Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Scarab with Personal Wish Formula
(Ancient Egypt and Nubia )
This serpentine scarab has a flat underside with a vertically arranged bottom design and inscription. The inscription is a personal wish formula requesting the support and protection of Horus. The design on the back of the scarab is very detailed, with deeply incised lines and regular line flow. The proportions of the top are well balanced. The piece is carefully made, and the workmanship is good.
The scarab functioned as a provider individualized amulet with a wish formula. The amulet should provide its owner with the protection of Horus. It would have originally been mounted or threaded.
The high quality of the scarab, the unusual writing of the wish formula, and the special variety of the material demonstrate that this scarab was a special production and not part of a usual series.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
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: 3/8 x L: 1/2 in. (0.6 x 0.9 x 1.2 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.
42.62