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; the pupa stage, the intermediate period represented by the mummy, with which the soul was conceived to be vaguely connected, in spite of its wanderings through the nether-world; and, lastly, the fully developed beetle could be regarded as a type of the rebirth into everlasting life, when the purified and perfected soul again animated the original and transfigured form in a mysterious resurrection. Scarabs are frequently engraved with the hieroglyph ☥(_anch_, “life”) and [hieroglyph] (_ha_, “increase of power”). The emblem of stability [hieroglyph] (_tet_) is also employed, as well as many others. In addition to these simple symbols, many scarabs bear legends supposed to render them exceptionally luck-bringing. The following are characteristic specimens.[169] [3 hieroglyphs] _maat ankh neb_, “Lord of Truth and Life.” [4 hieroglyphs] “abounding in graces” (very deeply cut as a seal). “May thy name be established; mayst thou have a son.” [2 hieroglyphs] (within ornamental border), “good stability.” [3 hieroglyphs] _ikht neb nefer_, “All good things.” (Inlaid). “A good day” (a holiday). “A mother is a truly good thing” or “Truth is a good Mother.” The scarab, for the Egyptians a type of the rising sun and hence of the renewal of life after death, was copied by the Phœnicians from the Egyptian types and modified in various ways to suit the religious fancies of the various lands to which they bore the products of their art. Much of the original significance of this symbol must have been lost; probably in many cases little was left but a vague idea that an amulet of this form would bring good luck to the wearer and guard from harm. Funeral scarabs were often made of jasper, amethyst, lapis-lazuli, ruby, or carnelian, with the names of gods, kings, priests, officials, or private persons engraved on the base; occasionally monograms or floral devices were engraved. Sometimes the base of the scarab was heart-shaped and at others the scarab was combined with the “utat,” or eye of Horus, and also with the frog, typifying revivification. Set in rings they were placed on the fingers of the dead, or else, wrapped in linen bandages, they rested on the heart of the deceased, a type of the sun which rose each day to renewed life. They were symbols of the resurrection of the body.[170]