The most important amulet in ancient
Egypt was the scarab. Scarabs were already known in the Old
Kingdom, and in the First Intermediate Period the undersides
were decorated. Scarab amulets were found stored in jars
buried with the deceased. Scarabs are the most numerous
amulets found throughout Egypt.
The most common scarab amulet
was modeled after the common Egyptian dung-beetle, Scarabaeus
sacer, and its various subspecies. There were numerous variants of
the sacred stout-bodied beetles. By observing the physical
differences between actual beetles and the way in which they appear
as scarabs, the types used as models can often be
identified.
The underside of the abdomen, or flat side, of
the scarabs was usually inscribed with the names of pharaohs and
officials, private names, magical mottos, formulae, volute designs
and other patterns, images of deities, sacred animals, and
religious symbols.
In one form, scarabs were a cheap and common
form of "charm" which everyone could afford and easily wear strung
on a cord on their person. Most scarabs were made for the living.
The small magical object was believed imbued with particualar
protective powers that warded off evil and provided good things for
the owner for this life and also for the next, particularly when
sewn to mummy wrappings. This was especially true when worn as a
heart scarab or winged scarab to provide a safe journey into the
Afterworld of the gods.
Jewelry in the form of pendants, bracelets, and
necklaces prominently featured scarabs of various sizes and were
all believed to possess amuletic properties. By the Middle Kingdom,
scarabs were being worn on the finger mounted as a ring, or
threaded with a cord for the finger. Numerous impressions on clay,
bearing the names of royal and non-royal names, animal figures, and
decorative motifs found on letters, documents, and containers
attest to scarabs having been primarily used as seals.
Although scarabs are known from the earliest
periods, it is in the 12th dynasty that their use as seals became
common. The great majority of the thousands of scarab seals were
quite small, generally measuring around three -quarters of an inch
long by half-an-inch wide and about a quarter of an inch high. The
name of a particular person, king, or official title was inscribed
on their flat bases to ensure protective powers would be given to
the owner and to the owner's property. Interestingly, some scarabs
with royal names were worn after the king was deceased, in the
saintly sense, similar to the holy medals of Christian saints. In
all probability, no matter what their category, scarabs represented
sacred emblems of Egyptian religious belief.
The lock and key was unknown in Egypt. Instead,
clay was shaped and impressed with seals to secure the contents of
jars, bags, boxes, letters, and official documents, and to
safeguard storage rooms by sealing the doors. They were handy and
easily carried on the person. Official seals were so important that
at least as early as the Old Kingdom officials instructed students
in the art of being "sealers." Official departments had their
secular sealers such as "Sealer of the Honey," while religious
organizations had their "Divine Sealer." In the Middle Kingdom the
royal treasury had its Chancellor and "Keeper of the Royal Seal."
The idea of using a stamp seal, or "button seal," was imported to
Egypt from Asia, but in taking the form of a beetle it became
exclusively Egyptian.
Although the scarab amulet may have been
degraded by its utilitarian use as the everyday seal, it still
retained its religious and magical importance throughout the
dynastic period and later. In the Greco-Roman period scarabs were
sanctified by sacred rites performed in the elaborate "ceremony of
the beetle," performed only on nine particular days of the
month.
FTF honors are awarded to Ms.
Froggy, Crooow, and Mr. Twisty. Congratulations!