15. The Frog,, represented "fertility” and “abundance." 16. The Stairs,, the meaning of which is unknown to me. 17. The Fingers, index and medius, found inside mummics, represented the two fingers which the god Horus stretched out to help the deceased up the ladder to heaven. Rooms LXIV, LXV. Here are exhibited tables of offerings; models of boats and rowers (see particularly No. 760, a boat with a sail); boxes for ushabtiu figures; mummies of animals sacred to the gods *; models of funereal bread in terra-cotta, etc. Room LXVI.-Vessels in alabaster, bronze, etc. Room LXVII.-Weapons and Tools. Room LXVIII.-Pottery, etc. Room LXIX.-Articles of Clothing. Room LXX. In this room are exhibited bronze mirrors, musical instruments, draught boards, dolls, necklaces of precious stones, vases of coloured glass, statuettes of fine work, spoons, perfume boxes, a broken ivory figure from a tomb of the Vth dynasty (No. 912), fans, etc. 922. Collection of silver vases found among the ruins of Mendes. * The principal animals sacred to the gods were the ape to Thoth, the hippopotamus to Thoueris, the cow to Hathor, the lion to Horus, the sphinx to Harmachis, the bull to Apis or Mnevis, the ram to Amen-Ra, the cat to Bast, the jackal to Anubis, the hare to Osiris, the sow to Set, the crocodile to Sebek, the vulture to Mut, the hawk to Horus, the ibis to Thoth, the scorpion to Serqet, and the beetle to Kheperȧ. The jewellery of Åāḥ-ḥetep, the wife of Seqenen-Rā, mother of Kames, and grandmother of Amasis I., the first king of the XVIIIth dynasty, was found in the coffin of that queen by the felláhîn at Drah abu'l-Nekka in 1860. Among the most beautiful objects of this find are: 943. Gold bracelet, inlaid with lapis lazuli, upon which Amasis I. is shown kneeling between Seb and other gods. 944. Gold head-dress, inlaid with precious stones, inscribed with the name of Amāsis I. 945. Gold chain, terminated at each end by a goose's head; from the chain hangs a scarab made of gold and blue paste. 948. Part of a fan made of wood covered with gold, upon which Kames is shown making an offering to Khonsu. 949. Mirror of Aāḥ ḥetep set in an ebony handle. 950. Cedar haft of an axe, plated with gold, into which a bronze axe, also plated with gold, inscribed with the cartouche of Amāsis I., has been fastened with gold wire. 951. Gold dagger, inscribed with the cartouche of Amāsis I. (?), and gold sheath inlaid with lapis-lazuli and other precious stones. 953. Gold pectoral, inlaid with precious stones, upon which Amasis I. is represented standing in a sacred bark between the gods Amen and Rã, who pour water upon him. 955. Gold model of the sacred bark of the dead, in the centre of which is seated Amasis I. The rowers are made of silver, the body of the chariot of wood, and the wheels of bronze. 956. Silver bark and seven men found with the jewellery of Åäḥ-hetep. 958. Bronze dagger, set in a silver handle in the form of a circle. 962. Gold necklace. 963. Gold bracelet inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, and other precious stones. 963a. Gold bracelet inlaid with lapis-lazuli, carnelian, and other precious stones, inscribed with the prenomen of Amasis I. 965. Bronze head of a lion inscribed with the prenomen of Amasis I. 966. Nine small gold and silver axes. 967. Gold chain and three flies. 982. Gold figure of Ptah. 983. Gold figure of Åmen. All the other ornaments in this case are worth careful examination. Room LXXI.-Scarabs, Amulets, etc. Scarab or scarabæus (from the Greek okápaßos) is the name given by Egyptologists to the myriads of models of a certain beetle, which are found in mummies and tombs and in the ruins of temples and other buildings in Egypt, and in other countries the inhabitants of which from a remote period, had intercourse with the Egyptians. M. Latreille considered the species which he named Ateuchus Aegyptiorum, or oкáv@apos, and which is of a fine greenish colour, as that which especially engaged the attention of the early Egyptians, and Dr. Clarke affirmed that it was eaten by the women of Egypt because it was considered to be an emblem of fertility. In these insects a remarkable peculiarity exists in the structure and situation of the hind legs, which are placed so near the extremity of the body, and so far from each other, as to give them a most extraordinary appearance when walking. This peculiar formation is, nevertheless, particularly serviceable to its possessors in rolling the balls of excrementitious matter in which they enclose their eggs. These balls are at first irregularly shaped and soft, but by degrees, and during the process of rolling along, become rounded and harder; they are propelled by means of the hind legs. Sometimes these balls are an inch and a half or two inches in diameter, and in rolling them along the beetles stand almost upon their heads, with the heads turned from the balls. They do this. in order to bury their balls in holes which they have already dug for them, and it is upon the dung thus deposited that the larvæ when hatched feed. Horapollo thought that the beetle was self-produced, but he made this mistake on account of the females being exceedingly like the males, and because both sexes appear to divide the care of the preservation of their offspring equally between them. The Egyptians called the scarabæus Kheperâ The verb Kheper The god Kheperȧ was supposed to be the "father of the gods," and the creator of all things in heaven and earth; he made himself out of matter which he himself had made. He was identified with the rising sun and thus typified resurrection. which is usually translated "to exist, to become," also means "to roll," and "roller," or "revolver," was a fitting name for the sun. In a hieratic papyrus in the British Museum (No. 10, 188), the god Khepera is identified with the god Neb-er-tcher, who, in describing the creation of gods, men, animals and things, says: "I am he who evolved himself under the form of the god Kheperȧ. I, the evolver of evolutions, evolved myself, the evolver of all evolutions, after a multitude of evolutions and developments* which came forth from my mouth (or at my command). There was no heaven, there was no earth, animals which move upon the earth and reptiles existed not at all in that place. I constructed their forms out of the inert mass of watery matter. I found no place there where I could stand. By the strength which was in my will I laid the foundation [of things] in the form of the god Shu [see page 189], and 1 created for them every attribute which they have. I alone existed, for I had not as yet made Shu to emanate from me, and I had not ejected the spittle which became the god Tefnut; there existed none other to work with me. By my own will I laid the foundations of all things, and the evolutions of the things, and the evolutions which took place from the evolutions of their births which took place through the evolutions of their offspring, became multiplied. My shadow was united with me, and I produced Shu and Tefnut from the emanations of my body,.. thus from being one god I became three gods. I gathered together my members and wept over them, and men and women sprang into existence from the tears which fell from my eye." Scarabs may be divided into three classes :—1. Funereal scarabs; 2. Scarabs worn for ornament; 3. Historical scarabs. Of funereal scarabs .... The duplicate copy of this chapter reads, "I developed myself from the primeval matter which I made. My name is Osiris, the germ of primeval matter. I have worked my will to its full extent in this earth, I have spread abroad and filled it . . . . . . I uttered my name as a word of power, from my own mouth, and I straightway developed myself by evolutions. I evolved myself under the form of the evolutions of the god Khepera, and I developed myself out of the primeval matter which has evolved multitudes of evolutions from the beginning of time. Nothing existed on this earth [before me], I made all things. There was none other who worked with me at that time. I made all evolutions by means of that soul which I raised up there from inertness out of the watery matter." |