Giant sculpture of a scarab beetle from Istanbul, modern Turkey. Egyptian, perhaps Ptolemaic period, 332-30 BC. The scarab beetle is one of the enduring symbols of ancient Egypt, representing rebirth and associated with the rising sun. This diorite sculpture, would presumably have originally stood in a temple. It is said to be Ptolemaic (305-30 BC), and may have been taken to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), when Constantinople was the capital of the later Roman Empire (from AD 330).

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Giant sculpture of a scarab beetle from Istanbul, modern Turkey. Egyptian, perhaps Ptolemaic period, 332-30 BC. The scarab beetle is one of the enduring symbols of ancient Egypt, representing rebirth and associated with the rising sun. This diorite sculpture, would presumably have originally stood in a temple. It is said to be Ptolemaic (305-30 BC), and may have been taken to Constantinople (modern Istanbul), when Constantinople was the capital of the later Roman Empire (from AD 330).

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Size: 4600px × 4022px
Location:
Photo credit: © World History Archive / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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