semiticmuseum:

Record shots of a reportedly cursed scarab donated to the Semitic Museum in 1952.  The scarab was mounted on a silver ring earlier in the twentieth century, after which it is said to have wreaked substantial havoc on the Arizonan family that owned it.  Ultimately, they saw no solution other than putting some considerable distance between themselves and the artifact.

In the second picture, carved hieroglyphics are visible on the back of the scarab.  These symbols indicate that the artifact was originally used as a stamp seal; its original owner would press this object into a substance like soft clay or wax to sign his or her name.  These days, an artifact like this is likely to stay in Egypt after being excavated, but legislation governing the sale of antiquities was much more lax in the early- to mid-twentieth century.  Non-Egyptians who subscribed to Orientalizing trends would sometimes collect funerary artifacts and use them in ways their original owners never intended — hence, the problematic mounting of this ancient stamp seal on a modern ring.

Similar scarabs are on view in our Egypt: Magic and the Afterlife exhibit, though experts consider those artifacts far less hazardous to our visitors’ health.

103 Notes/ Hide

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    Want
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    I think I could have a go at making something like this too. Just need to find a scarab bead!
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