The scorpion is one of the earliest known hieroglyphic signs and was depicted on wooden and ivory labels found in the late-Predynastic and Early Dynastic royal cemetery at Abydos and also among the cache of cult equipment in the Early Dynastic temple at Hierakonpolis. The goddess Serket was the principal divine personification of the scorpion. Her name (Serqit, Serquit, Selket or Selkis) is an abbreviation of the phrase Serket-hetyt (or Serqit-hetu) meaning 'she who causes the throat to breathe'. She was one of the four protector goddesses of coffins and conopic jars, together with Isis, Neith and Nephthys - the four godesses were often represented on canopic chests. Isis was also said to have been protected from her enemies by seven scorpions. Another, less well-known deity, the god Shed (also described as 'the saviour'), was linked with the scorpion and thought to give protection against its sting. The scorpion hieroglyph was symbolic of the scorpion itself, and of the goddess Serket and the pre-dynastic king Scorpion. It was also used in hieroglyphic texts, for example, as a determinative to the word serk - meaning 'scorpion' and also 'to breathe' or 'to sniff the wind'

Provenance: Gustave Jequier collection.