Hi Folks,
Attached are some notes on an extremely
rare inscription pertaining to the
ram of Mendes. My library/bibliography pertaining to
scarabs consists of over 180 publications and only one illustrates and describes the
inscription on this
scaraboid. There were times when I thought the meaning of this
inscription was lost to
antiquity but discovered it was described and illustrated by a remarkable woman, Alice Grenfell (1842-1917).
Date:
New Kingdom or later
Material: Glazed
faience faded to tan/brown
Size: 15 x 11 x 5 mm
Weight: 0.94 grams
Condition: Two minor chips on edge
Description: A
scaraboid with smooth, slightly convex back and straight sides.
Base:
Inscription – djed, walking legs, nubty and ram’s
head, translated by Alice Grenfell as meaning “Go to Mendes to the (sacred) Ram of the Golden One."
Parallels or similar examples:
1. Grenfell, Alice. The
Scarab Collection of Queens College,
Oxford. The Journal of
Egyptian Archaeology, Volume II.
London: The
Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915, pp. 217-228: page 225, Number 188, Plate XXXIV - an identical
inscription.
Notes:
1. Alice Grenfell (as referenced above) indicated “There were various sacred cities, and presumably it was advisable to go to them at times. Thus we get occasionally a
scarab with two legs, Dad sign,
nub and ram’s
head on it (188).” She then indicated that the djed was a contraction for the city of Mendes, and continued “ Here was the sacred ram The Life of Ra . Ra is often figured as
Nub “The Golden One” on
scarabs (see 27), Plate I), so we may translate Go to Mendes to the (sacred) Ram of the Golden One…” .
2. Mrs. Grenfell may have
had occasion to view several
scarabs with this design motif, but no other examples are known to me. Perhaps, others have not been catalogued, illustrated or published; or remain in private
collections.
Bibliography:
1. Grenfell, Alice. The
Scarab Collection of Queens College,
Oxford. The Journal of
Egyptian Archaeology, Volume II.
London: The
Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915. This publication is online by The Government of
India, Department of Archaeology, at:
http://asi.nic.in/asi_books/26511.pdf.
Russ
