A green faience scarab with well-defined clypeus, prothorax and elytra marked by single lines; pierced for suspension. The underside is carved with a hunt scene showing an archer aiming his bow, to the front of him a lion and an antelope.
Supplied with hard wax impression of the design.
 
Egyptian Late Dynastic period: Circa 7th-4th century BC.
 
Condition: Very Fine, slight damage to the underside on one edge.
Length: 16.2 mms (0.6 ins).
 
Provenance: From the Gustave Mustaki collection, a collector of antiquities who amassed large collection in Alexandria (Egypt) in the early 20th century and his collection came to the UK under Egyptian licence in 1947.
 
Compare with Matouk, F.S., Corpus du scarabée égyptien. Vol. 2: Analyse thématique, Beirut, 1976, p.398, no. 1517. The scarab may have been worn for personal protection, invoking the hunter's ability to repel threats.
 
See our blog post on scarabs