Late Bronze Age Cornelian and Red Jasper Scarabs with Cross Designs. Egyptian, Levantine or Minoan?

This contribution reassesses the date and origin of a particular group of cornelian and red jasper scarabs, displaying line designs such as crosses and stars on their bases. The numbers that surfaced in the southern Levant and the Aegean have led scholars to attribute them to Ramesside Egyptian, Late Bronze Age IIB/III Palestinian, or even Middle Minoan II workshops. An assessment of the Egyptian finds, however, remained wanting. This article presents an overview of all provenanced artifacts and argues that the recorded quantities and, more importantly, their archaeological context and distribution pattern throughout Egypt, the Levant and the Aegean indicate an Egyptian origin and 18th Dynasty date for these scarabs with geometric designs.

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