A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron Provenance: Private Dutch collection

Provenance:  Private Dutch collection

(C)Caruana

The torso is pierced by a large

tapering form

A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron Provenance: Private Dutch collectioncarved from steatite, with naturalistically rendered legs, pierced horizontally for suspension. Functioning as an amulet, the base is finely inscribed Men Kheper Ra Khmeny. Men Kheper Ra Khmeny was a vassal king of the 25th Dynasty, and all evidence indicates that he ruled in Upper Egypt at Hermopolis. He appears with full royal titles on a plaque in the British Museum. For a related example, see Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders, pl. LIII, no. 25c 7.