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UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
SCARABS
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN SEALS AND SIGNET RINGS
BY
PERCY E. NEWBERRY
_Author of “The Amherst Papyri” “The Life of Rekhmara” “Beni Hasan,” “El Bersheh,” &c._
WITH
_FORTY-FOUR PLATES AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT_
CHEAPER RE-ISSUE.
LONDON ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO LTD 1908
HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY, ST. MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON.
TO
MY FRIEND
MRS. E. B. ANDREWS
OF
“THE BEDUÎN.”
PREFACE.
SINCE the year 1895, when Professor Flinders Petrie’s book on _Historical Scarabs_ became “out of print,” the want of a comprehensive work on these interesting little Egyptian antiquities has been much felt. Two volumes on Egyptian Scarabs, it is true, have been published since that date, but these works treat of private collections and do not claim to deal with the subject in its entirety or even in a scientific manner.
A long residence, extending over several years, at Thebes, the centre of the Upper Egyptian Scarab market, and the place where the best imitation Scarabs are now manufactured, has, I may claim, given me exceptional opportunities for studying this class of Ancient Egyptian antiquities and its allied forms. For some years it was my custom to pay a weekly visit to the Luxor antiquity shops, with the object of examining these and other articles in the dealers’ hands; and, latterly, scarcely a week has passed during my winter’s sojourn on the banks of the Nile but that someone, Egyptologist, collector, tourist, or dealer, has consulted me as to the genuineness, reading, etc., of Scarabs that they have either purchased or intended to buy. The frequency of these appeals, and the ignorance so generally displayed by the traveller in speaking of Egyptian Scarabs, convinced me that I could at least advance a step or two on what had been previously written on the subject; so, after classifying my notes and visiting and studying the principal collections of England and the Continent, I have prepared the following Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals, which will, I venture to hope, be useful to Students and Collectors.
That I have spared no pains in order to make this book as complete as possible will, I think, be obvious to anyone who will take the trouble to read the letterpress and examine the plates. About one thousand three hundred specimens of Egyptian Seals and Signet-rings are figured, but these have been selected from drawings of some seven thousand, and from an examination of over thirty thousand examples. It may be noticed that the splendid collection preserved in the National Museum at Cairo has been drawn from but sparingly: this is due to the fact that M. Maspero had already commissioned me to prepare and publish a separate catalogue of the unique collection which is in that great savant’s care. The manuscript of this catalogue is now finished, and it will be published early in the coming year.
I have to thank the Keepers of Public Museums and many owners of Private Collections for the courtesy and kindness that they have shown in allowing me to inspect and draw from the specimens in their possession. To Prof. Erman and Dr. Schäfer I am indebted for plaster casts of the Berlin Museum seals; and to Prof. Petrie I am indebted for his generosity in placing at my disposal the magnificent historical series which he has gathered together at University College, London. To Mr. Walter Nash, F.S.A., I also wish to express my grateful thanks for much kindly help and encouragement in the earlier stages of this work; and in conclusion I must thank my friends and colleagues Prof. J. M. Mackay and Mr. John Garstang, for kindly looking through the proofs of this volume, and to the latter also for placing at my disposal the library of the Institute of Archæology of the University of Liverpool, wherein the manuscript has been completed.
PERCY E. NEWBERRY.
INSTITUTE OF ARCHÆOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL. 1905.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE V
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN SEALS:—
(1) General Remarks 1
(2) Importance of the Seal in Ancient 4 Times
(3) Origin of the Seal 8
(4) The various Uses of the Seal:—
(_a_) For securing property 12
(_b_) For authenticating documents, 22 etc.
(_c_) For transference of authority 26
(5) The Egyptian Officials concerned 29 in the use of the Seal
(6) Seal Engravers and the Technique 40 of Seal Engraving
THE VARIETIES OF EGYPTIAN SEALS:—
(1) Cylinder Seals 43
(2) Button-shaped Seals and 56 Hemi-Cylinders
(3) Beetle-shaped Seals (Scarabs) 61
(4) Miscellaneous forms 85
(5) Signet-rings 92
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIMENS ILLUSTRATED 97 IN THE PLATES I-XLV
INDICES:—
To Personal Names 201
To Titles 205
To Royal Names:—
(_a_) Kings 211
(_b_) Queens 216
(_c_) Princes 217
(_d_) Princesses 218
FOOTNOTES 304
LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PLATE I. Some specimens of rings _Frontispiece._
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
FIG. PAGE
1, 2. Two jars of the First Dynasty, to 13 illustrate the ancient method of sealing
3, 4. Complete jar neck, bearing the stamp of 14 Amasis
5-7. Jars showing method of securing 16 contents. (From paintings in the tombs at Beni Hasan)
8. A man sealing up a honey jar. (From a 17 tomb at Abusîr)
9. A sealed jar. (From a painting in a tomb 17 at Medûm)
10. A sealed bag. (From a painting in a tomb 17 at Medûm)
11. Sealing of doors 20
12. Securing of folding doors 21
13. Sealing of boxes 22
14. A papyrus roll, tied up and sealed 23
15. The office of the Superintendent of the 35 Seal
16. The working of the bow drill. (From the 42 tomb of Rekhmara)
17. A mounted cylinder-seal. (In the Louvre) 45
18. A Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at 45 Medûm)
19. Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at 45 Sakkara)
20. An early cylinder-seal 46
21. A cylinder-seal bearing the name of 46 Merŷ-ra. (In the collection of Mr. Piers)
22. A cylinder-seal of Amenemhat III 47
23. A cylinder-seal of Khŷan. (Cairo) 47
24. A cylinder-seal of Sen-mut. (Petrie 47 Collection)
25. Impression from a cylinder-seal in the 49 Berlin Museum
26. Impression from a cylinder-seal in the 50 Berlin Museum
27. Cylinder-seal bearing personal name 51
28. Cylinder-seal bearing rude hieroglyphic 52 inscriptions written in vertical columns
29. Royal seal of Narmer, predecessor of 53 Mena, reproduced in outline
30. Royal seal of Zer, Mena’s successor; 53 gives besides the name a _figure_ of the monarch
31. Official cylinder-seal, with royal name 55
32. Official cylinder-seal bearing the name 55 and titles of officials
33. Button-shaped seal 56
34. Hemi-cylinder seal 56
35. Button-shaped seal 57
36. Button-shaped seal 57
37. Button-shaped seal 57
38. Button-shaped seal 57
39. Button-shaped seal 58
40. Button-shaped seal 58
41. Button-shaped seal 59
42. Button-shaped seal 59
43. Button-shaped seal 59
44. Button-shaped seal 59
45. Button-shaped seal 59
46. Button-shaped seal 59
47. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
48. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
49. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
50. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
51. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
52. Clay stamp from the _terramare_ of 61 Montale in the Modenese
53. Scarab-shaped seal worn on the finger, 62 attached by a piece of string
54. Scarab-shaped seal mounted as swivel to 62 metal ring
55. Scarab-shaped seal enclosed in metal 62 frame or _funda_
56. Scarab bearing the name of Mer-en-ra 68
57. Scarab bearing the names Thothmes III 68 and Amenhetep II
58. Specimen of a Scarab-beetle (the real 70 _Scarabæus sacer_)
59. Specimens of scarabs from El Mahasna 70
60. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
61. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
62. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
63. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
64. Specimen scarabs of the Thirteenth 72 Dynasty
65. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
66. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
67. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
68. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 73
69. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 73
70. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 73 Dynasty
71. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 73 Dynasty
72. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 74 Dynasty
73. Specimen scarabs of the Middle 74 Eighteenth Dynasty
74. Specimen scarabs of the Amenhetep III 74
75. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 74 Dynasty
76. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75 Dynasty
77. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75 Dynasty
78. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75 Dynasty
79. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75 Dynasty
80. Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian 76 dominion
81. Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian 76 dominion
82. Scarab of Usertsen I 80
83. A seal of the Twelfth Dynasty 85
84. A seal of the Eighteenth Dynasty 85
85. A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty 86
86. A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty 86
87. A seal bearing the name of King 87 Mentuhetep
88. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
89. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
90. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
91. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
92. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
93. A seal bearing the name of King 88 Amenemhat III
94. A stamp seal 88
95. A seal bearing the name of King 89 Seqen-en-ra
96. A seal bearing the name of King Sa-Amen 89
97. A stamp seal 89
98. A seal bearing the name of King Thothmes 90 III
99. A seal bearing the name of the Hyksos 90 Period
100. A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth 90 Dynasty
101. A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth 90 Dynasty
102. A seal bearing the name of the 90 Eighteenth Dynasty
103. A seal bearing the name of Rameses II 90
104. A seal of the Saïte Period 91
105. A seal of Thirtieth Dynasty 91
106. A seal of Nekhtenebo 92
107. A ring of Usertsen III 93
108. A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty 93
109. A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty 93
110. A ring of Thothmes III 94
111. A ring of the period of Akhenaten 94
112. A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty 94
113. A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty 94
114. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
115. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
116. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE
I. Some specimens of rings.
II. Scene representing the Chancellor of Tût-ankh-Amen investing a Governor of Ethiopia with the signet-ring of office.
III. Pre-dynastic cylinder-seals.
IV. Impressions of early cylinder-seals.
V. Cylinder-seals of the Fourth to Sixth Dynasties.
VI. Cylinder-seals of the Twelfth Dynasty.
VII. Cylinder-seals of the Twelfth to Seventeenth Dynasties.
VIII. Miscellaneous cylinder-seals.
IX. Scarabs bearing royal names. Fourth to Twelfth Dynasties.
X. Scarabs of the kings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties.
XI. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties.
XII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XIII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XIV. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XV. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVI. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVIII. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth Dynasties.
XIX. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XX. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XXI. Scarabs of the Hyksos Kings. (I).
XXII. Scarabs of the Hyksos Kings. (II).
XXIII. Scarabs of royal and other personages of the Hyksos Period.
XXIV. Miscellaneous scarabs of the Hyksos Period.
XXV. Decorative scarabs, mostly of the Hyksos Period.
XXVI. Scarabs of kings, etc., mostly of the Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Dynasties.
XXVII. Scarabs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. (Thothmes I to Hatshepsut.)
XXVIII. Scarabs of the Eighteenth Dynasty—_continued_. (Thothmes III and his family.)
XXIX. Officials of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and kings, etc., from the tomb of Maket, at Gurob (_temp._ Thothmes III).
XXX. Scarab of the Eighteenth Dynasty—_continued_.
XXXI. Scarab of the Eighteenth Dynasty—_continued_.
XXXII. Historical scarabs of Amenhetep III:
1. Kirgipa and her Harîm.
2. The Lion Hunts of Amenhetep III.
3. The Parents of Queen Thŷi and the Limits of the Egyptian Empire.
XXXIII. Historical scarabs of Amenhetep III—_continued_:
1. The Wild Cattle hunt.
2. The Lake at Zarukha.
XXXIV. Scarabs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties.
XXXV. Scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty (Rameses II).
XXXVI. Scarabs bearing royal names: Meren-ptah I to Sa-Amen.
XXXVII. Scarabs of the Twenty-second to Twenty-fifth Dynasty Kings.
XXXVIII. Royal and private scarabs and rings (Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties).
XXXIX. Scarabs bearing mottoes, good wishes, etc.
XL. Scarabs bearing mottoes, good wishes, etc.—_continued_.
XLI. Scarabs bearing names of figures of gods, etc.
XLII. Hieroglyphics, flowers, etc.
XLIII. Miscellaneous royal and private scarabs.
XLIV. Miscellaneous royal and private scarabs—_continued_.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN SEALS.
1. GENERAL REMARKS.
[Sidenote: General Remarks on Egyptian seals.]
There are few small objects of antiquity which present themselves so often to the traveller’s notice in Egypt, as the little seals of stone, pottery and other material, carved in various forms and engraved on their base, or around their circumference, with an ornamental device or brief hieroglyphic inscription. These seals are found in a variety of forms; some of them are cylindrical in shape, others are button-shaped, but by far the greater number are carved to represent the scarabaeus beetle standing upon an elliptical base, the under side of which is engraved with the device or inscription intended to be impressed upon the sealing clay. The specimens of this last variety of seal are universally known as “Scarabs.”[1] Like the gems of Greece and Italy, Egyptian seals are generally found in excellent preservation; other and larger antiquities usually show on their face the signs of weathering, or they bear the marks of mutilation by man, but these interesting little monuments of a long past age often continue to this day as perfect in their finish and delicate workmanship as when they first left the hands of the ancient lapidary. The soil of Egypt literally teems with them. Thousands have been found among the _débris_ of long deserted and ruined towns and temples; the fellah often turns them up in the soil whilst ploughing his fields, and rich harvests of these little objects have been gathered by the antiquary from the myriad tombs that line the desert edge on both sides of the Nile from Alexandria and El Arîsh to Aswân. Outside the boundaries of the Nile Valley also, Egyptian seals are frequently discovered; and in our museums are to be seen specimens from Italy, Sicily, Cyprus and the Greek Islands, as well as from the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and even from as far afield as Nineveh and the valley of the Euphrates.
[Sidenote: Clay impressions of seals.]
Besides the actual seals, pieces of fine clay bearing impressions of them are often brought to light by the excavator; some of these served as sealings to jars of wine, honey, etc., whilst others had been affixed, like modern seals of wax, to documents written on papyrus or leather. The documents to which some of them had been attached have, unfortunately, too often perished from decay, or they have been consumed by fire, but in the stamped clay may still nearly always be seen the holes for the string, or the markings of it, by which the seal was fixed to the document: in some instances even the string itself remains. These sealings are usually unearthed in excellent preservation, and they are consequently as useful for the purposes of study as the seals themselves.
[Sidenote: Importance of the study of Egyptian seals.]
To the student of the history and civilization of ancient Egypt the importance of these seals and “sealings” is very great; to him they are as the coins and gems to the student of Ancient Greece and Rome. Their range in date is greater than that of any other class of inscribed monument; the earliest appear as far back as the very dawn of History, and these little objects present from that period onward an unbroken series of such length and completeness that they afford a most valuable illustration of the early history of the Nile Valley. In some cases they supply the outline of a portion of history that was otherwise almost wholly lost. To them we owe most of our information regarding the earliest dynasties. For much of our knowledge of the period intervening between the end of the Twelfth and the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasties we are also indebted to the same class of monument, while small scarab-shaped seals are as yet the only extant evidence of several of the Hyksos kings. Their value as corroborative evidence to other historical data must not be overlooked, nor can certain classes of them be lightly cast aside as bric-à-brac by the archaeologist who sets himself the task of solving, or of inquiring into, the many problems that have lately arisen concerning the early people of the Mediterranean region. To the student of Ancient Art also they afford a most happy illustration of the ever-varying styles in vogue in successive reigns, and their study, as will be seen in the following pages, often enables us to obtain those glimpses into the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptian people which so wonderfully help to elucidate our view of bygone days and men.
2. IMPORTANCE OF THE SEAL IN ANCIENT TIMES.
[Sidenote: Importance of the seal in ancient times.]