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LOT 0452
Egyptian White Stone Scarab with Hieroglyphs
HYKSOS PERIOD, 15TH DYNASTY, CIRCA 1650-1550 B.C.
7/8 in. (3.79 grams, 21 mm).
Scarab with incised detailing on the upper face; underside featuring incised hieroglyphs, including addorsed hawks and right-angled netjer signs; pierced longitudinally. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceEx A. H. collection, 1990s.
LiteratureCf. Bietak, M., Czerny, E. (eds.), Scarabs of the Second Millennium BC from Egypt, Nubia, Crete and the Levant: Chronological and Historical Implications, Vienna, 2004, p. 123, fig. 9 (nos. 6-7), for scarab designs employing the hawk and netjer signs in the motif, found in a scarab workshop at Tell el-Dab'a.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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Egyptian Faience Amulet Collection
1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £450 - 650 (‡+bp*)
Opening Bid: £225
Comprising: an amuletic bead consisting of a row of seven Taweret figures on a rectangular base, pierced longitudinally; a seated ibis before a diminutive figure of Maat on a tongue-shaped base; a cippus amulet composed of the figure of Pataikos standing on two crocodiles, with two hawks perched on his shoulders, a scarab on his head, flanked by the figures of Isis and Nephthys, and on the back, a winged goddess standing on the crocodiles' tails. 6.5 grams total, 16-30 mm
Acquired in the mid 1980s-1990s. Private collection, Switzerland, thence by descent. Private collection, since the late 1990s. -
Egyptian Faience Amulet Collection
New Kingdom-Ptolemaic Period, 1550-30 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Comprising: four scarabs and scaraboids, three with hieroglyphs on the underside; a tabular bead with a figure of a bird on both sides; and four small amulets, including two of Bes and a uraeus. 5.79 grams total, 7-14 mm
From the Walter Thomas Gaze Cooper (1895-1980) collection; thence by descent. -
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Egyptian Faience Bes Amulet
Late Period, 664-332 B.C.Sold for (Inc. bp): £312
Rectangular plaque with a head of Bes modelled in low relief on one side and symbols on the reverse; pierced longitudinally. 3.54 grams, 20 mm
Ex early 20th century collection, London, UK.
From the New Kingdom onwards, Bes became one of ancient Egypt's most popular apotropaic deities. Despite his somewhat fearsome appearance, Bes served as the patron and protector of pregnant women and children, and was also believed to shield them from snakes. Double-sided Bes amulets appear during the Third Intermediate Period and continued into the Late Period, possibly perpetuated in part by Levantine demand (Cf. Pierrat-Bonnefois, G., ”Les questions d'identité culturelle que soulèvent certaines faïences de la première moitié du Ier millénaire”, dans Bonadies, L., Chirpanlieva, I., Guillon, É. (dir.), Les Phéniciens, les Puniques et les autres. Échanges et identités en Méditerranée ancienne, Orient & Méditerranée 31, Paris, 2019, pp. 58-60, fig. 5b).
