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. The artist has differentiated the component elements of the beetle’s head to include both the plate and clypeus. The thorax is separated from the elytra, or wing case, by a double T-shaped incision and the elytra itself is ornamented with a feather-like pattern.
Its bottom surface depicts a symmetrical composition flanked at the top and bottom by a bird with wings outstretched in a typical Egyptian gesture of protection. The schematic design of this bird precludes its precise ornithological identification, but it is assuredly intended to be identified as a sky deity, either the goddess Mut depicted as a vulture or the god Horus depicted as a falcon. Two royal ovals, containing three identical hieroglyphs, fill the middle field. These signs represent a Canaanite attempt at imitating ancient Egyptian writing, but because they are imitations, they cannot be translated.
The design of this scarab is very close to others assigned to the Green Jasper Group of Canaanite manufacture, but differs from them in the ornamentation of its elytra. A dating to the Middle Bronze IIB Period is, nevertheless, assured.
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; for the feathering-pattern of the elytra, compare both W. M. Flinders Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders with Names (London 1917), plate LXIV, numbers 21, 30, and 33; and Daphna Ben-Tor, The Scarab. A Reflection of Ancient Egypt (Jerusalem 1993), page 66, number 6.
Description and interpretation kindly provided by Prof. Robert S. Bianchi.
