Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca 1294–1279 BC

Pierced longitudinally for suspension, the scarab is finely carved from steatite then fired with a fine blue/green glaze, the back has a single suture and pronotum lines with markings on the elytra. The legs are naturalistically carved and deeply incised. The base decoration, oriented horizontally, is finely incised with three hieroglyphs reading from right to left: an obelisk, a seated king wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, and a uraeus cobra thus representing the prenomen of Seti I 'Men-maat-re' Furthermore, the signs are also a cryptographic or 'double meaning' writing that can further be read as 'The king is one of enduring Maat.' The entire inscription is surrounded by a single line.

Dimensions: Length: 5/8" (1.5 cm)

Provenance:Private Californian collection of Philip Mitry and then by descent.

Very small loss to base that can be seen in photo #2 otherwise intact and in excellent condition overall. A very fine example.