have said, connected with astronomy and with funeral rites,
and the second birth or re-birth, of the soul.

Another use of the scarabaeus by the Egyptians was as an amulet and
talisman, both for the living and the dead; and for that reason,
images, symbols or words; supposed to be agreeable to the deity, or to
the evil spirit sought to be conciliated; were incised, or engraved in
intaglio, upon the under side. It was also used as a signet to impress
on wax, clay or other material, so as to fasten up doors, boxes, etc.,
containing valuable things, so they could not be opened without
breaking the impression. The engraving on the under surface of the
scarab was also impressed on wax, etc., to verify the execution of, or
to keep secret, written documents; and in some instances, the papyrus
or linen, was written upon, then rolled up, and a string used to
fasten it; an impression of the signet, made on wax or other material,
was then placed on it and the string, so that it could not be opened
without breaking the impression.

In very ancient paintings especially those in the tombs of the kings
of Thebes, the scarabaeus plays a most remarkable part, as an emblem of
the creating first source of life, which passes from it to the embryo,
through the intermediary of a celestial generator, who is intended to
represent the Makrokosm or great Ideal Man, as the demiurgos. We find
the idea of the Makrokosm or great Ideal Man, permeating those
writings termed, the Books of Hermes Trismegistos, which have reached
our day, and which, with some more recent matter, contain much very
old, Egyptian philosophy.[18] Statements as to the Ideal Prototype and
the Primordial Man, are apparently, set forth in many of the Ancient
Egyptian writings.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] P. Le Page Renouf in: The Origin and Growth of Religion, as
illustrated by the Religion of Ancient Egypt. New York, Charles
Scribner's Sons, p. 6.

[7] Pliny's Natural History. Bk. XXIX., ch. 38 end. Bohn ed. by John
Bostock and H.T. Riley. London, 1856, Vol. V., p. 416.

[8] Plutarch says: "The Egyptian warriors had a beetle carved upon
their signets, because there is no such thing as a female beetle; for
they are all males," etc.--Of Isis and Osiris Sec.Sec. 10, 74, in Plutarch's
Morals. Wm. W. Goodwin's English edition. Boston, 1878, Vol. IV., pp.
73, 132. Comp. AElian X., 15.

[9] Probably the "_lucanus_" mentioned in Bk. XI., ch. 34, supposed to
be the same as, the stag beet