Pectoral with Scarab
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Living persons wore only one or a few amulets at a time, but mummies usually bear many amulets. The Ma’at amulet (no. 2) and heart scarabs (nos. 1, 3, 11), which occurred in many forms, guaranteed a successful judgment of the dead. The amulets of a hand (no. 8), lungs and a windpipe (no. 12), and wadjet-eyes (i.e., “healthy” eyes; no. 4) protected those parts of the body and also had connotations of resurrection and the unity or integrity of the mummy. The enigmatic aper amulet (no. 13) takes the form of the hieroglyph meaning “to be equipped,” perhaps in reference to the mummy’s preparation. The two crowns (nos. 5, 6) were symbols of power. The Heh insignia (no. 7), like the popular ankh-sign, denoted eternal life. Among the living, the frog (no. 9) and possibly also the hare (no. 10) suggested fertility. The amulets of the Four Sons of Horus (no. 15) perhaps served, as they did with canopic jars, to protect various organs of the body.
MEDIUM
Faience
DATES
ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E. or later
DYNASTY
Dynasty 18
PERIOD
New Kingdom
DIMENSIONS
4 1/16 x 3 11/16 x 3/8 in. (10.3 x 9.4 x 1 cm)
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
08.480.159
CREDIT LINE
Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
PROVENANCE
Archaeological provenance not yet documented; before March 16, 1896, purchased in Egypt by Armand de Potter of Belgium and New York, NY; 1905, inherited from Armand de Potter by Amy Beckwith (Mrs. Aimee S. de Potter) of New York, NY and Asheville, NC; 1908, purchased from Amy Beckwith by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Pectoral in green faience, with a scarab in purplish-blue faience. Form of a naos with projecting cornice. Front, painted solar bark with Nephthys (left) and Isis adoring the scarab. Names of goddesses and borders painted. Back, oval like bottom of scarab, painted with six lines of almost illegible inscription, flanked by two girdle knots. Back of cornice pierced four times at each end, with corresponding holes at the top of the cornice.
Condition: Intact. Surface worn. Chip in base. Large crack in back due to defective firing. Inscription almost illegible.
CAPTION
Pectoral with Scarab, ca. 1539–1295 B.C.E. or later. Faience, 4 1/16 x 3 11/16 x 3/8 in. (10.3 x 9.4 x 1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 08.480.159. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.08.480.159_mummychamber.jpg)
IMAGE
installation, Egypt Reborn: Mummy Chamber Installation (2011),
CUR.08.480.159_mummychamber.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a
Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply.
Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online
application form (charges apply).
For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the
United States Library of Congress,
Cornell University,
Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and
Copyright Watch.
For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our
blog posts on copyright.
If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact
copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and
we welcome any additional information you might have.
