Ancient Egyptian Granite Scarab with Protective Spell

Finely carved with realistic features, the base deeply engraved with a protective spell composed by, on either side, a maat feather (rightness), rearing cobra (power), and Dual Crown (unification and control), flanking a central column of hieroglyphic signs: r–n–t-sa (x2)-ka-neb. The hieroglyph "sa" represented protection. It was often depicted as a knotted rope and was believed to ward off evil and bring good luck. When repeated (as in this case) the symbol would likely reinforce the idea of protection, especially when flanked by uraei, perhaps suggesting a greater degree or intensity of its power.

Size: 2.3 cm L - 7/8 inch
Material: Granite
Culture: Egypt, c. 900 B.C.
Condition: Intact


Provenance: From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
Literature: Ben-Tor, D., Scarabs, Chronology, and Interconnections: Egypt and Palestine in the Second Intermediate Period, Fribourg/Göttingen, 2007, pl. 56, no. 44, for a design incorporating the same three-sign border motif and a central sign group column

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