A STEATITE SCARAB FOR SOBEK, LATE PERIOD

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A STEATITE SCARAB FOR SOBEK, LATE PERIOD This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve Egypt, 664-332 BC. Finely carved as a beetle with particular attention paid to the head and clypeus, while the legs are defined in low relief along the sides. The amulet is drilled horizontally for suspension. The base finely engraved with the crocodile-headed god Sobek holding a long-stemmed flower above the hatched neb-basket sign, reading ‘Sobek, the Lord’. Important Note: For essential information on the Jorgen Ruben Gallery Ledger and provenance documentation please visit here: www.zacke.at/rubencollection_ledger Dimensions: Length 1.9 cm The ancient Egyptians adored the dung beetle as a symbol of the daily passage of the sun, as it pushed the dung ball forward it mirrored the sun disk moving across the sky. From the First Intermediate Period to the Late Period, the scarab was a popular shape for small amulets and stamp seals as a symbol for creation and resurrection. Sobek was one of the most important and complex deities in ancient Egyptian religion, closely associated with the Nile, fertility, military power, and the unpredictable forces of water. Typically depicted either as a crocodile or as a human figure with a crocodile head, Sobek embodied both the life-giving abundance of the river and its dangerous, destructive power. His cult centers, particularly in the Faiyum region and at Kom Ombo, highlight his dual nature as both protector and formidable force, often linked with royal authority and divine kingship. Sobek was also integrated into broader theological systems, at times associated with solar deities such as Re, reflecting his role in cosmic regeneration and cyclical renewal. Worshipped from the Old Kingdom through the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, Sobek’s enduring presence in Egyptian religion underscores the central importance of the Nile in Egyptian life, where control over water and fertility was inseparable from ideas of divine protection, sovereignty, and cosmic order. Literature comparison: Compare a related glazed steatite scarab showing a similar composition to the underside, described as a “crocodile headed figure holding a flower”, 2.1 cm long, dated Dynasty 15, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 10.130.398. Compare a related steatite scarab with remnants of glaze, showing Sobek with uraei on the underside, 2.3 cm long, dated Second Intermediate Period, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 22.1.431. Compare a related steatite scarab with traces of green glaze, 3.3 cm long, spuriously dated to Dynasty 26, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 48.2.

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