a mouse, living forever

Theodore M. Davis Collection, Bequest of Theodore M. Davis, 1915
metmuseum.org
Usually ancient Egyptian seal amulets were fashioned in the form of scarab beetles.  This one, set into a ring, is a mouse.  Its seal is the cartouche of Menkheperre, the throne name of Pharaoh Thutmose III (reigned 1479-1425 B.C.).  Across the mouse's shoulders are inscribed the words "Menkheperre, living forever."  Was there a link between the sentiment and the creature?  Mice and rats raided Egyptian grain stores, but that very ability to be small and destructive gave them top billing in a passage from Herodotus in which they devoured the bowstrings of an invading army.  Did this mouse remind the wearer not to discount the insignificant?

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