WALTERS-EG
Walters Art Museum (Egyptian) · jewelry
Scarab with Name of Meri
Description
<p>This steatite scarab is inscribed on the flat underside with horizontally arranged writing naming an individual and making a statement of social status. The back of the scarab is incised with a very detailed design. The workmanship of the piece is good and it is carefully made. The scarab functioned as a private name seal, and as a user individualized amulet. It was originally mounted or threaded. The amulet should guarantee constancy of individual existence and social status. Meri was the High priest of Amun in Thebes in the reign of Amenophis II (1428-1397 BCE). He is well known from his tomb in Thebes, and his statue in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/42.49' rel='external'>Scarab with Name of Meri</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.
An oval scarab-shaped Egyptian amuletic object with a carved design and lines of hieroglyphic-like incisions on its face.
The image shows a close-up of an oval scarab (profileed with a domed back shape) viewed from above. The face (underside) is filled with shallow, incised marks that resemble hieroglyphic signs arranged in horizontal bands, including blocky rectangular elements and vertical strokes. A prominent circular/arched element appears near the right side of the face, alongside a few curved marks. The outer border shows a raised rim around the edge. The surface is beige-brown and appears weathered, with dark speckling and small losses that obscure fine details. No clear Greek/Coptic/Arabic text is visible. No clearly identifiable deity or royal cartouche is readable in this image, though the catalogue attributes the object to a personal name “Meri.”
decorative
Ancient Egyptian (scarab amulet tradition); exact period unclear from the image alone
fragmentary
Materials
beige-brown steatite (surface appears consistent with catalogue)
Signs
Incised hieroglyphic-like signs in horizontal bands (details unclear) ×10
Inscriptions (1)
Inscription #1
English description
[Translation] Chief of the Two Lands / to his boundaries, High priest of / Amun: Meri.
Cross-references (2)
- Walters-AccNum 42.49 tier-2
- Walters-id 21040 tier-2
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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.