Ancient Egyptian Scarab - Second Intermediate Period, 1650 - 1550 BC

Faience scarab with plain body, the head being defined; pierced for suspension. To the underside is a large “Djed” pillar.To either side are “Deshret” crowns of lower Egypt. Second Intermediate Period, 1650 – 1550 BC,
10mm long.

The Djed pillar was an archaic symbol of the god Osiris and represented “stability” in hieroglyphs and often represented Osiris himself in aniconic form. The “Deshret” was one of the two crowns worn by the pharaoh and was coloured red, and symbolised the land of southern Egypt.

For a similar example see The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, accession number 76.31.2271

Purchased during the Second World War by Major G.A.D Gordon (Royal Army Medical Corps) from Sayad Molattam, a dealer in antiquities based at the Luxor Hotel. Mr Gordon's personal war diaries, which are now held in the Museum of Military Medicine in Aldershot, date his stay in Luxor from the 21st of February to the 1st of March 1942.