Scarab with Personal Wish Formula
(Ancient Egypt and Nubia )
This steatite scarab has a flat underside with a vertically arranged bottom inscription with a personal wish formula. The top of the piece has a very detailed, deeply incised design with slightly irregular line flow and almost balanced proportions. The workmanship is good and the piece is simply made.
The piece functioned as a provider individualized amulet and should provide its owner with the special support of the goddess Bastet. It originally would have been mounted or threaded.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1929 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Egypt (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 1/4 x W: 7/16 x L: 9/16 in. (0.7 x 1.1 x 1.5 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1929
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
42.54