Ancient Egyptian Forum

svord · Tomb Robber Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 1

I am thinking about buying an actual scarab from ancient Egypt. I found this site called The International Reliquary of Ancient Artifacts at www.myebaystore.com. Does anyone know anything about them. How about their prices? You can view all of their scarabs by typing "scarabs" into their search box or whatever it's called.

Thanks
Scott

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tnrees · Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject:

I would like to own an ancient artifact but I am worried about this sort of thing encouraging the robbing of archaeological sites.
I do own a shabti I bought in Egypt as a reproduction that I have been told might actualy be genuine - they are so common it is not worth making fakes.

czarina · Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:07 pm Post subject: :-/

I actually joined this forum with the same question in mind.

The site I found was http://www.vcoins.com/ancient/hixenbaugh/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idcategory=33&curPage=1 and I am worried they may be fakes. :-/

Can I get any opinions on this?

bookwormdan · Tomb Robber Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Posts: 1

I want something inexpensive.
Where can I find an artifact like that?

Osiris II · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:21 pm Post subject:

czarina,
I don't consider myself an expert enough to classify the authenticity of objects, but just a quick look at the photos in the first page of the site you posted I would call them fakes. That's the poorest example of "pretend" hieroglyphs I've ever seen.
Overall, I would not try to get "real" objects. Purchasing them is iffy at best. You'd do better to get a good repro (like you'd find at www.egyptiandreams.com).

Osiris II · Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject:

svord,
The prices cited are over the top! As I said above, I am no expert, but they do not look at all real to me. There are outstanding examples, such as number 5, advertised as a heart scarab. Heart scarabs always had a certain formula to keep the heart from speaking out against the person going through the judgment. There are not enough hieroglyphs on the bottom to say anything! Perhaps someone who can read hieroglyphs can tell you if any say anything. They just look like poorly done symbols to me...

tnrees · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:50 am Post subject:

Another thing about possible fakes. I have heard of 2 cases where genuine objects might have been rejected. Memphis
1) Most new kingdom stuff is from Luxor area so some finds from Memphuis were doubted because they were in the local regional style.
2) A reputable archaeologist found several coffins which would have been considered fake without the provenance he supplied (I think the illiterate maker had put imitation hieroglyphs on them).