Some of the Egyptian scarabs were evidently used as talismanic gifts from one friend to another. Two such scarabs are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. One bears the inscription “May Ra grant you a happy New Year,” the text of the other reading as follows: “May your name be established, may you have a son,” and “May your house flourish every day.” It is a curious fact that the modern greeting “Happy New Year” was current in Egypt probably three thousand years ago.[171] On the Egyptian inscribed scarabs used as signets were engraved many of the symbols to which a talismanic virtue was attributed. The uræus serpent, signifying death, is sometimes associated with the knot, the so-called _ankh_ symbol, denoting life. Often the hieroglyph for _nub_, gold, appears; this symbol is a necklace with pendant beads, showing that gold beads must have been known in Egypt in the early days when the hieroglyph for gold was first used. All these symbolic figures, of which a great number occur, served to impart to the signet a sacred and auspicious quality which communicated itself to the wearer, and even to the impression made by the seal, this in its turn acquiring a certain magic force. Few of us would be willing to confess to a belief in the innate power of any symbol, but the suggestive power of a symbol is as real to-day as it ever was. Any object that evokes a high thought or serves to emphasize a profound conviction really possesses a kind of magical quality, since it is capable of causing an effect out of all proportion to its intrinsic worth or its material quality. Many scarabs and signets exist made of the artificial _cyanus_, which was an imitation lapis-lazuli made in Egypt. This was an alkaline silicate, colored a deep blue with carbonate of copper. Often a wonderful translucent or opaque blue glass was used. The genuine lapis-lazuli was also used to a considerable extent for scarabs and cylinders, in Egypt and Assyria, and gems were also cut from it in imperial Roman times.[172] A notable instance of the use of lapis-lazuli in ancient Egypt was as the material for the image of Truth (_Ma_), which the Egyptian chief-justice wore on his neck, suspended from a golden chain.[173] In Roman times some of the legionaries are said to have worn rings set with scarabs, for the reason that this figure was believed to impart great courage and vigor to the wearer.[174]