While exploring ancient copper factories in southern Jordan, a team of archaeologists picked up an Egyptian amulet that bears the name of the powerful pharaoh Sheshonq I.
The tiny artifact could attest to the fabled military campaign that Sheshonq I waged in the region nearly 3,000 years ago, researchers say.
The scarab (called that because it's shaped like a scarab beetle) was found at the copper-producing site of Khirbat Hamra Ifdan in the Faynan district, some 31 miles (50 kilometers) south of the Dead Sea. The site, which was discovered during excavations in 2002, was home to intense metal production during the Early Bronze Age, between about 3000 B.C. and 2000 B.C. But there is also evidence of more recent smelting activities at Khirbat Hamra Ifdan during the Iron Age, from about 1000 B.C. to 900 B.C.
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| Credit: University of California, San Diego |
The hieroglyphic sequence on the scarab reads: "bright is the manifestation of Re, chosen of Amun/Re." That moniker corresponds to the throne name of Sheshonq I, the founding monarch of Egypt's 22nd Dynasty, who is believed to have ruled from about 945 B.C. to 924 B.C., according to a description of the artifact published online last week in the journal Antiquity.
The lead author of the paper, Thomas E. Levy, an anthropology professor at the University of California, San Diego, said the function of scarabs changed throughout Egypt's history.
"Most of the time, they were amulets, sometimes jewelry, and periodically, they were inscribed for use as personal or administrative seals," Levy said in a statement. "We think this is the case with the Sheshonq I scarab we found."
