Romano-Egyptian Pottery Shrine

The scarab with clearly modelled clypeus, head, prothorax, elytra, and legs, with modern gold wire threaded through its longitudinal suspension hole; the underside is plain. 6.53 grams, 36 mm



Ex Belinda Elliston collection, a member of the Egyptian Exploration Society, 1940s onwards.

Spherical pounder with a smooth surface. 625 grams, 86 mm



From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.134.

Stone pounders were used to shape and harden metal, as well as to pound stone architectural elements and statues.

Ellipsoid in plan with an impressed cartouche for 'Tutankhamun, ruler of Hermonthis'. 6.5 grams, 29 mm



Acquired Caledonian market, November 1958, for 2 shillings and sixpence. From the private collection of Peter Clayton, FCILIP, Dip, Arch, FSA, FRNS, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, UK; formed since the late 1950s. Accompanied by an old handwritten information card by Peter Clayton, collection no.50.

Moulds like this were often used to produce faience ring bezels (cf. Seyfried, F. (ed.), In the Light of Amarna: 100 Years of the Nefertiti Discovery, Berlin, 2012, p. 100, fig. 2, for an example of a similar mould and a faience ring bezel for Akhenaten). Hermonthis, also known as Armant, was called ı͗wnu-šmꜤw by the ancient Egyptians and regarded as the southern counterpart to the solar temple complex at Heliopolis.