WALTERS-EG
Walters Art Museum (Egyptian) · jewelry
Scarab Ring
Description
<p>This ring, a less expensive version of Walters 57.1957, is composed of a glazed steatite scarab set in a wide bronze band. It is attached to a hoop which tapers into a wire small enough to go through the perforation of the scarab. Decorative hieroglyphs are carved into the flat face of the back of the scarab. Above is the red crown flanked by "protection" symbols, below is a "djed" pillar of Osiris flanked by signs in the shape of a basket.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/54.2463' rel='external'>Scarab Ring</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A scarab-shaped scarab ring fragment with a raised scarab image on a greenish glazed surface, showing wear and corrosion on the bezel/setting.
The object appears as a ring or bezel in the shape of (or cut from) a scarab ring, with a thick outer rim. The outer surface is predominantly green with blue-green and dark patination consistent with a glazed steatite base that has degraded. On the right-hand side, a carved/raised central motif shows a seated/squatting figure or symbolic form with surrounding decorative elements; below it are horizontal bands and stacked marks that resemble hieroglyphic or decorative incisions, though no fully legible individual signs can be confirmed from this image quality and angle. The central motif is polychrome in spots (rust-brown/orange and muted green) suggesting metal corrosion and/or glaze loss. No readable Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. No clear royal cartouche is visible.
decorative
unknown
poor
Deities
unknown
Materials
green/blue-green glazed steatite (faience-like)bronze or copper alloy setting (corroded)
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
English description
[Inscription]: The upper part depicts Lower Egyptian crown on nb-basket: kingship and magical protection, flanked by s3-signs ""protection,"" the lower part a dd-pillar ""stability,"" flanked by nfr-signs ""perfection."" The hieroglyphic signs have no syntactical context, but the combination of signs conveys special magic protection and long-lasting perfection.
Connections
Deities
Osiris
Cross-references (2)
- Walters-AccNum 54.2463 tier-2
- Walters-id 2152 tier-2
Similar inscriptions · by content embedding
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Walters Art Museum (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.