A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron carrying two hoes

carrying two hoes

Carved from translucent calcite alabaster

and knot placement that form the basis of the khipu’s encoded information

acquired prior to 1909

A Royal Egyptian Steatite Scarab, 25th Dynasty, ca. 747 - 656 BCE Medium - Iron carrying two hoescarved from steatite, with naturalistically rendered legs, pierced horizontally for suspension. Functioning as an amulet, the base is finely inscribed Men Kheper Ra Khmeny. Men Kheper Ra Khmeny was a vassal king of the 25th Dynasty, and all evidence indicates that he ruled in Upper Egypt at Hermopolis. He appears with full royal titles on a plaque in the British Museum. For a related example, see Petrie, Scarabs and Cylinders, pl. LIII, no. 25c 7.