worn, while the underside/front surface is dominated by a vertical incised text column. Beneath and around the column are several standing signs, including what appears to be multiple vertical strokes and blocky forms; some parts of the inscription are filled with darker green/black pigment within the engraved grooves, suggesting deliberate inscription and glaze pooling. No clear cartouche frames are visible. The overall layout resembles a hieroglyphic inscription covering the scarab’s face; individual sign forms are not sufficiently clear to identify confidently at the level of specific Gardiner numbers. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible.

hieroglyphic only New Kingdom good
Deities unknown
Royals Neferure (God's Wife)
Materials steatite (glazed)
Signs incised hieroglyphic signs (various) ×10
Visible text "Hieroglyphic inscription in vertical layout; specific words/signs not legible enough in the image to transcribe reliably."

Connections

Found at Deir el-Bahri
Royals Neferure
Materials Steatite

Cross-references (4)

  • Wikidata-Q Q116277070 tier-1
  • Collection-QID Q160236 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • Inventory-Number 27.3.331 tier-2 (wikidata-mediated)
  • MET-Object 559882 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.