Fake Scarab with Cartouche of Ramses II
Title
Fake Scarab with Cartouche of Ramses II
Description
A large grey terracotta scarab with the cartouche of Ramses II on the underside. The left cartouche is damaged by scratches, while the right cartouche is worn, but easily identified. Three large chips are missing from the edge of the scarab above the cartouches. The front is missing a human head, which has broken off along the neck. Such heads are typical of this well-known type of fake scarab, often described as "sphinx" scarabs, and sold to be used as paperweights. The fabric is a pale buff grey and the surface is dark grey in colour.
The scarab is part of a collection of nine antiquities and coins said to have been collected by Driver Leonard Dimmick near Mena Camp outside Cairo, Egypt. In February 1915 an article appeared in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin mentioning Roman coins excavated by Leonard near the Pyramids. He had sent these souvenirs back to his father in Australia, along with Egyptian coins, trinkets and fossils. The artefacts deposited at the Queensland Museum by William Dimmick in 1923 probably match those sent home in 1915, plus a "stone curio" from Leonard's personal effects, returned to his father in 1916.
A letter dated 12 March 1923 from William Dimmick to AH Longman, Director of the Queensland Museum, records that his two sons "met in Egypt before going over and spent Sunday afternoons digging among the graves for curios of which they sent me several small ones." Although digging for artefacts in this way was not legal in Egypt, it was a common pastime for soldiers during the war. They might undertake such diggings alone, but often where lead to a likely spot by a local guide, who had seeded the area with genuine and genuine-looking artefacts for his unsuspecting followers to find. It is possible that some of the genuine antiquities in the colleciton were acquired in this way, but the fakes may have been purchased from an antiquities vendor. There are numerous descriptions of vendors selling fake antiquities to unsuspecting tourists and soldiers.
The scarab is part of a collection of nine antiquities and coins said to have been collected by Driver Leonard Dimmick near Mena Camp outside Cairo, Egypt. In February 1915 an article appeared in the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin mentioning Roman coins excavated by Leonard near the Pyramids. He had sent these souvenirs back to his father in Australia, along with Egyptian coins, trinkets and fossils. The artefacts deposited at the Queensland Museum by William Dimmick in 1923 probably match those sent home in 1915, plus a "stone curio" from Leonard's personal effects, returned to his father in 1916.
A letter dated 12 March 1923 from William Dimmick to AH Longman, Director of the Queensland Museum, records that his two sons "met in Egypt before going over and spent Sunday afternoons digging among the graves for curios of which they sent me several small ones." Although digging for artefacts in this way was not legal in Egypt, it was a common pastime for soldiers during the war. They might undertake such diggings alone, but often where lead to a likely spot by a local guide, who had seeded the area with genuine and genuine-looking artefacts for his unsuspecting followers to find. It is possible that some of the genuine antiquities in the colleciton were acquired in this way, but the fakes may have been purchased from an antiquities vendor. There are numerous descriptions of vendors selling fake antiquities to unsuspecting tourists and soldiers.
Creator
Date
AD 1900 - AD 1915
Format
Height: 35 mm
Width: 56 mm
Depth: 82 mm
Weight: 151 g
Type
Identifier
C.009.003
QM E40028
Coverage
License
© Queensland Museum, Peter Waddington.
Medium
Accrual Method
Provenance
Collected by Drv. Leonard Dimmick, Mena Camp, Egypt, 1915.
Donated by Mr. William Dimmick to the Queensland Museum, 15 March 1923.
Donated by Mr. William Dimmick to the Queensland Museum, 15 March 1923.
Rights Holder
Queensland Museum, Brisbane
Bibliographic Citation
Wakeling, T.G. (1912). Forged Egyptian Antiquities. A&C Black,pl. 7, nos. 10-11.
Souvenir Sphinx Scarab Paperweight. (n.d.) [Sergeant D Roberts, 17 Battalion AIF]. Australian War Memorial, Canberra. REL15229 (Ramses II).
Fake Antiquity, Sphinx Scarab. (n.d.) [ergeant A C Gunter, 1 Field Artillery Brigade]. Australian War Memorial, Canberra. REL0977 (Seti I).
Rutherford, D. (15 April 2013). An ancient Egyptian souvenir? Australian War Memorial Blog. https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/ancient-egyptian-souvenir
Queensland Museum Donor Schedule #23/55 (1923).
Queensland Museum Donor Schedule #23/143 (1923).
Queensland Museum Inwards Correspondence #00127 (1923).
Queensland Museum Outward Correspondence #00055 (1923).
Queensland Museum Miscellaneous Register, A737-42; 752.
Local and General News. (1915, February 23). Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954), p. 7. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article53354663
National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; DIMMICK L, Dimmick Leonard : SERN 312, 1914 – 1920.
Relation
P.009
Contributor
Mr James Donaldson
Files
Collection
Citation
Modern (Egyptian), “Fake Scarab with Cartouche of Ramses II,” First World War Antiquities, accessed February 16, 2026, https://ww1antiquities.omeka.net/items/show/92.
Comments