No. 19. This is not the conventional way of making scarabs. The legs are
too pronounced. The letters of the cartouche are badly cut, and the line
across the bottom of the cartouche is too low down. The inscription on
the base is meaningless, and the glazing is obviously new.
No. 20. The hare is badly cut and proportioned. The inscription is
uneven.
No. 21. This is a beautifully-cut double scarab of very unusual form. I
bought it from a boy in the streets of Cairo for three piastres. It is
extremely well moulded, and the colour is very good. It had been oiled,
and had what looked like ancient dirt on its back. Upon rubbing this
dirt I found a speck of gold underneath. For some time opinions differed
as to whether this was a genuine scarab which had been stolen and sold
by a man who did not know its real value, or whether it was a very
clever imitation. Examination of the base showed that there were two
inscriptions, divided in half by an ankh (key of life). But one sign was
upside down, and some of the symbols are longer and larger than those on
the corresponding side. The front legs are too broad, and quite standing
up. It must have been a very difficult matter for the imitator to
produce this unusual specimen.
No. 22. This represents a frog, and is very poor work. It is made of
composition, is insufficiently glazed, and the shape is bad.
No. 23. This was meant for a goat, and bears three cartouches on its
back. The inscriptions are incorrectly cut. The features are absent, and
the glaze has been put on after the break across the back was done.
No. 24. This is unevenly glazed, and the inscription is incorrect and
uneven; but the beetle is well shaped.
No. 25 is of good colour and shape, but rather thick. The inscription is
of the time of Thothmes III., but the cartouche is unfinished, the
serpents being only on one side of it, whereas they should be on both.
No. 26 is too thick, of a bad shape, and the cutting is poor. It is
supposed to represent Horus.
No. 27 is of good colour, but the inscription is unevenly cut. It is
supposed to represent Hathor, the goddess of beauty, love, and joy.
No. 28. This is made of old scarabs, which have been ground down and
re-cast. For this reason the seller was able to swear the most sacred
oath that it was real antīca. The cutting of the letters is too shallow.
No. 29 is well cut, a good blue, supposed to be Amenhotep, but the
letters are not in proper order, and are meaningless.
No. 30. This scarab bears the name of Khaf-Ra, and the story about it
has been told on pages 73 and 74. It is made of composition, and the
glaze is thick on one side and has not adhered properly to the other;
but the scarab is well made.
No. 31 is a good colour, is made of stone, fairly cut, but the
inscription has no meaning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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