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Details
LOT 0472
Phoenicio-Egyptian Dark Green Stone Scarab
CIRCA 9TH-8TH CENTURY B.C.
5/8 in. (3.94 grams, 15 mm).
With textured carapace, bull-horned column to the reverse, possibly a symbol of Tanit.
Provenance
From the property of the late Mr SM, London, UK, 1969-1999.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Moscati, S., I Fenici (The Phoenicians), Milano, 1988, p.395, for examples of Phoenician scarabs; Boschloos, V., 'Tyre, Achziv and Kition. Evidence for a Phoenician Iron Age II Scarab Seal Workshop,' in Lohwasser, A. (ed.), Skarabäen des 1. Jahrtausends: Ein Workshop in Münster am 27. Oktober 2012, Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 269, Ruprecht, 2014, p. 16, pl. 3.1, for a more stylised Tanit-like symbol.
Footnotes
The widespread adoption of the scarab, both as a symbol linked to the concept of rebirth, and in its function as a seal, exemplifies the extent of Egyptian influence on Phoenician culture, from its origins in the Levant to its spread across the Mediterranean.
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