Scarab Amulet
Item Ancient

Scarab Amulet

Current location
British Museum, London
Discovered
Egyptian tombs and settlements

A scarab amulet is a carved artifact shaped like a dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer), commonly found in ancient Egyptian contexts. These amulets range from small decorative pieces to larger ceremonial objects, typically featuring detailed engravings of hieroglyphs, religious symbols, or royal cartouches on their flat undersides. The top surface is carved to represent the beetle's anatomical features, including its head, wing cases, and legs. Scarab amulets served multiple purposes, from everyday jewelry to funerary objects and administrative seals.

Provenance Trail

Egyptian tombs and settlements

British Museum, London

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Other Sources

Thomas Young — Account of Some Recent Discoveries in Hieroglyphical Literature (1819)

Stephen Quirke — Going Out in Daylight (2014)

Richard Parkinson — Cracking Codes: The Rosetta Stone and Decipherment (1999)

Mark Lehner — Archaeology of an Image: The Great Sphinx of Giza (1991)

Colin Reader — A Geomorphological Study of the Giza Necropolis (1997)

Christiane Zivie-Coche — Sphinx: History of a Monument (1997 EN; 1976 FR)

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