Scarabs: The History, Manufacture and Symbolism of the Scarabæus in Ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Sardinia, Etruria, etc.Myer, Isaac
Religion
Scarabs: The History, Manufacture and Symbolism of the Scarabæus in Ancient Egypt, Phoenicia, Sardinia, Etruria, etc.
Myer, Isaac
Egypt -- Religion; Scarabaeus; Symbolism
Place had much to do with the difference between scarabs, local styles
of manufacture made more differences than various Dynasties. This is a
subject very difficult to investigate; we have but few sources of
information on this subject. At ancient Tanis (now called by the
Arabs, San,) they are all of schist, rough and small, the glaze nearly
always gone; within a short distance from there, at Nebesheh, they are
usually of pottery with bright apple-green glazes; at Naukratis, the
Ancient Egyptian name of which was Am and which was a city in the time
of the XIIth Dynasty, they are mostly of soft glazed pottery, or, of a
blue paste, and nearly all are small; in the ruins of this city was
found a factory for making Greek scarabs in imitation of the Egyptian
style.[22] It is said, that those with scroll border, are from the
ancient city of Abydos.
A curious thing is, the re-issue of those of an earlier king by a
later monarch, examples of these are, re-issues under queen Hatshepsu
(_circa_ 1600 B.C.,) and Tehuti-mes IIIrd (_circa_ 1600-1566 B.C.,) of
the XVIIIth Dynasty. The earlier and later names are often on one
scarab. We cannot therefore be sure of the age of a scarab, even from
the inscription, as it may be of a period subsequent to the king named
on it. However these re-issues were only in a few special periods. One
point to be noted is, we find similar work and color in the majority
of those made under each pharaoh, and such style is different from
that of any earlier or later age; through this we have a guide as to
the original dating of most scarabs from the IVth Dynasty to the end.
No subsequent period shows us similarities to the majority of the
scarabs of any one king.
To the unlearned probably all scarabs look alike, but to an eye
educated on the subject, the peculiarities of each Dynasty, and even
of separate reigns, become evident. The value of scarabs to the
historian is therefore great, as the study of scarabs will reveal, the
names of kings unknown heretofore from any of the other monuments so
far discovered.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] This is chalcedony penetrated by minute green fibres of
hornblende. It is now found principally in India and China. The color
is frequently equal to that of the finest emerald, but the yellow
patches or black spots running through it, distinguish its species.
Ancient specimens have been found free of these marks and very
transparent. They may have had a method in ancient times of freeing
the stone from these spots.
[20] Historical Scarabs. A series of Drawings from the Principal
Collections. Arranged chronologically, by W.M. Flinders Petrie, author
of, Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, etc. London, D. Nutt, 1889.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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