Scarab Finger Ring

Scarab composed of strips of lapis lazuli, turquoise and carnelian inlay (cloisonné) along the length of the wing-case, with only half remaining. Thorax inlaid in carnelian, head inlay is missing. Legs made from thin strips of gold either side, on a solid gold base-plate. Passing through the length is a thin wire hoop with twisted terminals. Negative A539 in the archive of the Garstang Museum of Archaeology (University of Liverpool) is an image of three rings with a pencil annotation 1043 A'09 beside one ring that is now in the British Museum (EA 65307). Gold rings 1977.108.2 and 1977.109.3 are also in this photograph and in Steven Snape's publication of Garstang's 1906-09 excavations at Abydos he includes both 1977.108.2 and 1977.109.3 as being from 1043 A'09 (Snape 1985, 387). However, it is not certain if the photograph just indicates British Museum EA 65307 is from 1043 A'09. Our archives suggest 1977.108.2 is from 941 A'09 (Sir Francis Danson acquired this group from the estate of Hilton Price). 1977.109.3 is not included with the 941 A'09 group and is more likely to be from a tomb with other Middle Kingdom material. On the museum record card it is recorded as being from 1037 A'09.