THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 25TH DYNASTY, 747-656 B.C.

Details

AN EGYPTIAN LAPIS LAZULI HEART SCARAB FOR PA-DI-NUBET
THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, 25TH DYNASTY, 747-656 B.C.
3 ¼ in. (8.2 cm.) long

Provenance

Private Collection, acquired by 1921.
Chafik Chammas, Paris.
Jean Roudillon (1923-2020), Paris; thence by descent to the current owner.

Literature

É Chassinat, “Note sur deux scarabées,” Recueil de travaux relatifs à la philologie et à l'archéologie égyptiennes et assyriennes, vol. 39, 1921, p. 110, no. 1.
P. Vernus, Athribis: Textes et documents relatifs à la géographie, aux cultes, et à l'histoire d'une ville du delta égyptien à l'époque pharaonique, Cairo, 1978, p. 76, no. 81.
S. Bickel and P. Tallet, “Quelques monuments privés héliopolitains de la Troisième Période intermédiaire,” Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, vol. 100, 2000, p. 136, n. 30.
K. Jansen-Winkeln, Inschriften der Spätzeit, vol. III (Die 25. Dynastie), Wiesbaden, 2009, p. 365, no. 52.35.

Conditions of sale

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Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

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Lot Essay

Magnificently carved from a large piece of lapis lazuli, this impressive heart scarab bears an inscription that ties it to the site of Athribis in the Egyptian Delta. The scarab is pierced with four small holes that would have allowed it to be attached to the mummy wrappings of the deceased. Invoking Osiris Khenty-khety, the offering formula carved on its base is dedicated for the benefit of the Chief Shield-Bearer of Pharaoh, a man named Pa-di-nubet: “An offering which the King gives to Osiris-Khenty-khety (or Khentekhtai), that he may give invocation-offerings to the Chief Shield-Bearer of the Great House Pa-di-nubet.” The rarity of lapis, as well as the scale and confidence of the carving of this scarab, implies that its owner was a man of some importance, although his title may have been largely an honorific one.

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