Mounted Scarab of Hatshepsut
        
      
      
              
                    
Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art
        
      
              
          
On View: Egyptian Orientation Gallery, 3rd Floor
        
      
              
          Personal Arts
The reigns of Hatshepsut through Thutmose IV represent a transitional phase in Eighteenth Dynasty art. 
At first, artists continued to favor simple, elegant forms common earlier in the dynasty, but eventually they developed elaborate, highly detailed designs that dominated the dynasty’s final decades. Under Amunhotep II and Thutmose IV, for example, craftsmen increased the use of a soft, pastel blue pigment that had been invented during the reign of Thutmose III. Potters also molded vessels in human and animal form, and artisans rediscovered the Middle Kingdom fascination for colorful stones such as red carnelian. 
Art historians consider the scarabs (beetleshaped amulets) of this era among the finest ever made. Figure Vase of Woman Holding Dog
        
                  
              
      
      
              
          MEDIUM
          Gold, steatite, glaze        
      
              
      
              
          DATES
          ca. 1478–1458 B.C.E.        
      
              
          DYNASTY
          Dynasty 18        
      
              
          PERIOD
          New Kingdom        
      
              
      
      
      
      
              
      
      
        ACCESSION NUMBER
        35.1118      
              
          CREDIT LINE
          Gift of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour        
      
      
              
          CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
          Brown steatite scarab, green glazed, inscribed with cartouche of Hatshepsut between feathers. Scarab set in gold mounting originally part of a seal-ring. Pieces longitudinally. Gold mounting slightly dented. Glaze of scarab. Worn. Fine workmanship.        
      
              
      
      
              
          CAPTION
           Mounted Scarab of Hatshepsut, ca. 1478–1458 B.C.E. Gold, steatite, glaze, 9/16 × 7/8 in. (1.4 × 2.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Theodora Wilbour from the collection of her father, Charles Edwin Wilbour, 35.1118. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.35.1118_erg456.jpg)        
      
      
      
              
          IMAGE
          overall, 
CUR.35.1118_erg456.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 10/15/2010          
            "CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
          
         
      
              
          RIGHTS STATEMENT
          
            Creative Commons-BY          
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        Were these worn as personal jewelry?
      
                        
                   
      
      Rings and amulets like these were worn in life, and it was also common to bury a mummy adorned with jewelry.
      
        
      
          
      
      You will see scarab beetles in a lot of jewelry, like the pieces here. To the Egyptians, the scarab represented the cycle of the sun and rebirth.
      
        
      
          
      
      Dung beetles create balls of dung in which they lay their eggs and then roll the balls around the desert. When the eggs hatch they emerge from the dung ball as if by magic. Fascinated by this process, one Ancient Egyptian belief was that a similar beetle rolled the sun across the sky!