Scarab
4.9.07.22a
Information
Green glazed steatite scarab with flat base carved with Hatshepsut's throne name, Maatkare, enclosed in a cartouche. This name may be roughly translated as Maat (the goddess of truth) is the life force of Re (the sun god). Before the cartouche is a large hieroglyph of a bee which can be translated as kingship, and is part of a title belonging to the pharaoh. The nb basket beneath may be a filler or could be translated as lord. The scarab is pierced through the length and originally attached to a bronze ring which has now broken away (accession number 4.9.07.22b). It comes from tomb no. 152 at Deir Rifa, excavated by Flinders Petrie (British School of Archaeology in Egypt), who noted that the scarab allowed him to date different forms of pottery at Deir Rifa to the mid 18th Dynasty.