Faked Or Authentic?

This picture depicts a typical forgery. It was sold on Ebay. The length is 2.3 cm, so it's above the usual average size of original scarabs. The stone seems to be green jasper which is unusual too. The shape is typical New Kingdom , but it's a little bit too flat. The cartouche of Thutmosis III is correct, but the Re sign seems to be drilled, which is unusual. The inscription on the left side says Ntr Nfr (perfect god) a frequent title for Egyptian kings. Below, there should be written Nb t3wj (lord of the two lands) Two bars represent upper and lower Egypt , but there is only one bar. The rest of the inscription makes no sense, possibly the faker tried to copy djt ankh, "eternal life". The Faker just copied some hieroglyphs but did not understand the meaning. Every collector has to identify fakes. There is a widespread opinion, that nobody can differ fakes from originals. This opinion is wrong. Most fakes are so bad, that everybody can identify them easily. Surprisingly even these fakes are often sold on Ebay for hundreds of US-Dollars. (see menu: Information On Fakes) Buying on Ebay is extremely dangerous for unexperienced collectors. 90% of all "genuine" scarabs, seals, shabtis, faience amulets and statues offered on Ebay are fakes. So before buying, ask somebody, who knows about it or you will lose money ! For examples of real and faked scarabs see Links: "The Fakebusters". For my black list see: http://www.seal-collector.de/fakes-on-ebay.html The following points can help you to identify a fake: 1. Authentic Scarabs always belong to groups. Certain shapes are typical for certain dynasties. Certain inscriptions were issued frequently, these scarabs are often published in books. (see bibliography) 2. Inscriptions were made to be read. Scarabs with obviously meaningless inscriptions are faked. Learning some basic hieroglyphs is useful. 3. 90% of the scarabs measure between 1 and 2 cm. Bigger scarabs are rare. 4. Authentic scarabs are almost always made of steatite or faience. Sacarabs made of metal are very rare. There is an Ebay dealer, who frequently sells gold scarabs. These scarabs are all fakes ! 5. Scarabs often were glazed green or blue. In most cases this glaze is gone. Traces of glaze can be an indication for an original but beware: even worn glaze sometimes is faked. 6. Authentic scarabs are often worn and chipped 7. Scarabs with thick dark incrustations are often faked. 8. Scarabs are almost always pierced longitudinally. The holes were drilled from each end. Mostly they did not meet precisely in the center, so there's very often an interruption where the two holes meet. 9. "from an old collection" does not necessarily mean, that an object is authentic. "Certificates of authenticity" are often issued by fraudulent sellers, complete laymen or are even faked.		faked scarab, Thutmosis III

Here some typical features of authentic cylinder seals are shown: A hole, drilled from both sides, chipping around the hole and on the edge, light encrustations, mineral deposits and traces of a chisel and the fine lines of a file or a cutting wheel on a Neo-Assyrian seal. The proportion of faked cylinder- and stamp seals is even higher than that of faked scarabs. In comparison to scarabs, authentic cylinder seals are scarce. Their prices on the international art market are higher, that makes them attractive to fakers. Nevertheless the identification of faked seals is possible. The following points can be used as a (simplified) guide: 1. Authentic cylinder- and stamp seals always belong to certain groups, cultures and regions. The iconography often is typical for a certain group. In these groups seals of various quality exist. Seals, cut in a crude style are not necessarily fakes. You should study the literature of excavation reports and published collections carefully (see bibliography). 2. Ancient Near Eastern seals were used over a period of 3000 years. The techniques of manufacture changed during this period. In the 3 rd millennium B.C. figures were chipped out by using small chisels. Since the 2 nd millennium B.C. rotating wheels were used, leaving characteristic curved cuts. Files were often used on Neo-Assyrian Seals of the 1 st millennium B.C.. They leave fine parallel lines. Drills were used since the Jemdet Nasr period. They leave small hemispherical hollows. 3. Certain stones are typical for certain periods. In the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic period (ED), very often soft stones like marble or limestone were used. Later in ED sometimes cylinder seals were made of shell. Akkadian seals are frequently made of black serpentine but other materials like marble and shell were also used. Ur III and Old Babylonian seals were frequently made of black serpentine or black chlorite which looks similar to serpentine but is softer. Another typical stone used for Old Babylonian seals is hematite. Neo-Assyrian stones are often made of semi precious stones, especially chalcedony and carnelian are common. 4. Seals were objects of every day live and they were used. Therefore traces of wear are frequent on authentic seals. Very often the area around the drill hole or the edge is chipped. 5. Many seals wear encrustations, but there are seals, especially made of semi precious stones, that have no encrustations at all. 6. Cylinder seals are almost always pierced longitudinally. The holes were drilled from each end. Mostly they did not meet precisely in the center, so there's very often an interruption where the two holes meet. 7. "from an old collection" does not necessarily mean, that an object is authentic. "Certificates of authenticity" are often issued by fraudulent sellers or complete laymen. Sometimes they are even faked.		authentic seals