Egyptian Cylinder Seal (replica)

Creator

Preview

Creation Date

ca. 3000 BCE

Culture

Egyptian

Medium

Cast resin

Dimensions

15/16 in. (2.3 cm)

Credit Line

Purchased by the Department of Art History, for Summer Scholars research by Ellie Westfall (’27), 2025.

Accession Number

2025.106.1

Provenance

Purchased by Ellie Westfall from Ancient Replicas on July 12, 2025. Ancient Replicas is an Etsy storefront based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania run by Dr. Stephen Meyers, the president of The Institute for Biblical and Scientific Studies.

Description

This is a replica of an Early Dynastic and pre-pyramid cylinder seal with an inscription in hieroglyphs saying "Priest of Hathor”. Technically, it says “high priest” and has a bird in a serekh box that could designate its association with Hathor. This could be modeled after a seal found at Saqqara, a pre-pyramid worship site for Hathor. I do question why not "priestess" of Hathor instead of “priest,” as women were the primary servants of Hathor cult sites. I can see “hm ntr hwthr” which translates to “slave of king hathor,” an alias for “high priest”.

Ellie Westfall (’27) for Summer Scholars 2025