In Ancient Egypt, the earliest examples of glass
were in the form of faience-glazed clay beads
that can be dated as far back as the Neolithic
era. Later on, a faience was also employed in
the manufacture of amulets and ushabti.
However, it was not until the Predynastic era that
pure glass as a separate material first appeared
in the form of translucent beads. By the Middle
Kingdom, glass was frequently used to make
amulets, mosaic tesserae, and little animal
figurines. During the New Kingdom, territorial
expansions along the Eastern Mediterranean
coast exposed the Egyptians to the advanced
glass manufacturing centers of the Levant. It is
likely that some of the local craftsmen were
brought back to Egypt as slaves where they
introduced a variety of revolutionary new
techniques including the manufacturing of glass
vessels. The pharaoh maintained a monopoly on
the production of glass vessels so that only
members of his court, top dignitaries, and the
high priests would have been able to possess
such pieces. This fact is confirmed by the
discovery of several 18th Dynasty workshops
located within close proximity to royal palaces.
In this way, sophisticated glass works were
intimately linked to the elite classes of Egyptian
society.
By far the most important amulet in Ancient
Egypt, the scarab was symbolically as sacred to
the Egyptians as the cross is to Christians. Based
upon the dung beetle, this sacred creature forms
a ball of dung around its semen and rolls it over
the sand, creating a larger ball. Eventually, the
scarab drops the excrement ball into its burrow
where the female lays her eggs on the ground
and covers them with the ball. In turn, the larvae
consume the ball and emerge in the following
days from the ground as if miraculously reborn.
In the life cycle of the beetle, the Ancient
Egyptians envisioned a microcosm of the daily
rebirth of the sun. They imagined the ancient sun
god Khepri was a great scarab beetle rolling the
sun across the heavens. The scarab also became
a symbol of the enduring human soul as well,
hence its frequent appearance in funerary art.
Scarabs of various materials form an important
class of Egyptian antiquities. Such objects usually
have the bottoms inscribed with designs,
simultaneously functioning as both amulets and
seals. Of all the different types of scarabs, by far
the most prized and important as those known as
heart scarabs. Towards the end of the
mummification process, after all the major
organs were removed, amulets were traditionally
placed over the body to serve as substitutes for
the viscera. Foremost among them was the heart
scarab. This imposing amulet would have been
placed on the throat of the mummy, on the
chest, or over the heart as a substitute. Some
were worn by the deceased on a chain or a cord,
hung around the neck, or mounted in a gold
setting as a pectoral. Clearly, the spiritual
importance of such is evident. The heart of the
deceased would be reborn in the afterlife just as
the Egyptians thought the offspring of the beetle
emerged from the ball of dung and just as the
sun was reborn each day, dragged across the sky
by the great scarab god Khepri.
This gorgeous blue glass heart scarab, dated to
the 18th Dynasty, is the only known glass
example of this type in existence. More than just
the most coveted type of scarab amulet, this
piece is also an important example of the
evolution of glassmaking. Might this scarab have
been created by a master glassmaker from the
Levant who was brought into Egypt as a slave?
Or could it have been made by a native Egyptian
who learned the secrets of glassmaking from
such slaves? Overall, the scarab is a potent
symbol for the glories of Ancient Egypt as a
whole. In our hands, we hold a tangible reminder
of the mythology, religion, and funeral rites of
this civilization that continue to fascinate
mankind even today.
- (X.0435)
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