Scarabs by Percy E Newberry

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Title: Scarabs
An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals and Signet Rings

Author: Percy E. Newberry

Release Date: April 9, 2019 [EBook #59233]

Language: English

Character set encoding: UTF-8

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Egyptian Antiquities. Plate I.

Ring bearing the name of King Apepŷ.

Ring bearing the name of King Nefer-Ka-Ra.

Ring of King Amenhetep II.
Ring of King Akhenaten.
Ring of King Hor-em-heb.

I

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY

EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES

II

SCARABS

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN

SEALS AND SIGNET RINGS

BY

PERCY E. NEWBERRY

Author of “The Amherst Papyri” “The Life of Rekhmara” “Beni Hasan,”

“El Bersheh,” &c.

WITH

FORTY-FOUR PLATES AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

CHEAPER RE-ISSUE.

LONDON

ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO LTD

1908

HARRISON AND SONS,

PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY,

ST. MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON.

III

TO

MY FRIEND

MRS. E. B. ANDREWS

OF

“THE BEDUÎN.”

IV

PREFACE.

Since the year 1895, when Professor Flinders Petrie’s book on Historical Scarabs became “out of print,” the want

of a comprehensive work on these interesting little Egyptian antiquities has been much felt. Two volumes on Egyptian
Scarabs, it is true, have been published since that date, but these works treat of private collections and do not claim to
deal with the subject in its entirety or even in a scientific manner.

A long residence, extending over several years, at Thebes, the centre of the Upper Egyptian Scarab market, and the

place where the best imitation Scarabs are now manufactured, has, I may claim, given me exceptional opportunities for
studying this class of Ancient Egyptian antiquities and its allied forms. For some years it was my custom to pay a
weekly visit to the Luxor antiquity shops, with the object of examining these and other articles in the dealers’ hands;
and, latterly, scarcely a week has passed during my winter’s sojourn on the banks of the Nile but that someone,
Egyptologist, collector, tourist, or dealer, has consulted me as to the genuineness, reading, etc., of Scarabs that they
have either purchased or intended to buy. The frequency of these appeals, and the ignorance so generally displayed by
the traveller in speaking of Egyptian Scarabs, convinced me that I could at least advance a step or two on what had
been previously written on the subject; so, after classifying my notes and visiting and studying the principal collections of
England and the Continent, I have prepared the following Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals, which will, I
venture to hope, be useful to Students and Collectors.

That I have spared no pains in order to make this book as complete as possible will, I think, be obvious to anyone

who will take the trouble to read the letterpress and examine the plates. About one thousand three hundred specimens
of Egyptian Seals and Signet-rings are figured, but these have been selected from drawings of some seven thousand,
and from an examination of over thirty thousand examples. It may be noticed that the splendid collection preserved in
the National Museum at Cairo has been drawn from but sparingly: this is due to the fact that M. Maspero had already
commissioned me to prepare and publish a separate catalogue of the unique collection which is in that great savant’s
care. The manuscript of this catalogue is now finished, and it will be published early in the coming year.

I have to thank the Keepers of Public Museums and many owners of Private Collections for the courtesy and

kindness that they have shown in allowing me to inspect and draw from the specimens in their possession. To Prof.
Erman and Dr. Schäfer I am indebted for plaster casts of the Berlin Museum seals; and to Prof. Petrie I am indebted
for his generosity in placing at my disposal the magnificent historical series which he has gathered together at University
College, London. To Mr. Walter Nash, F.S.A., I also wish to express my grateful thanks for much kindly help and
encouragement in the earlier stages of this work; and in conclusion I must thank my friends and colleagues Prof. J. M.
Mackay and Mr. John Garstang, for kindly looking through the proofs of this volume, and to the latter also for placing
at my disposal the library of the Institute of Archæology of the University of Liverpool, wherein the manuscript has been
completed.

PERCY E. NEWBERRY.

Institute of Archæology,

University of Liverpool. 1905.

v

vi

vii

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface
V

Introduction to the Study of Egyptian Seals:—

(1) General Remarks
1

(2) Importance of the Seal in Ancient Times
4

(3) Origin of the Seal
8

(4) The various Uses of the Seal:—

(a) For securing property
12

(b) For authenticating documents, etc.
22

(c) For transference of authority
26

(5) The Egyptian Officials concerned in the use of the Seal
29

(6) Seal Engravers and the Technique of Seal Engraving
40

The Varieties of Egyptian Seals:—

(1) Cylinder Seals
43

(2) Button-shaped Seals and Hemi-Cylinders
56

(3) Beetle-shaped Seals (Scarabs)
61

(4) Miscellaneous forms
85

(5) Signet-rings
92

Description of the Specimens illustrated in the Plates I-XLV
97

Indices:—

To Personal Names
201

To Titles
205

To Royal Names:—

(a) Kings
211

(b) Queens
216

(c) Princes
217

(d) Princesses
218

Footnotes
304

ix

LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

Plate I. Some specimens of rings
Frontispiece.

ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

Fig.

PAGE

1, 2.
Two jars of the First Dynasty, to illustrate the ancient method of sealing
13

3, 4.
Complete jar neck, bearing the stamp of Amasis
14

5-7.
Jars showing method of securing contents. (From paintings in the tombs

at Beni Hasan)

16

8.
A man sealing up a honey jar. (From a tomb at Abusîr)
17

9.
A sealed jar. (From a painting in a tomb at Medûm)
17

10.
A sealed bag. (From a painting in a tomb at Medûm)
17

11.
Sealing of doors
20

12.
Securing of folding doors
21

13.
Sealing of boxes
22

14.
A papyrus roll, tied up and sealed
23

15.
The office of the Superintendent of the Seal
35

16.
The working of the bow drill. (From the tomb of Rekhmara)
42

17.
A mounted cylinder-seal. (In the Louvre)
45

18.
A Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at Medûm)
45

19.
Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at Sakkara)
45

20.
An early cylinder-seal
46

21.
A cylinder-seal bearing the name of Merŷ-ra. (In the collection of Mr.

Piers)

46

22.
A cylinder-seal of Amenemhat III
47

23.
A cylinder-seal of Khŷan. (Cairo)
47

24.
A cylinder-seal of Sen-mut. (Petrie Collection)
47

25.
Impression from a cylinder-seal in the Berlin Museum
49

26.
Impression from a cylinder-seal in the Berlin Museum
50

27.
Cylinder-seal bearing personal name
51

28.
Cylinder-seal bearing rude hieroglyphic inscriptions written in vertical

columns

52

29.
Royal seal of Narmer, predecessor of Mena, reproduced in outline
53

30.
Royal seal of Zer, Mena’s successor; gives besides the name a figure of

the monarch

53

31.
Official cylinder-seal, with royal name
55

32.
Official cylinder-seal bearing the name and titles of officials
55

33.
Button-shaped seal
56

34.
Hemi-cylinder seal
56

35.
Button-shaped seal
57

36.
Button-shaped seal
57

37.
Button-shaped seal
57

38.
Button-shaped seal
57

39.
Button-shaped seal
58

40.
Button-shaped seal
58

41.
Button-shaped seal
59

42.
Button-shaped seal
59

43.
Button-shaped seal
59

44.
Button-shaped seal
59

45.
Button-shaped seal
59

46.
Button-shaped seal
59

47.
Hemi-cylinder seal
60

xi

xii

48.
Hemi-cylinder seal
60

49.
Hemi-cylinder seal
60

50.
Hemi-cylinder seal
60

51.
Hemi-cylinder seal
60

52.
Clay stamp from the terramare of Montale in the Modenese
61

53.
Scarab-shaped seal worn on the finger, attached by a piece of string
62

54.
Scarab-shaped seal mounted as swivel to metal ring
62

55.
Scarab-shaped seal enclosed in metal frame or funda
62

56.
Scarab bearing the name of Mer-en-ra
68

57.
Scarab bearing the names Thothmes III and Amenhetep II
68

58.
Specimen of a Scarab-beetle (the real Scarabæus sacer)
70

59.
Specimens of scarabs from El Mahasna
70

60.
Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty
71

61.
Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty
71

62.
Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty
71

63.
Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty
71

64.
Specimen scarabs of the Thirteenth Dynasty
72

65.
Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period
72

66.
Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period
72

67.
Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period
72

68.
Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period
73

69.
Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period
73

70.
Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty
73

71.
Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty
73

72.
Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth Dynasty
74

73.
Specimen scarabs of the Middle Eighteenth Dynasty
74

74.
Specimen scarabs of the Amenhetep III
74

75.
Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
74

76.
Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
75

77.
Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
75

78.
Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
75

79.
Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty
75

80.
Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian dominion
76

81.
Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian dominion
76

82.
Scarab of Usertsen I
80

83.
A seal of the Twelfth Dynasty
85

84.
A seal of the Eighteenth Dynasty
85

85.
A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty
86

86.
A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty
86

87.
A seal bearing the name of King Mentuhetep
87

88.
Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
87

89.
Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
87

90.
Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
87

91.
Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
87

92.
Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
87

93.
A seal bearing the name of King Amenemhat III
88

94.
A stamp seal
88

95.
A seal bearing the name of King Seqen-en-ra
89

96.
A seal bearing the name of King Sa-Amen
89

97.
A stamp seal
89

98.
A seal bearing the name of King Thothmes III
90

99.
A seal bearing the name of the Hyksos Period
90

100.
A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth Dynasty
90

101.
A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth Dynasty
90

xiii

xiv

102.
A seal bearing the name of the Eighteenth Dynasty
90

103.
A seal bearing the name of Rameses II
90

104.
A seal of the Saïte Period
91

105.
A seal of Thirtieth Dynasty
91

106.
A seal of Nekhtenebo
92

107.
A ring of Usertsen III
93

108.
A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty
93

109.
A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty
93

110.
A ring of Thothmes III
94

111.
A ring of the period of Akhenaten
94

112.
A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty
94

113.
A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty
94

114.
A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
95

115.
A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
95

116.
A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
95