Carved Steatite Scarab Commemorating Marriage of Pharaoh Amenhotep III 1370 BC

Description

Up for sale is this tremendous opportunity to own a true piece of history, a carved stone scarab beetle with row upon row of hieroglyphics – commemorating the marriage of pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife Tiye of the 18th dynasty carved circa 1370 BC This scarab is one of only 56 examples known to exist others being in the collections of the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Walters Museum of Art.
The scarab is carved on the underside with hieroglyphics that translate as ….
Regnal Year 11 under the Majesty of... Amenhotep (III), ruler of Thebes, given life, and the Great Royal Wife Tiye; may she live; her father's name was Yuya, her mother's name Tuya. His Majesty commanded the making of a lake for the great royal wife Tiye—may she live—in her town of Djakaru. (near
Akhmin
). Its length is 3,700 (cubits) and its width is 700 (cubits). (His Majesty) celebrated the Festival of Opening the Lake in the third month of Inundation, day sixteen. His Majesty was rowed in the royal barge
Aten-tjehen
in it [the lake].
[16]
The scarab is carved of what appears to be steatite, or a form of soapstone, that still retains color from its original glaze, which originally allowed the scarab to shine in the sun a symbol of the god Khepri and also of the glory of the Pharaoh. The glaze was originally a rich blue green color, which can be seen in the recesses of the scarabs carving. A significant portion of the glaze has darkened over time and is now a dark blue black color due possibly to the extended exposure with sand and debris before being recovered in the early 1920’s.
The scarab has a hand hewn hole that goes vertically along the length of the body of the carving which originally allowed it to be worn on the body or displayed strung on a cord or threaded onto a garment.
The scarab measures: 3 3/8” long by 2 ¼” wide by approximately 1 ¼” tall
The scarab is being offered for sale here for the first time in its history. If comes through the family of an esteemed professor from Ohio State University, whose possession it was in from 1923. The scarab from that point on was a part of his collection in which he curated his own unique cabinet of curiosities combining ancient roman and Egyptian antiquities alongside Native American Relics, and etc. with a particular emphasis on stone and hard stone carvings. The scarab is accompanied alongside a small piece of rolled paper which the professor kept rolled in the hole of the scarab detailing its history. The piece is written in brown ink and reads:
Scarab
Amenhotep III & Thiy
Historical and Geographical.
XVIII Dyn.
This is a rare opportunity to own an incredible piece of history and potentially the last opportunity that will come up for quite some time as the last Commemorative Scarab of Amenhotep III’s reign to come for sale was in 2012 from the Groppi Collection sold by christies for ,000 USD.