Chapter II: Part 2

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.

Pottery and paste scarab seals were moulded in terra-cotta moulds. A lump of potter’s clay or paste was taken, then pressed into a dusted mould, and flattened with a knife at the bottom. It was then shaken out and left to dry. When dry, the scarab was placed in the engraver’s hands, and the inscription or device was cut on the elliptical base; the whole was then sometimes coated with vitreous glaze.

The glazes used were of different colours, varying from pale blue to deep violet, and from pale to dark green. Sometimes red and yellow glazes were also employed. Often the glazes have changed colour, and sometimes only faint traces of it remain on a seal. Seals that are now brown in colour were originally green, while grey or white examples were generally blue.

The tools used were apparently of four kinds: a knife, a graver, a simple drill, and a tubular drill.

The knife, perhaps of hardened bronze, was used for cutting the specimens of the softer materials into shape, while the graver, of flint or obsidian, was employed for cutting the device or inscription. Herodotus mentions[81] that the Ethiopians pointed their arrows with the same sort of hard stone or flint that was used for engraving signets.

The simple drill, used for drilling the soft stone seals and for engraving those of the hard stone class, consisted of a metal drill with handle, the butt end of which revolved inside a stone or wooden cap which the engraver held in his hand, and was thus able to direct the point to the right place. The drill itself was made to revolve by means of rapidly moving forwards and backwards by a bow, the string of which was wound round the stick of the drill. Carpenters and cabinet workers in the East still use a similar bow drill at the present day.

The tubular drill was also worked in the same way with a bow, but instead of the drill being pointed as in the simple drill, it was tubular. With hard stones both these kinds of drill were used, with emery powder and oil or water.

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THE VARIETIES OF EGYPTIAN SEALS.

[Sidenote: Varieties of Egyptian seals.]

It has already been remarked that Egyptian seals may be divided into two great groups: namely (1) those of cylindrical shape, which were _rolled_ over the clay or other substance to be impressed; and (2) those with a flat base, which were used as _stamps_. Both these types probably originated in Western Asia. The first group comprises all (_a_) cylinder seals; to the second belong all (_b_) hemi-cylinder and cone shaped seals, (_c_) button shaped seals, (_d_) scarab shaped seals, (_e_) plaques and other miscellaneous forms, and (f) Signet rings.

1. CYLINDER SEALS.

[Sidenote: Cylinder seals.]

The oldest seals that have been discovered in Egypt are of cylindrical shape, hence their name, cylinders, or more correctly, cylinder-seals. They range in size from half an inch to three and a half inches in length, and from a quarter of an inch to three quarters of an inch in diameter. They are pierced longitudinally with a hole, the diameter of which varies from a size just sufficient to receive a small thread of linen, to an aperture in which an ordinary sized finger can be thrust. The two ends are always quite plain, the engraving, in intaglio, being confined to the convex surface, which, as a rule, is parallel to the axis. In some specimens, however, the surface is hollowed in such a way that the diameter of the cylinder is greater at the ends than in the middle, but such cylinders are rare, and generally show traces of nearly erased signs appearing through the engraving; they must therefore be considered as having had their original inscription ground down in order to be re-engraved with other characters; they are in fact cylinders that have been re-used.

[Sidenote: How used.]

When the cylinder seal was required for sealing, it was gently but firmly rolled over the soft clay or other substance destined to receive the impression. To make a good and continuous sealing with an unmounted cylinder is not, however, an easy matter, and consequently we find that this class of seal was often mounted by inserting a rod of metal through its aperture, the ends of which rod projected from the cylinder, so that it could be easily held by the forefinger and thumb, while the rod, serving as an axle, enabled the operator to keep the seal in place, and at the same time to preserve an even pressure whilst rolling it over the clay. This metal rod was sometimes finished off at one end into a kind of boss, while the other end was coiled round to form a loop, so that the cylinder might be attached to a necklace or string (fig. 17). The cylinder seals of kings and nobles had more elaborate mountings, and their ends were often encased in gold, as in a specimen found by Dr. Reisner near Girgeh, and as in an example figured in a Fourth Dynasty tomb at Medûm (fig. 18). Another method of mounting is shown in a hieroglyph (fig. 19) from a Fifth Dynasty Tomb at Sakkara. Here the cylinder appears to be mounted on a metal rod, the projecting ends of which were fixed to either side of a small frame, with a handle in which the cylinder seal could revolve. By holding the handle and dragging the cylinder over the clay to be impressed, the seal would revolve as easily and evenly as a wheel on its axle, and consequently leave a good and firm impression behind. The greater number of cylinders, however, are found without any trace of having been mounted, and as many show signs of wear on the edges inside the hole, we may conclude that they were generally simply threaded on a cord, which, for security sake, was either hung by the owner round his neck or waist, or tied to his girdle or garment. It is possible that sometimes the cylinders were kept in boxes. (_Abydos_, II, p. 25, 12.) Prof. Petrie has discovered an ivory panel of a box for King Den engraved with a group of hieroglyphics, suggesting that the box had contained the gold seal of judgment of the king.

[Sidenote: Its history.]

The history of cylinder seals in Egypt covers the period from prehistoric times to the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, but they were only in general use down to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, when they gave place to the more convenient “scarab” form of seal. They may be most conveniently classified according to the subjects found engraved upon them, but it is also an important matter for the student to carefully note the shape and the size of their perforation, two points which are often of considerable importance when it is desired to accurately date a specimen.

[Sidenote: Varieties of shape and perforation.]

The earliest examples that are at present known are of a peculiarly short thick type, with a narrow hole running through them (fig. 20); they are almost identical in shape with the Chaldean and early Babylonian cylinder seals, and consequently may be thought to indicate a connection at a very remote period between the civilizations of Western Asia and Egypt—a connection which is still more apparent when we come to consider the subjects engraved on many of the seals themselves.[82] At a later period appears another variety, which is long and thick (see fig. 21), but with a much larger perforation than that of the cylinders of the earliest period. These two varieties have been found together in tombs of the beginning of the First Dynasty, but the earlier disappears soon after the reign of King Zet (First Dynasty), while the later one was in general use down to the end of the Sixth Dynasty.

With the beginning of the Middle Kingdom we have another type of cylinder seal making its appearance; this resembles more a long cylindrical bead (fig. 22), with an aperture of only sufficient size to admit of its being strung on a thin cord or thread. The examples dating from the time of Amenemhat III and his immediate successors are often of fairly large size, but with narrow perforation, while those of the latter part of the Thirteenth Dynasty are always much smaller, and dwindle down in shape to mere cylindrical beads.

The few cylinder seals of the Hyksos period that are known are of medium size (fig. 23), with narrow perforation, and are somewhat like those of the earlier half of the Twelfth Dynasty. The specimens of the Eighteenth and later Dynasties vary in size considerably, but they always have a narrow perforation (fig. 24).

[Sidenote: Material.]

Although comparatively few specimens have been found in wood, it is clear from many clay impressions[83] that cylinder seals were generally made of this material. One example of wood was found at Abydos[84] having the inscription written upon it in ink, showing that the design was sketched out on the cylinder by a scribe before it was cut by the engraver. Next to wood, the commonest material in early times was black steatite; but a few specimens have been found of hæmatite, green jasper, and ivory. Copper and bronze examples appear during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, and glazed pottery specimens appear a little later. White or grey steatite, coated with blue or green glaze, was the favourite material of the Twelfth Dynasty kings and officials, and this material was in vogue till the Nineteenth Dynasty. At the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty carnelian cylinder seals make their appearance, and the latest specimen known is of this hard stone.

[Sidenote: The subjects engraved upon Egyptian cylinder seals.]

The subjects engraved upon Egyptian cylinder seals may be grouped into three well defined divisions. Firstly, there is a small class the engraving on which depicts figures of men and animals, sometimes very beautifully executed. Secondly, a much larger class, represented by several hundred specimens, which bear true hieroglyphic inscriptions. Thirdly, a very small class with scroll patterns or other ornamental devices.

[Sidenote: I. Figures of men and animals.]

The specimens of the first class require to be studied in some detail, for they contain elements which are of great importance to the comparative archaeologist. A typical example is given in fig. 25, and a second will be found in Pl. III, fig. 1. One of the most distinctive features of these seals is the double-forequartered animal, a feature which occurs again on the button-shaped seals[85] of the period intervening between the Sixth and the Twelfth Dynasties. This does not appear to be an Upper Egyptian _motif_, but one common to the Delta and to an early civilization of Western Asia.

Another distinctive feature of these early cylinder seals is a curious bow-legged figure of a man, which is found also on the button-shaped seals[86] of a later date. “The characteristic form of the lower limbs,” writes Mr. Evans, who was the first to draw attention to this class of seal,[87] “shows that we have here to deal with the same grotesque personage who so often makes his appearance in a secondary position in Babylonian cylinders[88]” of an extremely archaic type, and Mr. Evans is of opinion that this figure has been taken direct from the early cylinders of Babylon.[89] I would suggest, however, that this feature, like that of the double-headed animals, is but another instance of Delta and Western Asian influence. It is not, indeed, improbable that in the cylinders of this class we have relics of a Delta civilization which was distinct from that of Middle and Upper Egypt. In point of date the specimens of this group range from prehistoric times to about the end of the Old Kingdom (_circa_ 2500 B.C.), when they appear to have entirely died out.

[Sidenote: II. Hieroglyphic inscriptions.]

Of the second group of Egyptian cylinder seals, namely, those bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions, a large number are figured in the plates, but a glance at the reproductions of them will show that they are of several different types, and that they may be more conveniently studied if they are grouped into subdivisions. The examples of an earlier period than the First Dynasty may be subdivided into two separate classes.

[Sidenote: Primitive cylinder-seals. Class I.]

In the first may be placed all those bearing any primitive hieroglyphic signs which appear to give personal names written in a horizontal line (fig. 26). A remarkable feature of this class is, that on most of the examples occurs a curious figure of a stork with head turned over its back.

[Sidenote: Class II.]

To the second class belong all those seals which give personal names, with a seated figure as determinative, and always written in a horizontal line (see fig. 27). This seated figure is very unlike that which occurs in later hieroglyphic inscriptions; it is always represented as wearing a long wig of hair, which falls behind the head to some distance below the shoulders, and in front of the figure is generally shown a table upon which are figured loaves of bread. The standard-sign _Neith_ is often found on cylinder-seals of this type, and would perhaps point to the Western Delta as the place of their origin: the stork, so common on specimens on Class I, seems, however never to occur in them.

[Sidenote: Class III.]

With the beginning of the historical period appears another class, which is characterized by rude hieroglyphic inscriptions written in vertical columns, which columns are generally divided by lines (see fig. 28) These are the true prototypes of the Egyptian cylinder-seals of the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

[Sidenote: Cylinder-seals of Dynastic times.]

Cylinder-seals of Dynastic times which bear hieroglyphic inscriptions may be divided into groups according to the meaning of their inscriptions. Thus we have (I) a group which bears the names and titles of kings and other royal personages; (II) a group of officials which bear the king’s name and the title of the office or official, but _never_ the personal name of the latter; and (III) a small group of private seals which bear the name and titles of the former.

[Sidenote: Cylinder-seals bearing Royal names.]

One of the earliest Royal seals that we know of is that of Narmer, the predecessor of Mena; it is reproduced in outline in fig. 29, and gives merely the Horus-name of the king. The Royal seal of Zer, Mena’s successor, gives besides the name of the monarch, a _figure_ of him seated and wearing the two crowns, typical of Upper and Lower Egypt (see fig. 30). At the time of the Third Dynasty the Royal name is first put into an oval ring or cartouche, and a little later the name is generally accompanied by the statement that the king is “beloved of the gods,” or beloved “of the goddess Hathor.” With Men-kau-ra the title _Sa Ra_, “Son of Ra,” first appears,[90] but it is not till the Twelfth Dynasty that we find the full name of a king cut on a single seal. At the time of the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties the king’s name is generally given in a cartouche either with[91] or without[92] his official titles, and then it is often accompanied by the statement that he is “beloved of Sebek”[93] of some specified locality. A few cylinder-seals of this period also bear the names of two or more kings.[94] The only specimens of the Hyksos period that are known up to the present are those of Khŷan; one of these is in the Museum at Athens,[95] another is in the possession of Signor Lanzone,[96] and a third is in the Cairo Museum (see fig. 23). Two remarkable cylinders of about the same period are figured in Pl. VII, 2, and VIII, 1; while to the latter half of the Hyksos period must be placed the cylinder-seal of King Antef (Nub-kheper-ra), of the early Seventeenth Dynasty, which is figured in Pl. VII, 12. The Royal cylinder-seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty generally bear the king’s name in the cartouche without other decorations,[97] but some have also a figure of the king, or figures of gods and animals.[98] The large specimen reproduced in outline on Pl. VIII, 7, is the seal of Sety I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and is one the latest specimens of Royal cylinder-seal known.

[Sidenote: Official cylinder-seals.]

Official cylinder-seals are of two kinds. They either bear (_a_) the name of the king together with the title of the office or official, but not the personal name of the latter; or (_b_) simply the title of the official without the name of the king. The Royal name appears once or thrice on the seals of the first group, and, if repeated, the rest of the inscription is placed between the names; the titles and name of the king are almost always written in a direction contrary to that of the other words, apparently as a mark of respect (see fig. 31). These official cylinder-seals range in date from the First Dynasty to the time of Pepŷ II of the Sixth Dynasty, when they became superseded by the seals of the stamp form.

[Sidenote: Private cylinder-seals.]

Cylinder-seals bearing the name and titles of officials are also known (see fig. 32). These appear to have been used as the private seals of the persons whose names are engraved upon them. They date from the Twelfth Dynasty into the Twenty-Sixth but are very rare.

[Sidenote: III. Scroll patterns, etc.]

A very small class of cylinder-seal bears scroll patterns or geometrical devices.[99] These appear for the first time during the intermediate period between the end of the Sixth and the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty, when they are generally made of glazed pottery, and are very coarsely executed. The specimens of a later time (probably Seventeenth or early Eighteenth Dynasty) are of glazed steatite, and beautifully cut.

2. BUTTON-SHAPED AND HEMI-CYLINDER SEALS.

[Sidenote: Button-shaped seals.]

A small, but very distinctive class of seal, cut in the shape of a button, with flat circular disc and loop at the back (see fig. 33), has recently been found in Egypt, and closely akin to this class is another, but much smaller one, the examples of which are cut in the form of a hemi-cylinder (sometimes with projecting base), and pierced through their length by a hole of [Sidenote: Hemi-cylinders.] sufficient size to admit of a fine piece of string being inserted (see fig. 34). Some of the button-shaped seals have ornamented backs: instead of the loop being plain as in fig. 39, it is cut in such a way as to represent two hawks’ heads, or the fore-parts of two lions back to back. Occasionally we also find specimens in the shape of a hippopotamus’ head (fig. 40).

[Sidenote: How used and mounted.]

The specimens of these two classes were used as stamps, and they are generally found either attached to a finger by a flaxen thread, or threaded to a string of beads, in which case they were worn around the neck as pendants.[100] Occasionally they have been found without any attachment, but simply held by the owner in his or her left hand.

[Sidenote: Their history.]

These two classes of seal were in use in Egypt for a limited period only. They appear for the first time in graves belonging to the end of the Sixth Dynasty,[101] and during the period intervening between that time and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom they were the commonest form of seal in use.[102] Before the end of the Eleventh Dynasty they seem to have entirely disappeared.

[Sidenote: The subjects engraved on (1) button-shaped seals.]

The patterns[103] that we find engraved upon button-shaped seals are distinctive, and they are certainly not Upper Egyptian in their origin. Hieroglyphs very rarely occur (_cf._ fig. 41), and when they do, they are clearly imitations of Egyptian characters made apparently by foreigners. The motives for some of the designs are clear; thus a common type is that which has already been noticed as occurring on a class of early cylinder-seal—the linked forequarters of gazelles and other animals symmetrically arranged (_cf._ figs. 39, 40); sometimes also we find a curious running figure of a man (fig. 42, and _cf._ fig. 35), and occasionally a tortoise, a lizard (_cf._ fig. 43), or a spider (_cf._ fig. 44). Conventional and geometrical patterns are also found, the meander[104] and the radiated disc being perhaps the most frequent. See also figs. 45-6.

[Sidenote: (2) Hemi-cylinders.]

The patterns occurring on the hemi-cylinder seals are nearly all geometrical, as shown in figs. 47-57, but the human figure is sometimes represented, as in fig. 34.

[Sidenote: Historical importance of button-shaped seals.]

The button-shaped seals are of considerable interest to the student of comparative archaeology, and they are certainly not Upper Egyptian in their origin. The earlier forms have, moreover, no affinity to the Mycenaean series of designs, and, as Mr. Petrie[105] has remarked, the spirals, butterfly, cuttlefish and other characteristic types are absent. On the other hand, they have several links which connect them to the Greek Island and Cretan class of seals, and also to some found in Italy, from which we may perhaps infer that they are of common origin.[106] An almost exact reproduction of some of these steatite buttons in clay actually occurs in the Italian _terramare_, and in the Ligurian cave deposits of neolithic and æneolithic periods. Mr. A. Evans writes, “The clay stamp from the _terramare_ of Montale in the Modenese, represented in fig. 52, the top of which is now broken, was probably once perforated, is not only analogous in form but bears a simple geometrical design almost identical with that on an early steatite button-seal from Knossos.”[107]

[Sidenote: Material.]

Specimens of button-seals have been found in gold, amethyst, carnelian, lapis lazuli, black steatite, steatite glazed blue or green, ivory, bone, and blue or green glazed pottery. The hemi-cylinders are only as yet known in steatite glazed blue or green.

3. SCARAB-SHAPED SEALS.

[Sidenote: Scarab-shaped seals.]

By far the commonest form of Egyptian seal was that cut in the shape of the scarabaeus beetle, hence its name, “Scarab” or “Scarabaeus,” from the Greek name of the insect, [Greek: skarabos] or [Greek: skarabeios] (Latin scarabaeus).[108] The beetle is represented standing on an elliptical base, on which is engraved in intaglio a hieroglyphic inscription or ornamental pattern. The seals of this class range in size from a fifth of an inch in length to four or even five inches, but the commonest size is about three-quarters of an inch, by half-an-inch broad and a quarter of an inch high. They are nearly always pierced longitudinally with a hole, the size of which is usually just sufficient to receive a thread or thin wire.

[Sidenote: How used.]

When the scarab-seal was used for sealing, it was simply pressed upon the clay destined to receive the impression, just as a signet is used at the present day. A large number of clay-sealings from scarabs have been found in different localities in Egypt, and bear witness to the manner in which this class of seal was used.

[Sidenote: How mounted.]

The greater number of scarabs were probably simply strung on a thread of string, by which they were secured to the garment or girdle of the person to whom they belonged. Sometimes they were worn on the finger, attached by a piece of string (fig. 53), or they were simply mounted as swivels to metal rings, in which they revolved (fig. 54), or they were enclosed in a metal frame or _funda_ in order to protect their edges from injury, and then mounted as swivels to metal rings (fig. 55). Such mountings often give us a clue to the date of these objects, and will be found described in detail in the section on signet-rings.

[Sidenote: Current ideas regarding scarabs.]

The beetle upon which these little seals are modelled, and from which they take their name, is the _Scarabaeus sacer_ of entomologists, an insect which is remarkable not only for the structure and situation of its hind legs, which give it a singular appearance when walking, but also for its habit of rolling up balls of excrementitious matter in which the female encloses her eggs. The balls of dung the insect rolls about the sand until they become coated with a thick layer of dust, and grow to a size often as large as the insect itself. The Egyptians, who were always keen observers of nature, early noticed this remarkable habit, and selected the scarabaeus as the symbol of their god Khepera, “he who turns” or “rolls;” for the conception was that Khepera caused the sun to move across the sky, as the beetle causes its ball to roll along the sand. There was also another reason for the Egyptian linking the insect and the god together: as the young beetle came forth from the ball of clay it was believed that a female beetle did not exist, that it was consequently the “only-begotten,” because it was a “creature self-produced and not conceived by a female.” Hence we find that for this reason it is said to have been taken as the emblem of Khepera, the “Father of the Gods,” who created all things out of clay. Consequently we find that several archaeologists attach a sacred meaning to the myriads of scarabs that have been found in Egypt; they regard them simply as emblems of the god Khepera.

It is, however, as a “charm” or “amulet” having magical qualities that the scarab is usually spoken of at the present day, and that a few of them had a magical signification is proved beyond a doubt by the inscriptions that are found engraved upon some of them. There is also a mention of a scarab being employed for the purposes of magic in a magical receipt book[109] of the period intervening between the end of the Twelfth and the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty; but it must here be remarked that in this case the scarab is called a _khetem_ or “seal,” which clearly shows that the Egyptians regarded these objects primarily as seals, to whatever other uses they may have put them.

From the fact that scarabs bearing royal names are often found with mummies in the tombs, it has been conjectured that they were laid with the dead “to place them under the protection of their former lord in the next world, and to ensure that they should follow him and share in all the immunities and privileges that so great a divine being would enjoy with the gods.”

Another theory regarding Egyptian scarabs is that they were employed as tokens of value, but, as we have already remarked,[110] the idea that they were used for the purposes of barter or exchange is not supported by the inscriptions, or by any of the scenes depicted on the walls of the ancient tombs or temples. The statement of Plato that engraved stones were used in Ethiopia as money refers to Ethiopia alone and not to Egypt, for there was certainly no coined money in the Nile Valley until the period of the Ptolemies.

Other archaeologists there are who hold that these objects were made and used for the purpose of personal decoration; but although there is every reason to believe that they were often, perhaps generally, worn on the person, it by no means follows that this was their only or even their principal use. At the present day we often carry our seals on our watch chains, or we wear our signets as rings on our fingers, but we cannot rightly say that these articles were made solely for the adornment of the person.

These are the principal theories regarding the use and signification of the Egyptian scarab which have been set forth in works hitherto published on the subject, but archaeologists are beginning to abandon these views in favour of another and a simpler one, that has not as yet been discussed at length, but that recognizes in these little objects nothing more than a simple seal or signet.[111] This use is borne witness to by the great number of actual impressions of them on bits of clay that have served as seals to letters and other documents, as well as to boxes, vases, and bags that have been found in the ruins of ancient towns; and these impressions include every variety of scarab—royal, official, and private, as well as those bearing figures of animals and ornamental patterns. The large number of scarabs which bear the names of officials and private persons also points to the same conclusion, for it is impossible to regard the examples of this extensive group in any other light than as the “direct forerunners of the private seals which are so universal in the East at the present day.” A large number of scarabs have also been dug up by excavators which are mounted in metal bands (_fundae_), showing that they had served as bezels to rings, and many early rings with scarab bezels may be seen in our museums; these can hardly be regarded in any other light than as signet-rings.

It has been urged against this interpretation that the manufacture of scarabs in such profusion as we find them, precludes the idea that they were signets and nothing more, but it seems to have been forgotten that many millions of people must have lived during the several thousand years of ancient Egyptian history. The fact also that so many bear the royal superscription of one and the same king has likewise been brought forward as a serious objection to the theory that royal scarabs were used as seals; but here again the two kings whose names are most often found on these objects are the two—Thothmes III and Rameses II—whose reigns were the longest of all the Egyptian monarchs, and they must have employed a great number of officials entitled to use the royal seals during their long administrations. It is in the light of seals, therefore, that scarabs are considered in the present volume.

[Sidenote: Their history.]

It is difficult to fix the precise period at which the scarab form of seal first appears in history. It is a noteworthy fact, however, that not a single specimen has yet been authenticated from a grave of a date anterior to the Sixth Dynasty. The remarkable tombs discovered by Petrie, de Morgan and others, at Abydos, Nagada, and Bêt Khalâf, though they contained not a single scarab or impression of one, produced a large series of clay sealings used for wine jars, etc., exhibiting impressions of cylinder seals. It is remarkable also that in the extensive cemetery of Dendera, where there were many remains of the Sixth to Eleventh Dynasties, not a single scarab was found which could be attributed to an earlier period than the Twelfth Dynasty, and a similar result was obtained from the cemetery at Hu of the same period. In Mr. Garstang’s excavations at Beni Hasan, out of eight hundred tombs of the period that were opened and examined, not one inscribed scarab was found of the Eleventh and early Twelfth Dynasties. These facts would lead one to suppose that at least scarabs were not in general use in Egypt until the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty.

A few scarabs, however, bear the names of kings of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Dynasties, but from the forms of the backs, the glaze and general technique, they all appear to me to be of a much later period than that of the monarchs whose names they bear. The names anterior to the Twelfth Dynasty that occur upon such scarabs are Mena, Khufu, Kha-ef-ra, Men-kau-ra, Unas, Merŷ-ra (Pepŷ I) and Mer-en-ra. The Mena scarabs are admitted by Prof. Petrie and other Egyptian archaeologists to be of a much later date than the Old Kingdom. That scarabs of Khufu, Kha-ef-ra and Men-kau-ra were made during the Eighteenth and later dynasties there can be no question. In the Cairo Museum are four scarabs, all found together by Mariette at Sakkara, which are of exactly the same modelling, material and glaze: one bears the name of Khufu, another that of Nefer-ka-ra, the third that of Nefer-ra, while the fourth is of Amenardes of the Twenty-Fourth Dynasty. In a private collection in Cairo is a scarab bearing the name of Kha-ef-ra in green glazed steatite, with cutting, form of back, and glaze exactly similar to that of a well-known type of Thothmes III. All the Men-kau-ra scarabs are also undoubtedly not earlier than the period of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The Unas scarabs bear a great resemblance to a certain class of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties: they are generally coarsely cut, and the glaze has turned a dull brown. The only scarab of Merŷ-ra known is of the same style as the scarabs of the Thirteenth Dynasty, and Merŷ-ra was a fairly common personal name at that period. About the Mer-en-ra example I am inclined to believe that it is perhaps contemporary with the king whose name it bears, for it is of glazed pottery, and closely resembles in style and technique a very small and distinctive class of scarab-seal which has been recently found in association with button-shaped seals in graves of the intermediate period between the end of the Old Kingdom and the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty.[112] That scarabs sometimes bear the names of two or more kings, is also another proof that we cannot always treat of them as contemporary with the kings whose names they bear. Thus scarabs are known of Thothmes I, III, and Setŷ I, of Thothmes III and Usertsen III, of Men-kau-ra and Thothmes III.

It seems clear, therefore, that scarabs were not employed in Egypt before the end of the Sixth Dynasty, and then only very rarely. At the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty their use was still very restricted, but at the middle of that dynasty they came into general use very quickly, and by the time of Amenemhat III they seem to have been widespread in Egypt. From that time onwards to the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty the history of Egyptian scarab-seals can be traced in an unbroken line; after the latter period they became very scarce, and finally disappear early in Roman times.

[Sidenote: Geographical range of Egyptian scarab-seals.]

Many Egyptian scarab-seals have been found in regions other than the Nile Valley. In Syria they have been turned up in plenty. In Cyprus, Rhodes, the Aegean Islands and the Greek mainland, numerous examples have been found. They have also been discovered at Crete, in Italy and Sardinia, on the north coast of Africa, and in Babylonia,—in all places in fact that had trade relations with the Egyptians.

[Sidenote: Varieties of Shape.]

The period to which a scarab belongs may often be determined from its shape and the markings on the back of the beetle; hence it is important to carefully note the varieties of form which occur. In fig. 58 will be seen a specimen of a scarab-beetle (the real _Scarabaeus sacer_[113]) with the nomenclature of its various parts described: these names will be used in later references.

[Sidenote: Pre-Middle Kingdom.]

The earliest examples known are of pottery, glazed, small in size and somewhat rough in modelling. The lines are coarse, but distinguish the head, _prothorax_ and body, with _elytra_ marked. The specimens figured, No. 59, are from El Mahasna, and are now in the museum at Cairo. Probably they may be dated, the discoverer tells me, to the rise of the Middle Kingdom, just before the Eleventh Dynasty. The example bearing the name of Mer-en-ra (fig. 56) is of this class.

[Sidenote: The Twelfth Dynasty.]

Three varieties of form are characteristic of the Twelfth Dynasty. The earliest, dated approximately to the reigns of Usertsen I and Usertsen II, show the beetle carefully modelled, with _clypeus_ (fig. 60), _prothorax_ and _elytra_, as well as the legs, well defined. Just later, about the time of Amenemhat III, a more decorative and conventional style appears, in which, while the lines are treated with more freedom, and small embellishments are introduced for ornamental purposes as in fig. 61, the form and details of the beetle are nevertheless well preserved. A common form of this date is shown in fig. 62: it is noticeable that the _elytra_ are not outlined, but the marking of the head, eyes, and legs appears as in the previous examples. This type, with slight variations, perseveres, being traceable through the Hyksos period, and reflected in specimens of the early Eighteenth Dynasty.

The closing years of the royal line of the Middle Kingdom, commonly called the Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties, are marked by a special variety of beetle, which has a high back (particularly at the _prothorax_, where the scarab is thickest) and a narrow waist, produced by an indent on either side at the point where the _prothorax_ and _elytra_ adjoin. The head shows _clypeus_ and eyes: the legs are usually shown in outline only, while the _elytra_ are not marked. There is a second type, characteristic also of these times, which is in reality a development from earlier forms, as may be seen by comparing the example in fig. 64 with that previously illustrated in fig. 60. The tendency to decorative effect seen in this case is further exemplified by a number of scarabs which seem to follow the prototype of fig. 61, though failing to preserve the quality of the lines and cutting.

[Sidenote: The Hyksos Period.]

As previously mentioned, the type of back in which no _elytra_ are shown remains the common variety through the Hyksos period. A short notch on each side indicates the point of division of the _prothorax_ from the body, and in the example shown in fig. 65 the legs are suggested only. The head and _clypeus_ are plain; the eye is sometimes represented. A decorative effect is produced in some instances, as in fig. 66, by representing hairy legs upon the back of the beetle. A unique example for the period is illustrated in fig. 67, where the back is scored with lines diagonally in each direction. Another typical form is shown in fig. 68, in which the threading holes are supported by a ring carved with the scarab, while the beetle itself is developed apparently from the type in fig. 63. In such scarabs the hairy legs upon the back occasionally may be noted. Another Hyksos type characteristically represents the human head (fig. 69, and compare the scarab of King Apepŷ figured in Plate I) upon the body of the scarab with or without the legs over the back.

[Sidenote: The Eighteenth Dynasty.]