Nefertiti's Golden Scarab Revealed: 3300 Years Under the Sea
In my first blog post, I have shown you the Egyptian Bracelet of Good Fortune, which is one of the many handmade jewelry designs in my collection of museum quality reproduction jewelry. You can see the Sterling silver bracelet below which is adorned by charms that are inspired by genuine archaeological objects.
In that blog have talked about the Uluburun shipwreck, an unfortunate Bronze Age cargo ship which sailed the Mediterranean and carried an incredible collection royal treasures. On a faithful day, perhaps due to a storm, the ship and its crew met their demise.
Following its discovery in 1984 by a sponge diver of the coast of Kas, a lovely coastal town located in present day Turkey, the 3300 year old shipwreck has gifted us invaluable riches and a wealth of archaeological information on Bronze age seafaring. And on a personal level, it has given me endless amounts of inspiration for my Ancient Egypt themed reproduction jewelry designs. In particular a small golden scarab has to be the most amazing artifact for me.
In Ancient Egypt large scarab beetles were sacred. God Khepri, the creator god and the solar deity was basically a common scarab beetle. Ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri would push the setting sun along the sky the same way a real beetle would roll a heap of dung. Furthermore, scarabs were associated to rebirth. The form of the scarab beetle presented itself in the form of protective jewelry & amulets, which were adorned by all Egyptians. Scarabs were commonly carved from steatite, a soft stone that hardens when fired, or molded from Egyptian faience. Hardstone scarabs were also made out of green jasper, amethyst and carnelian. Scarabs made out of metals were rare.
The only surviving scarab that belonged to Queen Nefertiti was discovered in the Uluburun shipwreck. And since it is made out of gold, this scarab is truly one of a kind and simply priceless. It was a real challenge but with hard work and attention to detail, I was able to manufacture a nice museum-quality reproduction of Queen Nefertiti's golden scarab seal. This reproduction scarab has been used in many of my handmade jewelry designs including the Sterling silver ring, which is available for sale in our online store. If you click on the photo, you will be taken to the product page. Since still photos can do so much justice to this beautiful scarab, I have recently shot videos and included them here for you to enjoy.
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