Part 3
5. A Courageous Warrior.--As such they forced all the soldiers to wear rings, upon each of which a beetle was engraved, _i.e._ an animal perpetually in armor, who went his rounds in the night.[68] Plutarch thus alludes to this custom: “In the signet or seal-ring of their martial and military men, there was engraven the portraeture of the great Fly called the Beettil;” and assigns this curious and ridiculous reason, “because in that kinde there is no female, but they be all males.”[69] The custom is also mentioned by Ælian;[70] and some Scarabs have been found perfect, set in gold, with the ring attached.[71] The Romans adopted this emblem and made it a part of some legionary standards.
6. Pthah, the Creative Power.--Plutarch says, that in consequence of there being no females of this species, but all males, they were considered fit types of the creative power, self-acting and self-sufficient.[72] Some, too, have supposed that its position upon the female figure of the heavens, which encircles the zodiacs, refers to the same singular idea of its generative influence.[73]
7. Pthah Tore, another character of the creative power.[74]
8. Pthah-Sokari-Osiris.--Of this pigmy Deity of Memphis, it was adopted as a distinctive mark, being placed on his head.[75]
9. Regeneration, or reproduction, from the fact of its being the first living animal observed upon the subsidence of the waters of the Nile.[76]
10. Spring.[77]
11. The Egyptian month anterior to the rising of the Nile, as it appears first in that month.[78] It also may have been a symbol of a lunar month from an above-mentioned belief, namely, that its pellets remain twenty-eight days in the ground. It is sometimes found with the joints of its tarsi numbering but twenty-eight instead of thirty, hence the supposition is that it was held as a symbol of a lunar, as well as a solar, month.
12. Fecundity.--Dr. Clarke informs us that these beetles are even yet eaten by the women to render them prolific.[79]
13. With the eyes pierced by a needle, of a man who died from fever.[80]
14. Surrounded by roses, of a voluptuary, because they thought that the smell of that flower enervated, made lethargic, and killed the beetle.[81]
15. An only son; because, says Fosbroke, they believed that every beetle was “both male and female.”[82] Was it not because they imagined these insects were all males, as above stated upon the authority of Plutarch, and hence the analogy in a family of an only son since it could be but of the masculine gender?
The Scarabæus was also connected with astronomical subjects, occurring in some zodiacs in the place of Cancer; and with funereal rites.[83]
To no place in particular, as the dog at Cynopolis, the ichneumon at Heracleopolis, was the worship of the beetle confined; but traces of it are found throughout the whole of Egypt. It is probable, however, it received the greatest honors at Memphis and Heliopolis, of which cities Pthah and the Sun were the chief Deities.[84] The worship is also of great antiquity, for in many of the above-mentioned characters, the beetle occurs upon the royal sepulchers of Biban-el-Moluc, which are said to be more ancient than the Pyramids.[85] Scarabæi are, in fact, to be retraced in all their monuments and sculptures, and under divers positions, and often depicted of gigantic dimensions. Mr. Hamilton tells us that in the most conspicuous part of the magnificent temple which marks the site of the ancient Ombite nome, priests are represented paying divine honors to this beetle, placed upon an altar; and, that it might have a character of more mysterious sanctity, it was generally figured with two mitered heads--that of the common hawk, and that of the ram with the horn of Ammon.[86] It may be remarked here, that the Scarabæus, when represented with the head of a hawk, or of a ram, is meant to be an emblem of the sun; and as such emblem it is most commonly found. It often occurs in a boat with extended wings, holding the globe of the sun in its claws, or elevated in the firmament as a type of that luminary in the meridian. Figures too of other Deities are often seen praying to it when in this character.[87]
In the cabinet of Montfaucon, there is a Scarabæus in the middle of a large stone, with outspread feet; and two men, or women, who are perhaps priests, or priestesses, stand before it with clasped hands as if in adoration.[88] This gentleman also has remarked that on the Isiac table, there is the figure of a man in a sitting posture, who holds his hands toward a beetle which has the head of a man with a crescent upon it.[89] On this table there is another Scarab with the head of Isis.[90] Besides these Scarabæi with the heads of hawks, rams, men, and the goddess Isis, Mr. Hertz has in his possession a small Scarabæus in stone with the head of a cow.[91]
The mode of representing the Scarabæi on the monuments was frequently very arbitrary. Some are figured with, and some without the scutellum; and others are sometimes introduced with two scutella, one on either clypeus. An instance of this mode of representation, of which no example is to be found in nature, occurs in a large Scarabæus in the British museum.[92]
Among the ideographics of the hieroglyphic writing, the Scarabæus is found under several forms: seated with closed and spread wings upon the head of a god, it signifies the name of a god--a Creator;[93] and with the head and legs of a man, it is emblematic of the same creative power, or of Pthah. Another emblem of Pthah is supported by the arms of a man kneeling on the heavens, and surmounted by a winged Scarab supporting a globe or sun.[94]
The Scarabæus likewise belongs to the hieroglyphic signs as a syllabic phonetic; and with complement a mouth, signifies type, form, and transformation: flying, to mount--a phonetic of the later alphabet, with sound of H in the name of Pthah. Another phonetic of the later alphabet, belonging to the XXVI. dynasty, of the time of Domitianus and Trajanus, was a Scarabæus in repose.[95]
The Scarabæus entered also into the royal scutcheons. It first appeared in the XI. dynasty, and is found afterward in the XII., XIII., XIV., XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., XXII., XXIII., and XXX.[96]
The most important monuments of the great edifice of Amenophis--the so-called Palace of Luxon,--in an historical sense, are said to be four great Scarabæi. They contain statements as to the frontier of the Egyptian empire under Amenophis at the time of his marriage with Taja. Rosellini has given copies and explanations of two of them. A third, now in the Louvre, states that the King, conqueror of the Lybian Shepherds, husband of Taja, made the foreign country of the Karai his southern frontier, the foreign land of Nharina (Mesopotamia) his northern. The inscription of the other Scarabæus, now in the Vatican, states that in the eleventh year and third month of his reign, King Amenhept made a great tank or lake to celebrate the festival of the waters; on which occasion he entered it in a barge of “the most gracious Disc of the Sun.” This substitution, by the King, of the barge of the Disc of the Sun for the usual barge of Amun-Ra, is the _first_ indication of an heretical sun-worship.[97]
Such historical Scarabæi, Champollion and Rosellini have happily compared to commemorative coins; and, in fact, those which record the names of the kings might perhaps be considered as small Egyptian coins.[98]
Besides being ensculped upon monuments and tablets, Scarabæi, as images in baked earth, are found in great numbers with the mummies of Egypt. These little figures also present an intermingling of several animal forms; for some are found with the heads of men, others with those of dogs, lions, and cats, and others are figures entirely fantastical. Father Kirker says, they were interred with the dead to drive away evil spirits; and there is much probability, he continues, that these were put here for no other purpose than to protect their relatives.[99] The largest of these rude images of Scarabæi, thus used for funereal purposes, frequently had a prayer, or legend connected with the dead, engraved upon them; and a winged Scarabæus was generally placed on those bodies which were embalmed according to the most extensive process.[100] These latter are found in various positions, but generally upon the eye and breast of the body.[101] Placed over the stomach, it was deemed a never-failing talisman to shield the “soul” of its wearer against the terrific genii of Amenthi.[102]
A small, closely cut, glazed limestone Scarabæus has been found tied like a ring by a twist of plain cord on the fourth finger of the left hand. This has occurred twice. Another has been found fastened around the left wrist.[103]
It has been remarked before that the Scarabæus was connected with astronomical subjects. Donovan tells us that “when sculptured on astronomical tables, or on columns, it expressed the divine wisdom which regulated the universe and enlightened man.”[104]
From another point of view we will look now upon the worship of the Scarabæus. When the hieroglyphics of the _ancient_ Egyptians, by reason of their antiquity, became unintelligible, and, in consequence, to the superstitious people, sacred, they were formed into circles and borders, after the manner of cordons, and engraved upon precious stones and gems, by way of amulets and trinkets. It is thought this fashion was coeval with the introduction of the worship of Serapis by the Ptolemies.[105] In the second century, that sect of the Egyptians called the Basilidians, intermingling the new-born Christianity with their heathenism, introduced that particular kind of mysterious hieroglyphics and figures called Abraxas, which were supposed to have the singular property of curing diseases.[106] These abraxas are generally oval, and made of black Egyptian basalt. They are sometimes covered with letters and characters, fac-similes of the ancient hieroglyphics, but more commonly with the inscriptions in the more modern letters. Besides these inscriptions, figures of animals and scenes were also frequently represented; and among the animals, one of frequent occurrence was the Scarabæus. For this insect the Basilidians had the same great veneration as their forefathers; and they paid to it almost the same divine honors. This appears in many abraxas, and particularly in one in the cabinet of Montfaucon, where two women are seen standing before a beetle, with uplifted hands, as if supplicating it to grant them some favor. Above is a large star, or, more probably, the sun, of which the beetle was the well-known symbol.[107] On another abraxas, figured by Montfaucon, there are two birds with human heads, which stand before a Scarab. These figures are surrounded by a snake the ends of which meet. Upon the other side is written in Greek characters the word φρὴ (Phre or Phri), which in the Coptic or Egyptian language signifies the sun.[108] Chifflet has figured an abraxas which contains a Scarabæus having the sun for its head, and the arms of a man for legs.[109] Another, in the cabinet of M. Capello, is remarkable for having a woman on its reverse, who holds two infants in her arms.[110] Montfaucon has also figured two others, given by Fabreti; and Count Caylus has engraved one, which represents a woman’s head upon the body of a Scarab. The head is that of Isis.[111] As these beetles differ much in form, it may be there are several species. To the abraxas succeeded the talismans, which were of the highest estimation in the East.
Carved Scarabæi of all sizes and qualities are quite common in the cabinets of Europe. They were principally used for sets in rings, necklaces, and other ornamental trinkets, and are now called Scarabæi gems,[112] though some suppose them to have been money. All of these gems, Winkleman says, which have a beetle on the convex side, and an Egyptian deity on the concave, are of a date posterior to the Ptolemies; and, moreover, all the ordinary gems, which represent the figures or heads of Serapis, or Anubis, are of the Roman era.[113] According to C. Caylus, the Egyptians used these gems for amulets, and made them of all substances except metal. They preferred, however, those of pottery, covered with green and black enamel. Cylinders, squares, and pyramids were first used; then came the Scarabæi, which were the last forms. They now began to have the appearance of seals or stamps, and many believe them to have been such. The body of the beetle being a convenient hold for the hand, and the base a place of safety and facility to engrave whatsoever was wished to be stamped or printed. Many of these characters are as yet unintelligible. These seals are made of the most durable stones, and their convex part commonly worked without much art.
The Egyptian form of the Scarabæus, which somewhat resembled a half-walnut, the Etruscans adopted in the manufacture of their gems. These scarcely exceed the natural size of the Scarabæus which they have on the convex side. They have also a hole drilled through them lengthwise, for suspension from the neck, or annexation to some other part of the person. They are generally cornelians. Some are of a style very ancient, and of extremely precious work, although in the Etruscan manner, which is correctness of design in the figures, and hardness in the turn of the muscles.
The Greeks also made use of the Scarabæus in their gems; but in the end they suppressed the insect, and preserved alone the oval form which the base presented, for the body of the sculpture. They also mounted them in their rings.[114]
Several Egyptian Scarabæi were among the relics discovered by Layard at Arban on the banks of the Khabour; and similar objects have been brought from Nimroud, and various other ruins in Assyria.[115]
Layard has figured a bronze cup, and two bronze cubes, found among the ruins of Nimroud, on which occur as ornaments the figures of Scarabs. Those on the cubes are with outstretched wings, inlaid with gold. The cubes have much the appearance of weights.[116]
The Scarabæus was not only venerated when alive, but embalmed after death. In that state they are found at Thebes. It, however, was not the only insect thus honored, for in one of the heads brought by Mr. Wilkinson from Thebes, several others were discovered. These were submitted to Mr. Hope for examination; and the species ascertained by this gentleman, Mr. Pettigrew has enumerated as follows:
1. Corynetes violaceous, _Fab._
2. Necrobia mumiarum, _Hope_.
3. Dermestes vulpinus, _Fab._
4. ---- pollinctus, _Hope_.
5. ---- roei, _Hope_.
6. ---- elongatus, _Hope_.
7. Pimelia spinulosa, _Klug_?
8. Copris sabæus? “found by Passalacqua; so named on the testimony of Latrielle.”
9. Midas, _Fab._
10. Pithecius, _Fab._
11. A species of Cantharis in Passalacqua’s Collection, No. 442.[117] The House-fly has also been found embalmed at Thebes.[118]
* * * * *
Concerning the worship in general of the Scarabæus, many curious observations have been made besides the ones above recorded.
Pliny, in the words of his ancient translator, Philemon Holland, tells us “The greater part of Ægypt honour all beetles, and adore them as gods, or at leastwise having some divine power in them: which ceremoniall devotion of theirs, Appion giveth a subtile and curious reason of; for he doth collect, that there is some resemblance between the operations and works of the Sun, and this flie; and this he setteth abroad, for to colour and excuse his countrymen.”[119]
Dr. Molyneux, in the conclusion of his article on the swarms of beetles that appeared in Ireland in 1688, makes the following allusion to the worship of the Scarabæus by the Egyptians: “It is also more than probable that this same destructive Beetle (Hedge-chafer--_Melontha vulgaris_) we are speaking of, was that very kind of _Scarabæus_ the idolatrous _Ægyptians_ of old had in such high veneration, as to pay divine worship to it. For nothing can be supposed more natural, than to imagine a Nation addicted to Polytheism, as the _Ægyptians_ were, in a Country frequently suffering great Mischief and Scarcity from Swarms of devouring Insects, should from a strong Sense and Fear of Evil to come (the common Principle of Superstition and Idolatry) give sacred worship to the visible Authors of these their Sufferings, in hopes to render them more propitious for the future. Thus ’tis allowed on all hands, that the same People adored as a God the ravenous Crocodile of the River Nile; and thus the _Romans_, though more polite and civilized in their Idolatry, _Febrem ad minas nocendam venerabantur, eamque variis Templis extructis colebant_, says Valerius Maximus, L. 2, c. 5.”[120]
It is curious to observe how the reason is affected by circumstances. The mind of Dr. Molyneux being long engaged upon the destruction caused by insects, worked itself insensibly into certain grooves, out of which it was afterward impossible to act. The same may be remarked of Mr. Henry Baker, as appears from his article, “On a _Beetle_ that lived three years without Food.” In conclusion, this gentleman says, “As the _Egyptians_ were a wise and learned people, we cannot imagine they would show so much regard to a creature of such a mean appearance (as the Beetle) without some extraordinary reason for so doing. And is it not possible they might have discovered its being able to subsist a very long time without any visible sustenance, and therefore made it a symbol of the Deity?”[121]
In parts of Europe the ladies string together for necklaces the burnished violet-colored thighs of the _Geotrupes stercorarius_ and such like brilliant species of insects.[122]
Under _Copris molossus_, in Donovan’s Insects of China, it is mentioned that the larvæ of the larger kinds of coleopterous insects, abounding in unctuous moisture, are much esteemed as food by the Chinese. “Under the roots of the canes is found a large, white grub, which, being fried in oil, is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.” Donovan suggests that perhaps this is the larvæ of the _Scarabæus (copris) molossus_, the general description and abundance of which insect in China favors such an opinion.[123]
Insects belonging to the family Scarabæidæ have been used also in medicine. Pliny says the green Scarabæus has the property of rendering the sight more piercing of those who gaze upon it, and that hence, engravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their sight.[124]
Again, he says: “And many there be, who, by the directions of magicians, carrie about them in like manner,” _i.e._ tied up in a linen cloth with a red string, and attached to the body, “for the quartan ague, one of these flies or beetles that use to roll up little balls of earth.”[125] We learn from Schroder (v. 345) that the powder of the _Scarabæus pilurarius_ “sprinkled upon a protuberating eye or prolapsed anus, is said to afford singular relief;” and that “an oil prepared of these insects by boiling in oil till they are consumed, and applied to the blind hæmorrhoids, by means of a piece of cotton, is said to mitigate the pains thereof.”[126] Fabricius states that the _Scarabæus (copris) molossus_ is medicinally employed in China.[127]
We quote the following from Moufet: “The Beetle engraven on an emerald yeelds a present remedy against all witchcrafts, and no less effectual than that moly which Mercury once gave Ulysses. Nor is it good only against these, but it is also very useful, if any one be about to go before the king upon any occasion, so that such a ring ought especially to be worn by them that intend to beg of noblemen some jolly preferment or some rich province. It keeps away likewise the head-ach, which, truly, is no small mischief, especially to great drinkers....
“The magicians will scarce finde credit, when foolishly rather than truly, they report and imagine that the precious stone Chelonitis, that is adorned with golden spots, put into hot water with a Beetle, raiseth tempests.” _Pliny_, _l._ 37, _c._ 10.
“The eagle, the Beetle’s proud and cruel enemy, does no less make havock of and devour this creature of so mean a rank, yet as soon as it gets an opportunity, it returneth like for like, and sufficiently punisheth that spoiler. For it flyeth up nimbly into her nest with its fellow-soldiers, the Scara-beetles, and in the absence of the old she eagle bringeth out of the nest the eagle’s eggs one after another, till there be none left; which falling, and being broken, the young ones, while they are yet unshapen, being dashed miserably against the stones, are deprived of life, before they can have any sense of it. Neither do I see indeed how she should more torment the eagle than in her young ones. For some who slight the greatest torments of their own body, cannot endure the least torments of their sons.”[128]
Pliny says that in Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small locality, the only one in which the beetle[129] cannot exist; from which circumstance it has received the name of “Cantharolethus--Fatal-to-the-Beetle.”[130]
Dynastidæ--Hercules-beetle, etc.
The Hercules-beetle, _Dynastes Hercules_, is four, five, or even sometimes six inches long, and a native of South America. It is said great numbers of these immense insects are sometimes seen on the Mammæa-tree, rasping off the rind of the slender branches by working nimbly round them with their horns, till they cause the juice to flow, which they drink to intoxication, and thus fall senseless to the ground! These stories, however, as the learned Fabricius has well observed, seem not very probable; since the thoracic horn, being bearded on its lower surface, would undoubtedly be made bare by this operation.[131]
Col. St. Clair, though he confesses he never could take one of these insects in the act of sawing off the limbs of trees, or ascertain what they worked for, gravely repeats the above old story, and says that during the operation they make a noise exactly like that of a knife-grinder holding steel against the stone of his wheel; but a thousand knife-grinders at work at the same moment, he continues, could not equal their noise! He calls this beetle hence the knife-grinder.[132]
The Goliath-beetle, _Dynastes Goliathus_, is said to be roasted and eaten by the natives of South America and Africa.[133]
The enormous prices of £30, £40, and even £50 used to be asked for these latter beetles a piece; fine specimens for cabinets even now bring from five to six pounds.[134]
The large pulpy larva of a species of Dynastidæ--the _Oryctes rhinoceros_, called by the Singhalese _Gascooroominiya_--is, notwithstanding its repulsive aspect, esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies.[135]
Immediately after mentioning the above fact, Tennent records the following interesting superstition respecting a beetle when found in a house after sunset:
“Among the superstitions of the Singhalese arising out of their belief in demonology, one remarkable one is connected with the appearance of a beetle when observed on the floor of a dwelling-house after nightfall. The popular belief is that in obedience to a certain form of incantation (called _cooroominiya-pilli_) a demon in shape of a beetle is sent to the house of some person or family whose destruction it is intended to compass, and who presently falls sick and dies. The only means of averting this catastrophy is, that some one, himself an adept in necromancy, should perform a counter-charm, the effect of which is to send back the disguised beetle to destroy his original employer; for in such a conjuncture the death of one or the other is essential to appease the demon whose intervention has been invoked. Hence the discomfort of a Singhalese on finding a beetle in his house after sunset, and his anxiety to expel but not kill it.”[136]