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<p>[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 6477766, member: 110350"]I have never been an enthusiastic Egyptian scarab collector, although I do have a couple that I posted early in this thread. But I recently saw one offered by a German dealer on an art/antiquities platform I've previously bought from, that caught my eye (largely because of its animal theme). I bought it even though it was completely unattributed, with no information on its date or place of origin, or even a description of what it portrayed. But people in an antiquities group to which I belong agreed that it appears to be authentic, and after some research I was able to find a couple of closely comparable scarabs in museums, and form a fairly good idea of its period and possible place of origin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are a couple of photos from the dealer, who described it only as a "glazed black steatite" scarab (I have strong doubts that it's actually stone, rather than a glazed composition/pottery scarab), 2.3 cm. long. The dealer professed not to know more than that about its origin, explaining that he's a collector selling specimens from his collection rather than a full-time dealer, that his specialty is ushabtis, not scarabs, and that he bought the scarab in 2006 from another German dealer together with a ushabti.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258699[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I didn't have to do any research to see that the scarab has the remnants of a bluish glaze, and to identify the animal as a crouching lion, with a sun disk above its body probably representing Ra (or Amun-Ra after the merger of those two deities' identities). I couldn't tell more than that -- and still don't necessarily know much more about the scarab's symbolism, or its meaning (if any) in hieroglyphics.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some photos I took after I received the scarab from Germany the other day, sent by DHL Express:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258701[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258702[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258703[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258705[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I have to ask myself, if the scarab is really made of steatite, then what's the pale brownish material that seems to be showing through from underneath the glaze, both on the top and the underside?</p><p><br /></p><p>I also made an impression with Sculpey:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258707[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The scarab and the impression together (the scarab isn't actually that blue; it looks more like the photos above):</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258708[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>I can't decide if the horizontal part of the lion directly beneath the back of its body is supposed to be its tail, or its back feet. Is it possible, if those are the back feet, that the tail is what appears to go up diagonally to the left from their rightmost end?</p><p><br /></p><p>By doing some research (for instance, googling "lion," "sun disk," and "scarab"), I was able to find a drawing of a comparable scarab at the lower right of this picture at p. 35 of the famous archaeologist Flinders Petrie's book <i>Historical Scarabs</i> (1889), available online:</p><p><br /></p><p> [ATTACH=full]1258721[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The "XXVI" on the upper left refers to the 26th Dynasty, and I interpret the handwriting beneath the drawing of the similar scarab as reading "blue-green gone brown," and as identifying the scarab as made of "pot[tery]." The handwriting at the top suggests that perhaps the symbol of lion and sun disk refers to the title of the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Psemthek I (= Psammetichus I = Psamtik I, the more current spelling). The book identifies the scarab as being in the collection of University College, London. The scarab is indeed very similar to mine (something rather unusual to find, I think), although the placement of the other markings besides the lion and sun disk is somewhat different from mine, and the part of the lion beneath the back part of its body appears definitely to be its tail. So mine is certainly not just a copy.</p><p><br /></p><p>I found a small photo of what appears to be the same scarab at Plate LV, No. 4 of Petrie's later book <i>Scarabs and Cylinders with Names</i> (1917), consisting entirely of artifacts from the UCL collection. The plate also references the 26th Dynasty, and Psemthek I:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258731[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The description of # 4 on Plate LV: (from the same book) gives place of discovery, the material, and the color, namely Teh el Barud, made of pottery, color "Blue, burnt [sic] red-brown."</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1258762[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>It seems from this book I found on Google Books that Teh el Barud is near Naukratis in the Nile Delta -- which was the site of some well-known expeditions that Petrie conducted in the 1884 and 1885 seasons:</p><p><br /></p><p>The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos</p><p>by Archibald Henry Sayce (Author)</p><p><br /></p><p>1896. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... "APPENDIX VI ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS IN THE DELTA (1) Tel el-Yehudiyeh or Onion.--Take the train from Cairo at 10 A.m., reaching Shibin el-Qanater at 12.25. Leave Shibin el-Qanater at 5.57 P.m., reaching Cairo at 6.50. Donkeys can be procured at Shibin, but it is a pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields (towards the south-east) to the Tel. There is a cafi at Shibin adjoining the station, but it is advisable to take lunch from Cairo. (2) Kom el-Atrib or Athribis.--The mounds lie close to the station of Benha el-'Asal, north-east of the town, and can easily be explored between two trains. All trains between Cairo and Alexandria stop at Benha. <b>(3) Naukratis.--The mounds of Naukratis (Kom Qa'if) lie nearly five miles due west of the station of Teh el-Barud on the line between Cairo and Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be had at Teh el-Barud. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier than the Roman period." </b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>See also <i>Baedeker's Egypt</i> for 1898, at p. 21:</p><p><br /></p><p>"53 1/2 M. Teh el-Barud, a village with a large mound of ruins, is the junction for a branch-line skirting the W. coast of the Nile delta. None of the express-trains stop here.</p><p><br /></p><p>This branch-line is an alternative route to Cairo, but is of no importance to tourists. . . . About 3 M. to the W. of Teh el-Barud, near the modern Nebireh, on the ancient Canopic arm of the Nile, lie the ruins of Naucratis, a Greek commercial city, founded by Aahmes. The ruins, discovered by Prof. Flinders Petrie and excavated in 1885, do not repay a visit."</p><p><br /></p><p>Thus, I was able to narrow down a possible place of origin for my scarab, on the theory that it's where an extremely similar one was found.</p><p><br /></p><p>To be continued.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="DonnaML, post: 6477766, member: 110350"]I have never been an enthusiastic Egyptian scarab collector, although I do have a couple that I posted early in this thread. But I recently saw one offered by a German dealer on an art/antiquities platform I've previously bought from, that caught my eye (largely because of its animal theme). I bought it even though it was completely unattributed, with no information on its date or place of origin, or even a description of what it portrayed. But people in an antiquities group to which I belong agreed that it appears to be authentic, and after some research I was able to find a couple of closely comparable scarabs in museums, and form a fairly good idea of its period and possible place of origin. Here are a couple of photos from the dealer, who described it only as a "glazed black steatite" scarab (I have strong doubts that it's actually stone, rather than a glazed composition/pottery scarab), 2.3 cm. long. The dealer professed not to know more than that about its origin, explaining that he's a collector selling specimens from his collection rather than a full-time dealer, that his specialty is ushabtis, not scarabs, and that he bought the scarab in 2006 from another German dealer together with a ushabti. [ATTACH=full]1258699[/ATTACH] I didn't have to do any research to see that the scarab has the remnants of a bluish glaze, and to identify the animal as a crouching lion, with a sun disk above its body probably representing Ra (or Amun-Ra after the merger of those two deities' identities). I couldn't tell more than that -- and still don't necessarily know much more about the scarab's symbolism, or its meaning (if any) in hieroglyphics. Here are some photos I took after I received the scarab from Germany the other day, sent by DHL Express: [ATTACH=full]1258701[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1258702[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1258703[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]1258705[/ATTACH] I have to ask myself, if the scarab is really made of steatite, then what's the pale brownish material that seems to be showing through from underneath the glaze, both on the top and the underside? I also made an impression with Sculpey: [ATTACH=full]1258707[/ATTACH] The scarab and the impression together (the scarab isn't actually that blue; it looks more like the photos above): [ATTACH=full]1258708[/ATTACH] I can't decide if the horizontal part of the lion directly beneath the back of its body is supposed to be its tail, or its back feet. Is it possible, if those are the back feet, that the tail is what appears to go up diagonally to the left from their rightmost end? By doing some research (for instance, googling "lion," "sun disk," and "scarab"), I was able to find a drawing of a comparable scarab at the lower right of this picture at p. 35 of the famous archaeologist Flinders Petrie's book [I]Historical Scarabs[/I] (1889), available online: [ATTACH=full]1258721[/ATTACH] The "XXVI" on the upper left refers to the 26th Dynasty, and I interpret the handwriting beneath the drawing of the similar scarab as reading "blue-green gone brown," and as identifying the scarab as made of "pot[tery]." The handwriting at the top suggests that perhaps the symbol of lion and sun disk refers to the title of the 26th Dynasty pharaoh Psemthek I (= Psammetichus I = Psamtik I, the more current spelling). The book identifies the scarab as being in the collection of University College, London. The scarab is indeed very similar to mine (something rather unusual to find, I think), although the placement of the other markings besides the lion and sun disk is somewhat different from mine, and the part of the lion beneath the back part of its body appears definitely to be its tail. So mine is certainly not just a copy. I found a small photo of what appears to be the same scarab at Plate LV, No. 4 of Petrie's later book [I]Scarabs and Cylinders with Names[/I] (1917), consisting entirely of artifacts from the UCL collection. The plate also references the 26th Dynasty, and Psemthek I: [ATTACH=full]1258731[/ATTACH] The description of # 4 on Plate LV: (from the same book) gives place of discovery, the material, and the color, namely Teh el Barud, made of pottery, color "Blue, burnt [sic] red-brown." [ATTACH=full]1258762[/ATTACH] It seems from this book I found on Google Books that Teh el Barud is near Naukratis in the Nile Delta -- which was the site of some well-known expeditions that Petrie conducted in the 1884 and 1885 seasons: The Egypt of the Hebrews and Herodotos by Archibald Henry Sayce (Author) 1896. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... "APPENDIX VI ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS IN THE DELTA (1) Tel el-Yehudiyeh or Onion.--Take the train from Cairo at 10 A.m., reaching Shibin el-Qanater at 12.25. Leave Shibin el-Qanater at 5.57 P.m., reaching Cairo at 6.50. Donkeys can be procured at Shibin, but it is a pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields (towards the south-east) to the Tel. There is a cafi at Shibin adjoining the station, but it is advisable to take lunch from Cairo. (2) Kom el-Atrib or Athribis.--The mounds lie close to the station of Benha el-'Asal, north-east of the town, and can easily be explored between two trains. All trains between Cairo and Alexandria stop at Benha. [B](3) Naukratis.--The mounds of Naukratis (Kom Qa'if) lie nearly five miles due west of the station of Teh el-Barud on the line between Cairo and Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be had at Teh el-Barud. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier than the Roman period." [/B] See also [I]Baedeker's Egypt[/I] for 1898, at p. 21: "53 1/2 M. Teh el-Barud, a village with a large mound of ruins, is the junction for a branch-line skirting the W. coast of the Nile delta. None of the express-trains stop here. This branch-line is an alternative route to Cairo, but is of no importance to tourists. . . . About 3 M. to the W. of Teh el-Barud, near the modern Nebireh, on the ancient Canopic arm of the Nile, lie the ruins of Naucratis, a Greek commercial city, founded by Aahmes. The ruins, discovered by Prof. Flinders Petrie and excavated in 1885, do not repay a visit." Thus, I was able to narrow down a possible place of origin for my scarab, on the theory that it's where an extremely similar one was found. To be continued.[/QUOTE]
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