Eventually everyone is going to get tired of me talking about Hatshepsut π³π¦π but I donβt care! I love anything that has her cartouche on it, and the scarab collection at the MET is no exception!! The MET has a new way of displaying the scarabs that makes it much easier to take pictures, and you can really see each one close up! There are a lot of the scarabs, so eventually you guys will see them all!
These two scarabs have very similar inscriptions carved into them, however one little symbol makes a total difference in the meaning of the inscription! The scarab on the left says βπ³π¦πππΏπΏβ which translates to βMaatkare, Lord of the Two Landsβ while the scarab on the right says βπ³π¦ππππΏπΏβ which translates to βMaatkare, Lady of the Two Lands.β
The symbol βπβ makes the phrase feminine! Itβs really interesting to see a scarab with just the symbol for Lord π because while Hatshepsut π³π¦π was the Pharaoh ππ», most of the inscriptions that pertain to her use the female form of words.