Part 3

Folding doors were secured by a sliding bolt, but such bolts of course gave no security against a thief, so they also were sealed. They were shaped as in fig. 12, with a groove running across the centre; a piece of string was stretched across this groove, and then, after pellets of clay had been put on the two ends, it was sealed down as shown in the figure.

An interesting reference to this last method of sealing doors occurs in the well known inscription of Piankhy preserved in the Cairo Museum. This Ethiopian king, after his victorious journey through Egypt, goes to Heliopolis to present offerings of flowers, etc., to Ra, the famous god of that town. Proceeding to the shrine of the deity, Piankhy relates that “he stood alone,” that he “broke the seals” and “slid back the door bolt,” opened “the double doors” and saw his father Ra in the holy shrine. After performing certain ceremonies therein, he goes on to tell us that the doors were again shut, “clay was applied” to them, which was then sealed by the king’s own hand. Herodotus also, it may be remembered, refers to the Egyptian custom of sealing up doors, in the story of Rhampsinitus and the clever thief, who succeeded in pilfering the royal treasury by means of a loose stone in the wall of it. When the king happened to open the chamber, says the historian, he was astonished at seeing the vessels deficient in treasure, but he was unable to accuse anyone, as the seals were unbroken and the chamber well secured.

The sealings to tomb doors, the Egyptian’s “eternal habitation,” being required to be permanent, were much more elaborate.[13] After the mourners had retired, and the door had been closed, clay was smeared round the juncture of it with the lintel, jambs and threshold, and then stamped all over by the seal of the priest in charge.

As in the case of doors of houses and store-chambers, so also with boxes, the lids were sealed down to secure their contents.

On nearly all ancient Egyptian boxes that have been found are to be seen two knobs (or the holes into which they were fastened), one on the lid, the other on the box itself. Fig. 13 shows how these were placed, and with a piece of string, a lump of clay and a seal, it was an easy matter to secure the contents; all that had to be done was to follow the same process that has already been described for securing doors.

(_b_) _For authenticating Documents, etc._

With the advance of civilization, and the development of the art and practice of writing, the seal began to be employed for documents also. Till very recent times writing has been an accomplishment of few except professional scribes, hence it was natural that seals which bore the personal badge or mark of the owner, began to be used by those who could not write their names for giving that authenticity and authority to a document which is now more usually conferred by a written signature. Legal documents were therefore attested by the seal, and a legal contract was known in Egypt by the name [Egyptian **] _Khetemt_, “the sealed.”[14] But the method of attaching the seal to the document was different in ancient times to that of the present day. The old Egyptian, instead of impressing with his signet the surface of the sheet of papyrus, used to roll it up,[15] tie it round with string, and then, after knotting the string in the middle of the roll, he affixed the clay to the knot and sealed it (see fig. 14). Thus the roll could not be opened, and consequently the writing of it could not be altered nor new matter introduced without the seal being first broken, and the mere breaking of the seal would be legal proof enough to show that the document had been tampered with. It is not till the Ptolemaïc period that there is an instance of a document _stamped_ with ink,[16] although the stamp in paint has been shown to be as early as the Eighteenth Dynasty.[17] A familiar instance of the use of the seal for legal documents is given by the prophet Jeremiah. Having bought a field of Hanameel, he payed the owner seventeen shekels of silver for it; then subscribed the evidence and sealed it. This being done, he took the evidence of the purchaser, “both that which was sealed according to the law and custom and that which was open,” and gave it to Baruch in order that it might be put in an earthen vessel, and so preserved in case of any dispute. (Jeremiah xxxii, 9-14.)

But it was not only legal documents that were attested by the signet; letters also were sealed up by the sender before they left his hands,[18] and several such letters, with the seals still unbroken, have been found by the excavator. The aim of the signet in this connection was of course to afford proof of the identity of the sender, and to warrant the contents of the letter. The importance attached to the seal at present in the East is so great, that without one no document is regarded as authentic.

From the use for authenticating documents, the seal came to be employed for another purpose—that of authenticating the purity or weight of a piece of gold or other metal; the stamp upon the coin being the government guarantee of the fineness and weight of the piece of metal. It has often been supposed that the specimens of the scarab class of Egyptian seals were used as tokens of value, that they represented the small change of the Pharaohs. In support of this interpretation a remark of Plato, to the effect that “in Ethiopia engraved stones were used as money,” has often been quoted. It is of course true that the Egyptians had no coined money of their own before the time of the Macedonian Conquest; taxes were collected and salaries were paid in kind, and all trade was done by barter, as in Central Africa at the present day. The idea, however, that scarabs themselves were used for the purposes of barter, or as tokens of exchange, is not supported by the inscriptions, or by any of the scenes depicted on the monuments. But we do find, and this is very important, that during the Hyksos period (_circa_ 1700 B.C.),[19] and later under Amenhetep III (_circa_ 1400 B.C.),[20] the _Khetem_ or “seal” is given as a measure of value, although here it is probable that it was not the seal itself that is meant, but the _impression_ of it upon another substance. The Athenian General Timotheus, Polyaemus relates, being in want of money to pay his troops, “issued his own seal” for coin, and this substitute was accepted by the traders and market people confiding in his honour. This can only mean that _impressions_ of his signet on clay, or some other substance, were put into circulation as representatives of value, and so received by the sellers. It is in the impression of a seal or stamp upon a piece of gold or other metal that we have the origin of coined money.

The study of the early history of coined money is a most curious one. Rude peoples pass from barter to the use of metallic currency; and the most general article of wealth is taken as the standard to which, either as a multiple or a fraction, all other possessions are adjusted.[21] In Greece, as in Italy, the ox was the unit of value, and in Italy[22] a piece of metal was stamped with the impression of an animal (_nota pecudum_), whence it was termed _pecunia_,[23] but when and by whom such a stamp was first placed on “the bar or piece of metal it is, of course, impossible to say.” The Egyptian inscriptions, fortunately, throw some light on this subject, for as early at least as B.C. 1700, a [Egyptian **] _khetem_ is mentioned as a unit of value for metals, while “an ox” is valued as one seal. Furthermore, the word [Egyptian **] _khetem_, determined by an ox, actually occurs as a measure of value, and means a seal with the figure of an ox stamped on it, or an ox skin sealed.[24]

(_c_) _For Transference of Authority._

We have just seen that the affixing of a seal to a document gave to that document its validity and binding force, and it is now not difficult to realize that, being the real instrument of the power and authority of an office, it should have become the symbol of it. The delivery therefore of the seal or signet either by the king or by his minister, committed to the individual the authority and power to execute the rights and duties of his office. The Egyptian monarch himself was invested at his Coronation[25] with the Royal Signet,[26] upon which his name and titles were engraved; this was as important a part of the insignia of royalty as his sceptre or his crown. In an early text (_circa_ 2500 B.C.) it is said that “Mer-en-Ra maketh his appearance as king, he hath taken possession of his signet (_sah_) and of his throne.”[27] The word for signet is here [Egyptian **] _Sah_ (variants [Egyptian **] and [Egyptian **] _Sah_, note the necklace and cylinder seal as determinative), and the signet was repeatedly used in ancient Egypt to denote a man of noble rank, one who was allowed to carry a signet with the royal name engraven upon it. Osiris is named _Sahu_, “seal bearer” of the gods whom he has called into existence, and a hymn[28] calls him the glorious _Sahu_ among the _sahus_. The Prince Khnemhetep (2000 B.C.), at Beni Hasan, says of himself that he was distinguished above all the king’s nobles _(sahu)_; that is to say, the order of men bearing the signet or sign of investiture. A mummified person is also called _Sahu_, in virtue of investiture.[29]

The Great Seals of State were as important in ancient Egypt as they are in this country, and it was only by the king bestowing his own seal, or one of the Great Seals of State, on one of his subjects, that he could delegate his authority. In the Biblical account of Joseph we read, “and Pharaoh said unto Joseph, see, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand ... and made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.” That this ceremony was true, and that the giving of the seal or ring of office by the king, or by one of his ministers, on the appointment of a high government official, was indeed usual, is proved by several inscriptions: at the time of the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Amenhetep III (1450 B.C.) places “the two lands” in the “hands” of the Vezîr Ptahmes, and “the signet rings of the Horus” (_i.e._, the Sovereign) upon his fingers.[30] In a scene in the tomb of Hûy at Thebes, which is here (Pl. II) published for the first time, the Chancellor of King Tutânkhamen, 1350 B.C., presents the gold signet ring of the office of Royal Son (_i.e._, Viceroy) of Ethiopia “to the Prince Hûy, in order that the office of the Royal Son of Ethiopia may be made to flourish.”

5. THE OFFICIALS CONCERNED IN ITS USE.

As the seal was put to such varied and important uses in Ancient Egypt, it is no wonder that many officials of the Government were concerned in its employment. There were [Egyptian **] _khetemtiu_,[31] “sealers” (singular [Egyptian **] _khetemu_, “a sealer”), attached to almost every department of the public service,[32] as well as to all the religious institutions of the country; and even wealthy noblemen[33] usually had one or more of these “sealers” in their household, whose duty it was to give out from the _khetemu_, “sealed rooms” or “store rooms,” the provisions and other private property required by the great man or by his household. So important was it that the process of sealing jars, boxes, and doors should be done properly, that [Egyptian **] _seḥez_,[34] “instructors,” in the art were employed.

A scene in a tomb at Sakkara[35] shows one of these officials carrying a pail of mud with a ladle in it, going to instruct his pupils. These “sealers” formed a regularly organized body, and served under a [Egyptian **] _mer_ or “superintendent.”[36]

The reader’s attention has already been drawn to the fact that the monarch was invested at his coronation with a Royal Signet, upon which his name and titles were engraved. In the earlier periods of Egyptian history this Royal Signet was, doubtless, either worn by the monarch himself or carried in some secure way about his person. We do not read in the inscriptions of the earliest dynasties of any “Keeper of the Royal Seal,” as we find so frequently alluded to in the hieroglyphic texts from the Middle Kingdom onwards, and it would consequently appear as if the king himself in those early times attended to the business connected with his Treasury Department.

Two important officials of the oldest period, however, were closely concerned with the use of the seal, and their titles were derived from its name. One of these was the “Sealer of the Honey [jars]”; the other was the “Divine Sealer,” “Sealer of the God.” The first title[37] [Egyptian **] “the Sealer of the Honey [jars],” was, perhaps, the oldest of the many hundreds of titles that we find at all periods of Egyptian history, and from the Third Dynasty onwards there was probably not a man of less than royal rank who would not have been proud to bear it. It originally meant, as we have said, “the Sealer of the Honey [jars]” honey being the greatest of all primitive luxuries, and its use reserved for the king’s table. This title must therefore be regarded as a relic of the most extreme antiquity, and it certainly goes back to the time before the use of wine in the Nile Valley. At the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty (_circa_ 3000 B.C.), however, its meaning had probably become already obsolete, and from that period onwards it meant nothing more than a “Royal Sealer,”[38] or one entitled to use a seal with the monarch’s name engraven upon it. Doubtless there were several of these officers employed in the royal palaces to look after the security of the king’s private property, and it was the duty of some of them to accompany the sovereign on his various military expeditions.[39]

In contradistinction to this secular title we find the [Egyptian **] “Divine Sealer,” the priest who had charge of the temple treasure, furniture, and goods that were kept under the temple seals. This title, like the one that we have just discussed, occurs also at an early period, and continued in use till very late times.[40] These “Divine Sealers” were attached to the service of various gods, or they were employed by the religious authorities of certain districts. In the first case they are specified as “of Amen,”[41] “of Horus,” etc.; while in the second as “of Abydos,”[42] “of Thebes,” etc. It is possible that they were placed under a _mer_[43] or “Superintendent,” but the title is so rare that this was not usually the case. It was the Divine Sealer’s duty to obtain and supervise the transport of stone for the temple buildings,[44] and to pay for and, if necessary, to collect in far distant countries precious things for the service of the gods. In order to obtain stone for statues or for temple buildings, he sometimes led semi-military expeditions to quarries far in the deserts,[45] and when it was necessary to convey the huge blocks of granite and other material down the river, he was usually placed in command of the transport ships.[46]

From the time of the Middle Kingdom[47] (_circa_ B.C. 2000) onwards the title [Egyptian **] _mer khetem_,[48] “Superintendent” or “Keeper of the (Royal) Seal”[49] is constantly occurring in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. During the first half of the Twelfth Dynasty, while each province was yet ruled over by semi-independent chieftains, there appears to have been a Keeper of the (Royal) Seal employed in the administration of each nome,[50] whose duty it was to collect and transmit treasure to the central office. Next to the chieftain himself, he was perhaps the most important personage in the province, for he had control over its revenues, and all its public works were carried out under his supervision. Baqt, the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal in the Oryx nome, supervised the excavation and adornment of Khnemhetep’s magnificent monument at Beni Hasan.[51] When that great nomarch’s officials defiled before him, the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal stood in the place of honour[52] behind the _uhem_ or “Herald,” and in front of the _mer meshau_ or “General of the Troops.” He was the nomarch’s trusted friend, and accompanied him on his hunting and fowling[53] expeditions in the desert and on the river, while in Khnemhetep’s funeral procession to Abydos, his place was in the State barge at the side of the deceased prince’s children.[54] A very interesting scene at Beni Hasan shows the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal seated in his _kha_[55] or “office,” watching one of his assistants weighing gold, or some other precious metal, in a balance, while a seated scribe writes down the weight on a wooden tablet or sheet of papyrus (see fig. 15). The office here shown was very similar to that of the Vezîr;[56] it was a columned hall of six columns in two rows, the front being open to the air, while at the back was a door which gave entrance to the _bêt el mâl_ or treasury.

About the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty a great change appears to have taken place in the political constitution of Egypt; we no longer hear of the Chieftains of Nomes or Provinces, and it seems that the Government, for a short time at least, became much more strictly centralized than it had ever been before. With this centralization of the administration several new offices were created, the provincial “Keepers of the (Royal) Seal” appear to have been suppressed, and _adenus_, “wakîls” or “deputies” of the Chief Keeper, appointed in their stead. The Treasury Department, however, was still presided over by a single[57] “Keeper of the Royal Seal,” who henceforth was one of the most important and powerful personages in the realm;[58] he became, in fact, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,[59] an Lord Chancellor, Keeper of the Seal.

Unfortunately we have no long inscription recording this great official’s duties, as we have in the case of the Vezîr,[60] so it is only by gathering a fact here and there from many sources that we can obtain any idea of his multifarious duties. That he had charge of the Government stores, and supervised everything connected with the _bêt el mâl_ or Treasury, is certain;[61] he had also to be responsible for the payment of all Government bills. If any important public monument had to be erected,[62] or if any government business was to be undertaken, it was his duty, together with his staff of assistants, to make all necessary arrangements regarding the payment of the employés, which must have been a most onerous task, when we remember that the Egyptians possessed no coined money until after the time of Alexander the Great. The supervision of the taxation of the country appears also to have been placed in the Chancellor’s hands, and it was his custom, as it still is with the heads of the departments of the various services of the Khedive’s administration, to make an annual tour of inspection throughout the length and breadth of the country.[63] In time of war a number of his officers accompanied the military expeditions, and when a town was plundered by the royal troops, they took possession of the spoil, some of which was kept for the Treasury, while the rest was given to the temples as an offering to the gods.[64]

But not only did the Egyptian Chancellor have charge of everything connected with the Treasury, he seems also to have had a considerable share of the responsibility of appointing various State officials. We have already referred to the story of Joseph’s appointment to the Vezîrate, in which case the Seal or Signet of office was given by the king personally. With other officials, however, it seems to have been the custom for the Chancellor to deliver the Seal, and this ceremonial in a bureaucratic country such as Egypt then was, must have entailed a vast amount of time. Possessing the authority to appoint high officers, and also the means of controlling the State Treasury, it is no wonder that these old Chancellors attained to a great degree of power, and there seems reason to believe that more than one dynasty had its origin in a Chancellor’s family.

So many and various were the duties of the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal, that it is hardly matter for surprise if we find that he employed a large staff of assistants to help him. Among these the [Egyptian **] “Deputy of the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal,”[65] appears to have been the most important. When his chief was absent from the capital on one of the official tours of inspection through the country, this _adenu_ or “deputy” was left in charge of the central office, and the duty naturally devolved upon him of looking after the permanent staff of the Treasury Department. This staff consisted of:—

(1) A [Egyptian **] “Chief Overseer of the Courtyard of the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal,”[66] an official who was, I believe, deputed to personally supervise everything that went in or out of the _Bêt el mal_ or Treasury. There was also

(2) A [Egyptian **] or “Overseer of the Courtyard of the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal.”[67]

(3) A [Egyptian **] or “Overseer of the Courtyard of the Office of the Keeper of the (Royal) Seal.”[68]

(4) Several [Egyptian **] “Assistants.”[69]

(5) A [Egyptian **] “Chief Scribe,”[70] and several

(6) [Egyptian **] “Scribes,”[71] who had their own

[Egyptian **] or “men servants?” These scribes of the Chancellor were very important officials: they were intrusted with official seals, and allowed to transact on their own responsibility important business affairs connected with the State. They appear generally with the title [Egyptian **] “Scribe in Charge of the Seal,” or, more literally, “he who writes with an Official Seal.” They are found under this title only towards the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, and their services were retained by the bureaucratic kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty, but no mention occurs of them in later times. They were employed in writing official documents, in keeping accounts, and in fixing prices to be paid for wages of labourers. From inscriptions that have been preserved, it would seem that each town[72] had its own “Scribe in Charge of the Seal,” and we read of a “Scribe in Charge of the Seal of the labour bureau” in a Thirteenth Dynasty papyrus.[73]

Besides the foregoing officials, who were doubtless paid by the Government, the Chancellor had also his private staff to manage his own estates and affairs. Among these may be mentioned[74] a _mer per_, or “Steward;”[75] a _mer shenti_, or “Superintendent of the Granary;”[76] a _sesh sha_, or “letter writer;”[77] and an _ari aa_, or “doorkeeper.”[78]

The profession of the seal engraver was obviously an important one in Egypt, but we do not find any references to his occupation in the ancient literature. He was called the _mer kesti_, and the scarab-seal of one named Amenŷ-ankh is in the possession of Mr. Arthur Evans (see Pl. XVII, 27).[79]

6. SEAL ENGRAVERS AND THE TECHNIQUE OF SEAL ENGRAVING.

The process of making a seal out of hard stone was simple enough; a suitable piece of amethyst, jasper, or other material was taken, cut into the shape of a cylinder, stamp, or scarabaeus beetle, and polished. The device or inscription was then engraved in intaglio. In the case of steatite, schist, and other soft stones, the device was sometimes drawn in ink[80] before being cut, and the seal was finished by being dipped into a vitreous glaze in order to harden it.