Tutankhamun's Pectoral with Solar and Lunar Emblems and Scarab
By STAN PARCHIN
May 8, 2010
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Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18 (ca. 1332-1323 B.C.). Pectoral with Solar and Lunar Emblems and Scarab. Gold, silver, calcedony, lapis lazuli, calcite, obsidian, turquoise and colored glass. H. 14.9 cm; W. 14.5 cm. Thebes, Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62). Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
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Much of the jewelry found in the modest tomb of ancient Egypt's Pharaoh Tutankhamun (r. 1332-1323 B.C.) is rich in religious symbolism. His delicate Pectoral with Solar and Lunar Emblems and Scarab is one such outstanding piece. Among the more than 130 artifacts in the special exhibition Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, the exquisite work was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in the four-room sepulcher's Treasury. The pendant's inventive design reveals both obvious and arcane aspects of traditional beliefs restored by the boy-king after the short-lived experiment in monotheism pursued by his heretical father Akhenaten (r. 1353-1336 B.C.).
The Scarab
Five kinds of scarab or beetle sculptures figured prominently in art produced during the reign of Amenhotep III (r. 1390-1353 B.C.). They enjoyed renewed popularity at the court of his grandson Tutankhamun after Akhenaten's Amarna interlude. Under Amenhotep III, the portable objects' flat undersides were inscribed to commemorate the pharaoh's marriage to Queen Tiye, wild bull and lion hunts, the arrival of the Mitannian king's daughter and her 317-woman retinue and the digging of a royal lake. More than 200 such works from this period have survived.
The scarab also played an important role in Egyptian creation myths. It represented the young sun god Khepri, a beetle that rolled its eggs in a ball of dung. Once buried, the insect's young consumed the fertile excrement. The offspring's emergence from the ground nourished and fully formed was likened to the rising sun, which became known as Khepri-kheper-emta ("Khepri, who is born from the earth").
Tutankhamun's Solar and Lunar Pectoral
The complex imagery of Tutankhamun's solar and lunar pectoral begins with a central scarab made of translucent greenish-yellow chalcedony. A falcon's outstretched wings are attached to the beetle's body. Egyptologists identify the composite deity as Khepri rolling the solar disk at dawn. The insect's forelegs support a gold and turquoise barque, the boat's ends terminating in protective uraei (cobras) surmounted by sun disks. The vessel carries three emblems of the moon: the left udjat eye of the god Horus, a silver lunar disk and a gold crescent. On the moon's surface stands the royal figure of Tutankhamun between the divine ibis-headed Thoth and Re-Harakhty, symbolizing wisdom and the sun.
The talons of the beetle's hind vulture legs each hold a shen, the hieroglyphic sign of infinity. They also grasp open lilies and lotuses, flora commonly associated with Upper (southern) Egypt. Suspended from the pendant's curved bottom edge is a decorative garland of cornflowers, blue lotuses and papyrus plants emanating from poppy buds.
Sources
Edwards, I.E.S. Treasures of Tutankhamun (exh. cat.). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 62-63, 136-137.
_____. Tutankhamun: His Tomb and Its Treasures. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art & Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1976, 168-169.
_____. Tutankhamun's Jewelry. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1976, 26, 40.
James, T.G.H. Tutankhamun. New York: MetroBooks, 2000, 230.
Kozloff, Arielle P. and Betsy M. Bryan with Lawrence M. Berman. Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and His World (exh. cat.). Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1992, 67-72.
Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, The Tomb, The Royal Treasure. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1990, 150-154.