Scarabs Part 4

V.

WHERE USUALLY FOUND AND THE MODE OF WEARING SCARABS BY THE EGYPTIANS. BOOK OF THE DEAD. EGYPTIAN SCARABS FOUND IN MESOPOTAMIA. THE SCARAB IN CHRISTIANITY.

The small sized scarabs were usually incised with hieroglyphics and perforated longitudinally; they are generally found on the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of mummies next the skin or suspended from the neck, by a wire of gold or other metal, or a string going through them, or worn like a ring stone on the forefinger of the left hand; and sometimes, grasped inside of the closed left hand. The inscriptions on them usually run from right to left. One method of wearing them by the living, a very ancient one, was by stringing them on a cord or a wire, so that they could be worn as a bracelet on the wrist, a necklace around the throat, or as a pendant to a necklace. The engraved base serving not only as an amulet but also as the private signet of the owner. Soldiers wore them suspended around the neck, as a talisman when going into battle and also to instil courage in them during the fray. But the most usual mode of mounting them by the living, was as a stone for a finger ring on a swivel, or a wire, pa.s.sing through the longitudinal perforation and then curved into a ring shape; this was usually worn on the forefinger of the left hand, as that finger was thought by the Egyptians, to contain a nerve leading directly to the heart; the engraved part was turned next to the flesh. M. Mariette says, that the mummies of the XIth Dynasty nearly always have a scarab on the little finger of the left hand.[55]

Sometimes they were made of baked clay or cut in steat.i.te, with the head of a hawk, cow, ram, dog, cat, lion, or even of a man, and such have been found buried with the mummies. Those found on the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of mummies embalmed most carefully and expensively, and in immediate contact with the flesh, have sometimes bodies of stone with extended wings, as if flying; these wings sometimes having been made of metal, frequently of gold, and at other times of cut stone.[56] Those found made of stone with extended wings, also had the latter often made of lead or silver; when of blue pottery, the wings were generally made of the same material.

On the lids of the outer cases of many coffins, especially of the finest; the position over the breast of the mummy was occupied by a large winged scarabaeus, moulded apparently, of pasteboard or of successive layers of gummed linen, and then beautifully painted in colors. This was to act as the protector Khepra, of the _ka_ or immaterial vitality of the _sahu_ or mummy. The Egyptians had a complicated psychology which we will refer to more fully hereafter.

Those within the coverings were most probably put inside of the mummy wrappings to act as talisman, like the writing upon the linen wrappings, and the bandelettes inscribed with texts from the Book of the Dead, or, the _Shait an Sensen_, i.e., Book of the Breathings of Life, and as also were enclosed, copies of entire chapters and parts, of the Book of the Dead, written upon papyrus or linen; or inscribed on the large stone scarabs, which were put in the body of the corpse, to take the place of the heart, the last having been deposited with the lungs, in the jar of Tuamautef, one of the four Canopic jars. The idea being to drive away evil spirits, supposed to be injurious to the pa.s.sage of the soul of the dead, upon its journey through the under-world to the new birth and power of transformation, in the eternal heaven of the Egyptians.

There appears to have been two divisions of that eternal heaven, one called _Aar_ and _Aanru_, the place in which agricultural labors were performed, and the other _Hotep_, the place of repose. Both are mentioned in the Book of the Dead.

Indeed some chapters of the Book of the Dead were only inscribed on the linen winding sheet of the mummy, and the texts of the CLIVth chapter were only recovered recently, upon the unrolling of the mummy of Tehuti-mes, or Thotmes, IIIrd (1600 B.C.,) of the XVIIIth Dynasty, the great warrior king of Egypt, found a few years past at Dayr-el-Baharee; inscribed upon his linen winding sheet. As the winding sheet was the only proper place for this text, and as it is unique, it likely would not ever have been known, if this Pharaoh's mummy had not been discovered unmutilated.

The small scarabs were usually placed upon the eyes or the breast, sometimes over the stomach. They were strung into a net to cover the corpse and were sewed on the wrappings. As many as three thousand have been found in one tomb.

Egyptian scarabs were found by Mr. Layard, in his explorations on the banks of the Khabour in Mesopotamia, at Arban; and he gives plates of the same.[57] Three are of the reigns of the Egyptian kings Thotmes IIIrd, and one of Amenophis IIIrd. They are mostly of steachist, and of the XVIIIth Dynasty. He found one of hard stone, an agate, engraved with an a.s.syrian emblem.[58] He also found at Nimrud; cubes of bronze upon which were scarabs with outstretched wings, inlaid in gold,[59]

and bronze bowls with conventional forms of the scarab, rather Phnician than Egyptian, in the centre of the inside.[60]

After the Christian era the influence of cult of the scarab was still felt. St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, calls Jesus: "The good Scarabaeus, who rolled up before him the hitherto unshapen mud of our bodies."[61] St. Epiphanius has been quoted as saying of Christ: "He is the scarabaeus of G.o.d," and indeed it appears likely that what may be called, Christian forms of the scarab, yet exist. One has been described as representing the crucifixion of Jesus; it is white and the engraving is in green, on the back are two palm branches; many others have been found apparently engraved with the Latin cross.[62]

FOOTNOTES:

[55] Cat. of the Museum of Boulak, p. 34.

[56] Pettigrew, Hist. of Mummies, p. 220.

[57] Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, etc., by Austen H. Layard, M.P. New York, 1853, p. 280 _et seq._

[58] _Ibid._, p. 595.

[59] _Ibid._, p. 196.

[60] _Ibid._, p. 186.

[61] Works, Paris, 1686, Vol. I., col. 1528, No. 113. Egyptian Mythology and Egyptian Christianity, etc., by Samuel Sharpe. London, 1863, p. 3.

[62] An Essay of Scarabs, by W.J. Loftie, B.A., F.S.A., pp. 58, 59.

VI.

THE POSITION OF THE SCARAB IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION AND THE BOOK OF THE DEAD. EGYPTIAN PHILOSOPHY. ADVANCED INTELLECTUALITY OF EGYPT SIX THOUSAND YEARS AGO. DEITIES OF LIBRARIES AND LEARNING. ANCIENT LIBRARIANS AND BOOKS. THE DIVISION OF LEARNED MEN INTO DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF STUDY. THE STATEMENTS OF GREEK WRITERS ON EGYPTIAN THOUGHT NOT TO BE DEPENDED UPON. QUOTATIONS FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD ON THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SCARABaeUS DEITY. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE GREAT SPHINX. FURTHER QUOTATIONS FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD, ON THE SYMBOLISM OF THE SCARAB DEITY.

As I have already said: the larger scarabs are usually found in the body of the mummy in place of the heart, which was always taken out of the corpse and placed in one of the visceral vases, that of Tuamautef.

The scarab was a symbol of the re-birth, resurrection and the eternal life of the soul, p.r.o.nounced pure at the psychostasia; and we know from the Book of the Dead, that at the moment of resurrection, in a.n.a.logy to the beginning of terrestrial life, it was the heart that was a.s.serted 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 when in terrestrial life.

Sometimes the representation of a human heart was engraved on the scarabaeus. The small scarabs are not often found inside of the mummy.

But frequently large stone scarabs have been found in it in the place of the heart, on which, incised in very small characters, are portions of the Book of the Dead. Those usually inscribed are, the x.x.xth chapter or those parts of the LXIVth, line 34, or of the XXVIIth chapters, which relate to the heart of a man. They begin usually with the formula: "My heart which comes from my mother, my heart which is necessary for my transformations," etc. They are, following the commands in the Book of the Dead, frequently set in gold, sometimes in bronze, and sometimes are incised with the shape of the hieroglyph for the heart.

At some very remote period, so remote that we cannot even surmise its date, the scarabaeus symbol was considered as embodying not only the idea of the creator but also, the idea of the life beyond the grave in eternal futurity. Some scholars a.s.sert that the Egyptians rejected every abstraction and did not have any philosophy. This I do not and cannot believe from my investigations of their learning, but I do think, that we have not yet grasped nor understood that philosophy in its fullness, from the few remnants of it which have reached our day.

The oldest texts and monuments show, a high condition of culture and thought as well as artistic feeling; the unknown deity was idealized and never represented to the eye on the monuments of early times; the Great Sphinx, itself a philosophical abstraction, was made long before the historical period; and the Book of the Dead, shows beneath its pages, a hidden religious metaphysical philosophy not yet unraveled.

This was, likely, secretly taught by word of mouth as Qabbalah or Oral Tradition to the initiates, and was never put into writing. Some of these ideas we have just grasped, for instance, we now have some knowledge of the Egyptian divisions of the spiritual or immaterial part of man, of his psychology, and upon studying these divisions one can readily imagine, a secret religious philosophy accompanying those separations of the spiritual in man. We are also obtaining some knowledge, of their idea of G.o.d and of their kosmology and kosmogony.

Six thousand years ago Egypt had attained great advancement. "Its religion was established. It possessed a language and writing. Art under the IVth and Vth Dynasties had reached a height which the following Dynasties[63] never surpa.s.sed. It had an especially complicated administration, the result of many years. The Egyptians had civil grades and religious grades, bishops as well as prefects.

Registration of land surveys existed. The pharaoh had his organized court, and a large number of functionaries, powerfully and wisely arranged, gravitated around him. Literature was honored and books were composed on morals, some of which have reached our day. This was under the Ancient Empire during which existed the builders of the Pyramids."[64] The deities of literature and of libraries already existed, they were Thoth, the Greek Hermes; Atmu, of Thebes; _Ma_ or _Maat_, G.o.ddess of the harmony of the entire universe, or its law of existence, and of righteousness; Pacht, the mistress of thoughts; Safekh, G.o.ddess of books, who presided over the foundations of monuments and who was venerated at Memphis as early as the IVth Dynasty; Selk, who was also the G.o.ddess of libraries.

"In one of the tombs at Gizeh, a great functionary of the first period of the VIth Dynasty (_circa_ 3300 B.C.,) takes the t.i.tle of: 'Governor of the House of Books.' This simple mention incidentally occurring between two t.i.tles, more exalted, would suffice, in the absence of others, to show us the extraordinary development which had been reached in the civilization of Egypt at that time. Not only had that people a literature, but that literature was sufficiently large to fill libraries; and its importance was so great, that one of the functionaries of the court was especially attached to the care and preservation of the royal library. He had, without doubt, in his keeping with the contemporaneous works, the books written under the first Dynasties, books of the time of Mena and perhaps of kings anterior to Mena. The works in the library would be composed of religious works; chapters of the Book of the Dead, copied after authentic texts preserved in the Temples; scientific treatises on geometry, medicine and astronomy; historic books in which were preserved the sayings and doings of the ancient kings, together with the number of the years of their lives and the exact duration of their reigns; manuals of philosophy and practical morals and perhaps some romances," etc.[65]

The learned of that ancient people followed special lines of study and thought. There was a division of them known as the _Herseshta_, or Teachers of Mysteries. These were subdivided, among other divisions into: "The Mystery Teachers of Heaven," or, the astronomers and astrologers; "The Mystery Teachers of All Lands," or, the geographers and those who studied other peoples and countries; "The Mystery Teachers of the Depth," likely, the possessors of a knowledge of minerals, mining, varieties of rocks, etc.; "Mystery Teachers of the Secret Word," doubtless those interested in abstract thought, religious metaphysics and philosophy; "Mystery Teachers of the Sacred Language," men who devoted themselves to grammar and the form of writing; "Mystery Teachers of Pharaoh, or, 'of all the commands of Pharaoh,'" wise men, likely private scribes and secretaries of the king; "Mystery Teachers who examine Words," likely learned men who sat as judges to hear complaints, and sift the opposing statements of litigants and witnesses. The learned writers known as scribes were also divided into many branches.[66]

We cannot accept the statements of most of the Greek authors upon this subject, for the study of the last few years of the Ancient Egyptian papyri and other remains, shows that they either did not know or they willfully misrepresented, Egyptian abstract thought; about the only works, outside of the papyri and the monuments, from which we can gather as to it with any sureness, meagre details; are the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistos; the Osiris and Isis, of Plutarch; the work ascribed to Horapollon, and the book of Iamblichus, ent.i.tled: A Treatise on the Mysteries. The Greek writers upon Ancient Egypt, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Thales, Plato, Pythagoras, Solon, and others, of less note; give but little a.s.sistance, indeed in many cases their statements are misleading. It is a question yet to be solved, as to how much of the foundations of the philosophy of Pythagoras, Plato, Solon and other Greek writers, were obtained from the learned men of Egypt or their writings.[67]

Chapter x.x.x. of the _Per-em-hru_, or, Book of the Dead, has frequently in the papyrus copies, a picture of the soul of the dead in adoration before a scarabaeus set upright upon a support. This chapter is ent.i.tled: "Chapter of not allowing the heart of a man to have opposition made to it in the divine inferior region." It says towards the end: "This chapter is to be said over a scarabaeus of hard stone, formed and set in gold, which should be placed in the breast of the man, after the opening of the mouth has been made and the head anointed with oil; then the following words shall be said over him in right of a magical charm: 'My heart which comes to me from my mother, my heart which is necessary to me for my transformations.'" See, Appendix A.

The whole of this chapter was frequently engraved upon the large scarabs, which were placed in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the mummies in place of the heart.

The LXIVth chapter of the Book of the Dead, is one of the oldest of the entire collection and line 34 _et seq._, uses the same language as to the heart, and says: "Put it on a scarabaeus of hard stone set in gold, in the breast of the mummy, having engraved on it: 'My heart is my mother,'" etc. This chapter is fuller than the other just cited.

The CLXIIIrd chapter, lines 9, 10, says: "O Amen bull-scarabaeus, master of the eyes: 'Terrible with the pupil of the eye' is thy name.

The Osiris * * * (here the name of the deceased was inserted,) is the emanation of thy two eyes." That is, Amen is here invoked as the bull-symbol of generation and also as the scarabaeus, that is, as the creator who has engendered himself.

Chapter CLXV. of the same book, has as a vignette or picture: The G.o.d Khem, ithyphallic, with the body of a scarab, etc., line 11 reads: "I do all thy words. Saying (them) over the image of the G.o.d raising the arm, having the double plume upon his head, the legs separated and the body of the scarabaeus."

The rising sun or Horus, in whose arms it was a.s.serted, the dead arose into the upper life, was represented by the scarabaeus under the name of Khepra, Khepera, or Khepri, this name among its other meanings signifying: "The itself transforming," and this is hieroglyphically written by the use of the scarabaeus. The body of Khepera as a deity is surmounted in some of the representations, by a scarab in place of a human head.

In chapter XXIV. of the Book of the Dead, we read: "Khepra transforms itself, (or, gives itself a form to itself,) on high, from the thigh of its mother." This is more fully developed in a papyrus in the Louvre which reads: "The majesty of this great G.o.d attains that reign (the twelfth division of the subterranean world, responding to the twelfth hour of the night,) which is the end of absolute darkness. The birth of this great G.o.d, when it became Khepra, took place in that region * * * It went out from the inferior region. It joined the boat _mad_. It raised itself above the thighs of Nut."

"O Khepra who created itself on high, from the thigh of its mother, i.e., Nu, or Nut."[68]

Nut was the G.o.ddess personifying the vault of heaven, the sky, and the s.p.a.ce, 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 name of: "Harmakhis-Khepra who gives itself its form." One of the parts played by Khepra in Ancient Egyptian thought, is condensed in that figure which we find on the top of some of the Osirian naos's or arks, the scarab in the middle of the disk emerging from the horizon.

The perpetuity of the transformations or the power to become, whenever it pleased, the form it desired; was everywhere recalled to the mind of the people of Ancient Egypt, by the symbolic figure of the scarab, the hieroglyph of the words: _To become_, _to be_, _to be existing_, as also creator, an amulet of power above all others. "Khepra in its bark is Har-em-Khu (or, Harmakhis) himself," (chapter XVII. Book of the Dead, line 79.) The latter is the sun re-born every day at sunrise in the East under the name of Horus, it is: "Horus in the horizon,"

the conqueror of darkness. The scarab as Tum-Ra-Khepra is the, "illuminator of the double earth at its going out of the under-world, great G.o.d, and master of the _Ma_:" that is, of the Harmony and Law, whereby the universe came into being and exists.

The similarity attached to the idea in the symbolism of the sphinx, causes the close student of Egyptology to see, that the scarab and the sphinx represent similar ideas. The Great Sphinx of Gizeh near the Great Pyramids, is an image of Ra-Harmakhis or, "Horus in the two horizons," (the rising and the setting sun;) one of the names of the sphinx is _seshep_ (i.e., to make the light.) The sphinx is said to be, an emblem of energy and force united to intellect, it is one of the very earliest of the Ancient Egyptian emblems, that of Gizeh was old and needing repairs when the Pyramids were being built; (_circa_ 3733 B.C.) That abstraction does not appear to me, to be beyond the philosophy of the archaic Egyptians. The head of the Great Sphinx signified the _Khu_, or intellectual part of the soul, in their psychology; and the lion-shaped body, signified force, vitality or energy, the life principle or _Ka_.[69]

The promise of the resurrection of the soul was symbolized, by the Great Sphinx of Gizeh, old at the beginning of the Ancient Empire; by the Phnix, and by the Scarab, the antiquity of the symbolism of which no Egyptologist has yet fathomed. We have it set forth in writing on the inscriptions of the earliest Dynasties.[70]

On a stele found between the paws of the Great Sphinx of Gizeh is: "The majesty of this beautiful G.o.d speaks by its own mouth, as a father speaks to his child, saying: Look to me, let thine eye rest on me, my son Thutmes! I, thy father, Harmakhu-Khepra-Ra-Tum, I give thee the kingdom." This monarch was Thutmes IVth (1533 B.C.)[71]