Scarab Amulet

The small oval-shaped amulet features engraved decoration on both flat faces. On one side, the incisions depict the body of a scarab beetle; on the other, a lion attacking a man is represented. Beneath the lion’s forelegs, marks are visible that some scholars interpret as a human figure lying on the ground, while others read them as Phoenician or Aramaic letters. At one of the upper ends there is a perforation, made so that the object could be worn.

The ornament was found in an aristocratic tomb belonging to a child, discovered in the Necropoli di Macchiabate, near Francavilla Marittima. It formed part of a rich grave assemblage that also included amber jewelry, personal bronze objects, ceramic vessels, and a female terracotta figurine (the so-called “Peppinella”). The amulet is an imported object from the eastern Mediterranean: studies suggest that it was probably produced in Cilicia by craftsmen belonging to the so-called “Lyre Player Group.” Similar objects circulated across various areas of the Mediterranean, from Greece to Etruria, bearing witness to the intense commercial and cultural exchanges among different peoples during the 1st millennium BC.

The decision to place an eastern ornament in a child’s tomb suggests a symbolic or protective function, intended to safeguard the spirit of the girl buried together with it.