Scarab

“ I am sending you, as my last gift, a valuable scarab and a few words of counsel on which I would bid you meditate. Believe me, there is much wisdom in the lore of Old Egypt. Make it your own. Treasure the scarab as a precious inheritance. Handle it often but show it to none. Give your Uncle Reuben Christian burial. It is your duty, and you will have your reward. He robbed your father, but he shall make restitution.
Farewell!⁠
Your affectionate father,⁠
Silas Blowgrave. ”

“ Four times the man dodged around the great ring, his uncanny foe close behind him. Although he was making a better showing against the Scarab than most persons ever had, it was evidently only a question of how long he could hold out.
At last he tripped over a sharp rock that he had hurled at his enemy only just before. Down he went, and the blood flowed from a gash in his foot where he had struck the edge of the stone.
In a flash the Golden Scarab was upon him. Before he could scramble to his feet, the two great horns were flung wide and came together with a clash. ”

“ It entered into their very lives, reminding them of the power of the deathless spirit, ever progressive, active and vital, moulding dull matter to its will. Hence the scarab was the ideal luck charm, the mere sight of which reminded man of his divine origin, and it was said that the soul of Ra impressed the seemingly inert matter which made up the scarab, giving it a life which ages could not destroy. ”

“ The scarab itself is often figured as holding the disc of the sun between its claws: and it is at least possible that the symbolic idea of the scarab as the maker or creator arose from the burial of its ball being an emblem of the setting of the sun, from which new life will arise in due course. It occurs with the wings extended and the disc between the claws as a centre figure in the space of a ceiling pattern (Neferhotep, XVIIIth dynasty) , and on the border of the covering of a shrine under Ramessu X., and 113is occasionally met with later in decoration. ”

“ Forgive me! But at times, oh Holly, the almost infinite mind grows impatient of the slowness of the very finite, and am I tempted to use my power out of vexation—very nearly wast thou dead, but I remembered——. But the scarab—about the scarabaeus!"
"I picked it up," I gurgled feebly, as I got on to my feet again, and it is a solemn fact that my mind was so disturbed that at the moment I could remember nothing else about the ring except that I had picked it up in Leo's cave. ”

“ With the Ethiopian dominion a ram’s head (the emblem of Amen-ra) frequently is found upon the beetle body (fig. 80) ; while sometimes, as shown in fig. 81, the body of the scarab is replaced by the familiar Hathor head with uraei on either side.
The subjects engraved on scarab-seals. The subjects engraved on Egyptian scarab-seals may be divided into several well-defined groups. Firstly, there are those which bear hieroglyphic inscriptions. Secondly, there are those which bear figures of men, animals, or flowers; and thirdly, those which bear geometrical designs, coil and rope patterns, etc. ”

“ The scarab was a symbol of the re-birth, resurrection and the eternal life of the soul, pronounced pure at the psychostasia; and we know from the Book of the Dead, that at the moment of resurrection, in analogy to the beginning of terrestrial life, it was the heart that was asserted to be given to the dead so as to receive the first vitality of the second birth, it was through the heart that the mummy would revive, thence the inscribed scarab was placed in the mummy in the place formerly occupied by its heart [67] when in terrestrial life. ”

“ As he watered his patch of onions in the spring, the Egyptian peasant would see from time to time a fat black insect pass close by, hurriedly trundling a ball of Camel-dung backwards. He would watch the queer rolling thing in amazement, even as the Provençal peasant watches it to this day.
No one fails to be surprised when he first finds himself in the presence of the Scarab, who, with his head down and his long hind-legs in the air, pushes with might and main his huge pill, the source of so many awkward tumbles. ”

“ In Nubia, where the strip of cultivable land is generally but a few feet in breadth, the scarab’s task is comparatively light and the breed multiplies freely. But in Egypt he has often a wide plain to traverse with his burden, and is therefore scarce in proportion to the difficulty with which he maintains the struggle for existence. The scarab race in Egypt would seem indeed to have diminished very considerably since the days of the Pharaohs, and the time is not perhaps far distant when the naturalist will look in vain for specimens on this side of the first cataract. ”

“ By easy transition, the custom of placing scarabs on the bodies of the dead passed to putting them on the living, and men and women wore the scarab as a silent act of homage to the Creator, who was not only the God of the dead but of the living also. These charms are easily carried and can be used in settings for many ornamental purposes; therefore they are the most popular and widely sought article in the market. They are as small as a coffee bean, and run up sometimes to the size of a walnut, green and brown being the most popular colors of the stones out of which they are made. ”

“ Scenes are constantly happening such as this: a Scarab walks off, peacefully and alone, rolling his ball, his lawful property, acquired by conscientious work. Another comes flying up, I know not whence, drops down heavily, folds his smoky wings under their elytra and, with the back of his toothed armlets, knocks over the owner, who is powerless to ward off the attack in his harnessed posture. While the dispossessed one struggles to his feet, the other perches himself atop the ball, the best position from which to repel the assailant. ”

“ Standing by thus, watching the movements of the creature, its untiring energy, its extraordinary muscular strength, its business-{91}like devotion to the matter in hand, one sees how subtle a lesson the old Egyptian moralists had presented to them for contemplation, and with how fine a combination of wisdom and poetry they regarded this little black scarab not only as an emblem of the creative and preserving power, but perhaps also of the immortality of the soul. ”

“ A winged scarab might also be laid on the breast; and later a number of scarabs were placed about the body. These are often of hard stone and of fine workmanship. Another and even more important class of Egyptian antiquities is in the form of scarabs, pierced longitudinally for a swivel or for threading, and having the bases flat and engraved with designs. These were intended principally for seals, but might also be used as beads or ornaments. They are thus found, engraved or plain, strung on necklaces, and amethyst scarabs with plain bases are common articles of Middle Kingdom jewelry. ”

“ On the other hand, the scarabs, I fear I must admit, are terrible thieves; and if one scarab has lost his own ball, and sees some companion's pellet come rolling down hill towards him, he will often give up the pursuit of his lost property, and quietly and barefacedly appropriate his neighbour's. I have seen great fights take place at times over a disputed ball; though sometimes the combatants agree amicably to roll it along in common, and probably share it when they have reached their hole. ”

“ In a 68private collection in Cairo is a scarab bearing the name of Kha-ef-ra in green glazed steatite, with cutting, form of back, and glaze exactly similar to that of a well-known type of Thothmes III. All the Men-kau-ra scarabs are also undoubtedly not earlier than the period of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The Unas scarabs bear a great resemblance to a certain class of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties: they are generally coarsely cut, and the glaze has turned a dull brown. ”

“ Geographical range of Egyptian scarab-seals. Many Egyptian scarab-seals have been found in regions other than the Nile Valley. In Syria they have been turned up in plenty. In Cyprus, Rhodes, the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland, numerous examples have been found. They have also been discovered at Crete, in Italy and Sardinia, on the north coast of Africa, and in Babylonia,—in all places in fact that had trade relations with the Egyptians. ”

“ At the present day we often carry our seals on our watch chains, or we wear our signets as rings on our fingers, but we cannot rightly say that these articles were made solely for the adornment of the person.
These are the principal theories regarding the use and signification of the Egyptian scarab which have been set forth in works hitherto published on the subject, but archaeologists are beginning to abandon these views in favour of another and a simpler one, that has not as yet been discussed at length, but that recognizes in these little objects nothing more than a simple seal or signet. ”

“ A unique example for the period is illustrated in fig. 67, where the back is scored with lines diagonally in each direction. Another typical form is shown in fig. 68, in which the threading holes are supported by a ring carved with the scarab, while the beetle itself is developed apparently from the type in fig. 63. In such scarabs the hairy legs upon the back occasionally may be noted. Another Hyksos type characteristically represents the human head (fig. 69, and compare the scarab of King Apepŷ figured in Plate I) upon the body of the scarab with or without the legs over the back. ”

“ Thus a lion in rock-crystal was found in the very early royal tomb of Nagada (de Morgan, Recherches, Tombeau de Negadah, p. 193) . The Egyptian scarab, on its rounded side, had been naturalistically carved in relief in beetle form. Steatite engravings in relief (notably the harvest festival vase from Hagia Triada) were found in the Cretan deposits. Subjects are found carved in the round in hard stone in Mycenaean graves. When we come to historical Greece and to Etruria the cameo of later times is anticipated by various attempts to modify the traditional form of the scarab. ”

“ C.M. From Abydos. (M. Cat. Ab. p. 541; cf. M.D., pl. 48 m.)
14. “The Scribe of the Superintendent of the Seal, Nehesi.” P.
15. “The Mayor, Tehuti-nekht.” Amh. This scarab was bought in Cairo in 1899, and came with many other antiquities from the tomb of Tehuti-nekht at El Bersheh. Hence it can be dated to the reign of Usertsen I, or at latest to the early years of Amenemhat II (see Griffith and Newberry, El Bersheh II, p. 13) ; it is consequently the oldest absolutely dated scarab of an official known.
16. “The Mayor, Amenemhat-senb-ne-Hather-ab.” L. Found in Phoenicia. ”

“ No yearning desire is allowed to yearn long here, and so we find factories making scarabs at Luxor and in many other parts of Egypt. Of course there is a marked difference between a scarab cut by an old Egyptian, which has been buried for thousands of years, and something made out of glazed terra-cotta and sold by the dozen; the former being worth a good sum of money and the latter a mere trifle. I have spoken of this at such length because there is now a veritable and increasing boom in scarabs all over the Nile Valley, but particularly in Cairo. ”

“ Thus the scarab was used as a symbol of immortality.
While, however, this was the popular view, it seems unlikely that such close observers as were the more cultured Egyptians should have been entirely unfamiliar with the real genesis of the Scarabæus sacer; but, in this case also, there would have been no difficulty in finding it emblematic of immortality in the various stages through which it passed. The larval stage might well signify the mortal life ”

“ Certain great kings are commemorated on scarabs of periods long subsequent to them. Thus Cheops (Khufu) may appear on an example of the latest Pharaonic age, and Tethmosis III. is found at all times after the XVIIIth dynasty. But as a rule the royal names are of contemporary workmanship, and the differences of style and pattern make it possible to group unknown kings with those who are known historically; the names of the Hyksos kings have been principally recovered from collections of scarab-seals. Scarab-shaped seals are traceable as far back as about the VIth dynasty. ”

“ It must be clearly understood that the majority of the vendors of scarabs are far better judges of their value than any ordinary collector, and therefore a man, even though he be only an old and dirty individual, would be most unlikely to sell for a dollar and a half a scarab which was worth £4 or £5; and the natives usually take their 80finds first of all to dealers, who would certainly not let a good scarab pass them.
European makers have now entered the arena, and are competing with the natives as makers of antiquities, but so far the latter have had the best of it. ”

“ Nut was the goddess personifying the vault of heaven, the sky, and the space, in which the sun was supposed to have been born. The scarab it must be remembered was in the Egyptian thought, an androgyne.
In a papyrus now in Turin, Italy, we may read: "I am Khepera, the morning; Ra, the midday; Tum, the evening." It is said of Khepra as of Horus, that it produced the Ma, i.e., the law or harmony which uphold the universe, and it is merged with a form of Horus, under the [80] name of: "Harmakhis-Khepra who gives itself its form." ”

“ A long residence, extending over several years, at Thebes, the centre of the Upper Egyptian Scarab market, and the place where the best imitation Scarabs are now manufactured, has, I may claim, given me exceptional opportunities for studying this class of Ancient Egyptian antiquities and its allied forms. For some years it was my custom to pay a weekly visit to the Luxor antiquity shops, with the object of examining these and other articles in the dealers’ hands ”