The project on seals, seal amulets and seal impressions from excavations in Egypt and Sudan is funded by two grants from the German Research Foundation (DFG): the Heisenberg grant ‘Tradition, historical references and functional classifications of the omnipresent in ancient Egyptian culture’ (2025–2030) and the research grant ‘Past and Present in Scarab-shaped Seal Amulets from Ancient Egypt and Sudan in the Third Intermediate Period and Beyond’ (2025–2028). The project not only aims to catalogue seal amulets and seal impressions from excavations, but also deals in depth with their materiality, their contexts of use, the handling of historical models in the production of new specimens, and the associated perceptions of the objects.

The current first phase focuses on objects from the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period. In the first half of the 1st millennium BCE, Egyptian and Egyptianising scarabs reached the most remote regions of the Mediterranean. Their origin and chronology are of interest to various archaeological disciplines. However, scarabs from excavations in Egypt and Sudan itself remain largely undocumented and under-researched. The project analyses the typology of scarabs excavated in Egypt and Sudan from the late Ramesside period, the Third Intermediate Period and the Late period, based on publications, archive materials and a re-examination of a representative sample in museums. It also explores how ancient artisans imitated scarabs from earlier periods and invented new types that referenced earlier models, not only by applying archaic inscriptions and motifs, but also by deliberately replicating the features of earlier scarabs. In contrast to earlier studies on this material, which focused mainly on the inscriptions and iconography on the undersides, the project takes a holistic view of scarabs, taking into account their morphological features and small details. The project analyses the regional and chronological distribution of features, distinguishing between imitated features and new traits.

Excavated scarabs from Egypt and Sudan contain significantly more information than can be gleaned from the plates in the old excavation reports, which are still cited as the main source for this material. All the data collected by the project is being incorporated into a digital platform for scarabs from excavations in Egypt and Sudan, including photographs (including new ones taken in museums), detailed descriptions, bibliographic information, and information on the contexts in which they were found. A controlled vocabulary for describing scarab characteristics and motifs is being developed to make the documentation of scarabs more comprehensible, consistent, and universal.

The aim of this new open access platform is to serve as a basis for future studies on Egyptian scarab-shaped seal amulets and their impressions, and as a hub for the exchange of information within and beyond the discipline.

Ilin-Tomich, A., Boschloos, V., Beyond the Most Obviously Interesting: Aims and Methods in Documenting and Processing Scarabs, in: Kilian, A., Pruß, A., Zöller-Engelhardt, M. (eds), Excavating the Extra-Ordinary 2: Challenges & Merits of Working with Small Finds. Proceedings of the International Workshop at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, 25–26 November 2022. Heidelberg 2024, 125–132. Open access.