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 just 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 both the scarabæus Kheperȧ Kheperà. The 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. The verb Kheper 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. 10188), the god Kheperȧ 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 and I 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." 66 66 66 66 . * 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." : Scarabs may be divided into three classes :—1. Funereal scarabs; 2. Scarabs worn for ornament; 3. Historical scarabs. Of funereal scarabs the greater number found measure from half an inch to two inches, and are made of steatite glazed green, or blue, or brown; granite, basalt, jasper, amethyst, lapis-lazuli, carnelian, and glass. The flat base of the scarabs was used by the Egyptians for engraving with names of gods, kings, priests, officials, private persons, and monograms and devices. Scarabs were set in rings and worn on the fingers by the dead and living, and were wrapped up in the linen bandages with which the mummy was swathed, and placed over the heart. The best class of funereal scarabs was made of a fine, hard, green basalt, which, when the instructions of the rubic concerning them in the Book of the Dead were carried out, was set in a gold border, and hung from the neck by a fine gold wire. Such scarabs are sometimes joined to a heart on which is inscribed the legend "life, stability, and protection" Funereal scarabs were also set in pectorals, and were in this case ornamented with figures of the deceased adoring Osiris. Scarabs of all kinds were kept in stock by the Egyptian undertaker, and spaces were left blank in the inscriptions to add the names of the persons for whom they were bought. Scarabs worn for ornament exist in many thousands. By an easy transition, the custom of placing scarabs on the bodies of the dead passed to the living, and men and women wore the scarab probably as a silent act of homage to the creator of the world, who was not only the god of the dead, but of the living also. Historical scarabs are limited to a series of five, which were made during the reign of Amenophis III to commemorate certain important events, viz.: 1. The slaughter of 102 lions by Amenophis during the first ten * The chapter usually inscribed upon these scarabs is No. 30 B. years of his reign; 2. A description of the boundaries of Egypt, and the names of the parents of Queen Thi; 3. The arrival of Thi and Gilukhipa in Egypt, and 317 women; 4. The construction of a lake in honour of Queen Thi; 5. A general summary of the king's acts. Mummy. Whether the art of mummifying was known to the aboriginal inhabitants of Egypt, or whether it was introduced by the newcomers from Asia, is a question which is very difficult to answer. We know for a certainty that the stele of a dignitary preserved at Oxford was made during the reign of Sent, the fifth king of the IInd dynasty, about B.C. 4000. The existence of this stele, with its figures and inscriptions, points to the fact that the art of elaborate sepulture had reached a high pitch in those early times. The man for whom it was made was called Sherȧ, and he held the dignity of ¶ neten hen, or 'prophet'; the stele also tells us that he was suten rekht, or 'royal kinsman.' The inscriptions contain prayers asking for the deceased in the nether-world "thousands of oxen, linen bandages, cakes, vessels of wine, incense, &c.," which fact shows that religious belief, funereal ceremonies, and a hope for a life after death had already become a part of the life of the people of Egypt. During the reign of King Sent the redaction of a medical papyrus was carried out. As this work presupposes many years of experiment and experience, it is clear that the Egyptians possessed ample anatomical knowledge for mummifying a human body. Again, if we consider that the existence of this king is proved by papyri and contemporaneous monuments, and that we know the names of some of the priests who took part in funereal ceremonies during his reign, there is no difficulty in acknowledging that the antiquity is great of such ceremonies, and that they presuppose a religious belief in the revivification of the body, for which hoped-for event the Egyptian took the greatest possible care to hide and preserve his body. 'Mummy' is the term which is generally applied to the body of a human being, or animal, bird, fish, or reptile, which has been preserved from decay by means of bitumen, spices, gums, and natron. As far as can be discovered, the word is neither a corruption of the ancient Egyptian word for a preserved body, nor of the more modern Coptic form of the hieroglyphic name. The word 'mummy' is found in Byzantine Greek and in Latin, and indeed in almost all European languages. It is derived from the Arabic mûmiâ, 'bitumen'; the Arabic word for mummy is mumiyyet, and means a "bitumenized thing," or a body preserved by bitumen. We obtain our knowledge of the way in which the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead from Greek historians, and from an examination of mummies. According to Herodotus (ii, 86), the art of mummifying was carried on by a special guild of men who received their appointment by law. These men mummified bodies in three different ways, and the price to be paid for preserving a body varied according to the manner in which the work was done. In the first and most expensive method the brain was extracted through the nose by means of an iron probe, and the intestines were removed entirely from the body through an incision made in the side with a sharp Ethiopian stone. The intestines were cleaned and washed in palm wine, and, having been covered with powdered aromatic gums, were placed in jars. The cavity in the body was filled up with myrrh and cassia and other fragrant and astringent substances, and was sewn up again. The body was next laid in natron for 70 days,* and when these were over, it was carefully washed, and afterwards wrapped up in strips of fine linen smeared * In Genesis 1. 3, the number given is 40. |