archaicwonder:Extremely rare early Egyptian human-headed scarab for Hatshepsut, Second Intermediate
archaicwonder:Extremely rare early Egyptian human-headed scarab for Hatshepsut, Second Intermediate Period, 13th Dynasty, circa 1786-1710 BCThe green jasper heart scarab is finely carved with a human face and the underside with eleven rows of funerary text from Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead, inscribed for a woman named ‘Hatshepsut’.This rare heart scarab is one of the earliest in existence, and certainly one of the earliest for a woman. It’s parallel, the earliest male heart scarab, is in the British Museum and is remarkably similar being made of the same stone with a human head and from the 13th Dynasty. The name Hatshepsut, although not referring to the famous later queen, is well known from the late Middle Kingdom. The combination of scarab body and human face may indicate the transformation process of the renewing sun god and was most likely used as a funerary amulet. -- source link