The ancient Egyptians maintained that the sun was propelled across the heavens by means of a scarab, or sacred beetle. With the passing of time, the Egyptians created a series of amulets in the form of this beetle in a great variety of materials, and these were routinely provided with inscriptions in hieroglyphs conveniently accommodated to their stylized flat bottoms. So popular was the scarab that it became the one amulet associated with Egypt by all of her neighbors, and local variations were created in imitation of the Egyptian model.
Our scarab is just such a variation. Created in green jasper, the artist has simplified the beetle’s upper body so that there is no division between its thorax and elytra, or wing case, although he has attempted to suggest their division by means of an incised dash along each vertical side of the beetle’s body. The beetle’s head is suggested by the arrangement of the two oblique incisions which likewise separate it from the plate while the clypeus is indicated by series of incised dashes.
Its bottom surface depicts a symmetrical composition divided into three zones. The top and bottom contain the hieroglyph for “water” (Gardiner, Sign List N 35) divided at the top by an incised line which joins the framing oval surrounding the bottom as a whole. The resulting image may perhaps be regarded as a depiction of the neb-sign (Gardiner, Sign List W3). The central zone is flanked on each outer side by a hoe (Gardiner, Sign List U6) which frame what appear to be four hieroglyphs. These four signs may in fact be an attempt to write the proper name, Hibe, suggested to be that of one of the Canaanite rulers of Egypt during the Middle Bronze IIB Period.
Our scarab can be assigned to the “Green Jasper Group,” a specific classification of uniquely Canaanite scarabs created during the Middle Bronze Age. These high-quality examples seek to replicate contemporary ancient Egyptian types, but were created without a first-hand knowledge of the ancient Egyptian language with the result that the hieroglyphs cannot be translated. They serve, therefore, as decorative elements, but may have also been possessed of talismanic properties.
References:
For this particular group of Canaanite scarabs, see, O. Keel, OBO 88 (1989), pages 211-242; for an attempt to “translate” the hieroglyphs on one of these scarabs, see, K. A. Kitchen, in IEJ 39 (1989), pages 278-280; A. H. Gardiner, An Ancient Egyptian Grammar (Oxford 1969), Sign List, pages 438ff; and J. von Beckerath, Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen (Mainz 1999), pages 120-121, for the cartouche, or royal ring, containing the name of the Canaanite ruler named Hibe.
