Hi Chinechi,
The scarabs of Thutmose III are problematic in that many scarabs bearing the pre-nomen "Men-Khepe-Ra" in a cartouche were made long after the death of Thutmose III. This happened for several reasons:
1. Thutmose III was able to "overthrow" Hatshepsut and Senmut with the aid of the Amen-Ra priesthood and he spent the rest of
his long reign (he died about 90 years old) thanking them with very generous gifts and they did all they could to repay
his generosity. It became a "mutual admiration society."
2. Thutmose III became famous for
his piety and
his cartouche became a symbol of
piety and eventually acquired amuletic properties.
3. He built a temple (one of many) called "Men-Khepe-Ra, is Glorious - in - Monuments" and 650 years later, during the reign of Takelot I, this temple was
still going. What better way to thank him than by issuing scarabs with
his cartouche in memory of
his generosity. This is my idea, it has not been proved or refuted by archaeological evidence.
4. Thutmose III is often called the "Napoleon" of ancient
Egypt. He embarked on 21
military campaigns, mostly to the
Levant, and never lost a battle. He built a vast navy that rued the eastern Mediterranean. Later rulers of ancient
Egypt wanted to be associated with
his military abilities so they took the name, pronomen, "Men-Kheper-Ra".
Is all this confusing? Yes, it is!
A massive volume has been published to clarify many of the problems associated with "Men-Kheper-Ra" scarabs, see
Jaeger, Bertrand. Essai de Classification et Dation
des Scarabées Menkhéperrê, prix de la Confédération Internationale
des Négociants en Œuvres D’Art 1979.
Orbis Biblicus et Oritentalis, Series Archaeologica 2. Fribourg/Göttingen: Éditions Universitaires/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982.
Your
inscription.
A scarab presents a very small
area upon which to write an
inscription, so artistic license was employed. Quite often verbs and determinatives were omitted;
abbreviations were created that make no sense, today; and idiomatic expressions (often local) were used - the meaning of which we will never understand. It is amazing philologists have been able to decipher as much as they have. Even so, translations made a century ago are often considered unacceptable by today's standards. When you look at inscriptions on scarabs - for the most
part - throw grammar out the window.
Traditionally, the pre-nomen of a
king was preceded by a sedge
plant and wasp, the suten net; it is missing on most acarabs and missing on yours but it is understood to mean "Lord of the Two Lands". The top three hieroglyphs and one of the feathers mean "Amen-Ra". A hoe, which is missing and the remaining feather would mean "beloved of"; and the
bowl would mean "lord". Thus the
inscription might read "Men-Khepe-Ra, lord of the two lands, beloved of the lord, Amen-Ra"
I'm no philologist; perhaps, there is some one here on the
Forum who knows more about ancient
Egyptian language than I do.
Since "Men-Khepe-Ra" in a or out of a cartouche is the name of more than one ancient
Egyptian ruler, only use the name of Thutmose III, when you are sure the item dates to
his reign - it helps to avoid confusion.
I
hope this helps.
Russ