Hi
Maria,
From the photos you posted, your
scarab appears to be genuine/ancient. Design motifs with sphinxes are a well-known
type. They seemingly first appear during the
New Kingdom and were made down to the Late Period.
For similar examples, with winged
uraeus(?), see:
1. Steinbüchel, Anton. Scarabees Egyptiens Figures du
Musee des Antiques de sa Majeste L’Empereur, Antoine Strauss,
Vienna, 1824: Plate III, No. 182. The
collection was subsequently transferred to the Kunsthistorisches Museum,
Vienna. Sadly, this
scarab was one of those looted during World War II.
2.
Petrie, W.M.F. Buttons & Design
Scarabs,
London, 1925: p. 23, Plate XIII, No. 817.
3. Loud, Gordon (
Field Director).
Megiddo II,
Seasons of 1935-39, Plates, The University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publication, Volume LXII, Chicago, 1948: Plates 152, 157 and 158, Nos 152 and 175.
4.
Matouk, Fouad S. Corpus du Scarabee egyptien, Volume 2, Analyse Thematique, Beirut, 1977. Pages 105 and 384, Nos 593 and 594.
5. Giveon,
Raphael.
Egyptian Scarabs from Western
Asia from the
Collections of the British Museum,
Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica 3, Freiburg/Göttingen, 1985: page 180, Nos 48260 and 48188, page 180, Nos. 11 and 12.
6. Aubet,
Maria E.
et al. The Phoenician Cemetery of Tyre Al Bass II,
Scarabs and
Seals from the 2002-2005
Seasons at Tyre Al Bass; pages 388 and 400, Fig.5.21, dated to Third Intermediate Period, circa 750-700 B.C. in Bulletin d’Archaeologie et d’
Architecture Lebanaises, Beyrouth, 2014.
The
inscription is pictorial, symbolic, so it doesn't really "say" anything. The
sphinx represents the
king, the figure in front of it may represent the goddess of truth Maat, and the winged
serpent, kingly power.
I
hope this helps.
Russ