Scarab

Culture: Ancient Egyptian
Period: possibly Late Period, 664–332 BCE
Period: possibly Ptolemaic dynasty, 332–30 BCE
Date: 664–30 BCE
Material: Faience
from: Egypt, Africa
Classification: Sculpture
Collection: Ancient Art
Current Location: On View, Gallery 313
Dimensions: 3/4 x 2 x 2 1/8 in. (1.9 x 5.1 x 5.4 cm)
Credit Line: Museum Purchase
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 195:1924

NOTES

Scarabs, amulets in the shape of beetles, were made by the hundreds of thousands. The ancient Egyptians observed actual beetles rolling a ball of dung to their nests and they believed that the young beetles emerged full-grown from the dung. They likened the rolling of the ball to the daily movement of the sun’s orb, and the emergence of the young beetles with regeneration. Thus the beetle became the hieroglyph for “to come into being,” and a powerful protective charm.

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