Creative Commons Licensed (or Other Fair Use with Copyright) ‘Scaraboid Molds’ Shaped as ‘African Heads’ from the Greek Settlement at Naukratis, Egypt
Back to Creative Commons Licensed Pots, Vases, etc.
Back to Creative Commons Licensed Jewelry, Gemstones, etc.
Scholars debate when (& by which Pharaoh) the Greeks were granted the right to settle at Naukratis, Egypt (for trade/contact with Egypt/Africa, the Levant, etc.). Though some east-Greeks, e.g., the Milesians, lived, worked, & traded with the locals and Phoenicians at Naukratis in the late 7th c. BCE, scholars now date the Greek settlement’s foundation to the early 6th c. BCE. As for the ‘African head’ scaraboid molds below: we suspect that such scaraboid seals were not as popular in the local, Egyptian market. Apparently, the Greeks at Naukratis produced them for export throughout the Mediterranean region (& even as far as southern Russia). Greek consumers loved Egyptian/Egyptianized items — amulets/scarabs carved with magical symbols for protection, in particular. Hence, the molds below target a broader Mediterranean — especially Greek — audience. Presumably, their ‘exotic African’ faces lent them an air of ‘Egyptian authenticity’. (Remember: Greek art often portrayed ‘Egyptians’ as ‘black’ people!)
- Webb, V. 2019. “Faience Finds from Naukratis and Their Implications for the Chronology of the Site”. British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan 24.41-70;
- James, P. 2003. “Naukratis Revisited”. Hyperboreus: Studia Classica 9(2).235-64;
- Masson, A. 2018. “Scarabs, Scaraboids, and Amulets”, in Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt, A. Villing et al., eds. The British Museum.3-94.
Composite image, terracotta rounded mold in Nile clay (orange red micaceous Nile silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363740001 (left) and 1363743001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. (The original mold has faint remains of yellow paste/glaze inside). Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363748001 (left) and 1363749001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid-mold in Nile clay (dark brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363756001 (left) and 1363757001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid-mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363761001 (left) and 1363763001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE -570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363766001 (left) and 1363767001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) of Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363770001 (left) and 1363771001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363780001 (left) and 1363781001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish orange silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363785001 (left) and 1363786001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish orange micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363789001 (left) and 1363790001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid-mold in Nile clay (reddish orange micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363793001 (left) and 1363794001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. The original mold contains some remains of yellow paste inside. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363799001 (left) and 1363800001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363803001 (left) and 1363804001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363808001 (left) and 1363809001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363813001 (left) and 1363814001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish orange micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363819001 (left) and 1363820001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Original mold has faint remains of yellow paste inside. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363829001 (left) and 1363830001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. (Remains of yellow paste are still inside the original mold). Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363834001 (left) and 1363835001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. (There are some faint remains of yellow paste in the original mold). Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363838001 (left) and 1363839001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish orange micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workship) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363842001 (left) and 1363843001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. The original mold still containts faint remains of yellow paste/glaze. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1363847001 (left) and 1363849001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. The original mold has slight remains of a whitish paste inside. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1365531001 (left) and 13655532001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta rounded scaraboid mold in Nile clay (orange brown micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. The original mold still contains some remains of yellow paste. Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1365545001 (left) and 1365546001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Composite image, terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (reddish orange micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head and its clay cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum. Asset nos. 1365554001 (left) and 1365555001 (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in pale red Nile clay of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Asset no. 1613058925. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (pale reddish orange micaceous silt) of ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found at the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Asset no. 605031001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (pale red micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head. The mold contains remnants of yellow paste/glaze. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found in the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Asset no. 605573001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (pale red with some mica inclusions) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head. There are some traces of whitish core material in the mold’s concave areas. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found in the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Aseet no. 605611001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in Nile clay (pale orange brown micaceous silt) of an ‘African/Egyptian’ man’s head. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found in the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Asset no. 605617001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Terracotta scaraboid mold in very pale red Nile clay of an ‘African’/’Egyptian’ man’s head. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found in the ‘Scarab House’ (a Greek workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum. Asset no. 1366007001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.
Amulet mold of a person’s head with plaster cast. Greek, Archaic period, ca. 600 BCE – 570 BCE. Made and found in the ‘Scarab House’ (a workshop) in Naukratis, Egypt.
Citation: Image © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Object no. E.42.1887. CC BY-NC-ND
Back to Creative Commons Licensed Pots, Vases, & Other Containers
