brought the art to
perfection, but each of the twenty-six dynasties had its own method and
reputation. The reason for preserving the body was the belief that the
soul after purification would return to it in ages to come, and the
corpse was made impervious to decay so as to receive the spirit again.
Egypt was consequently a vast sepulchre: it has been estimated by
eminent authorities that there were over seven hundred millions of the
dead preserved in tombs and graves.

The scarab is an Egyptian beetle of varying size; I have seen lots of
living specimens on the Nile. The ancients believed that if this
beetle were placed in the coffin or grave of the dead, no harm could
come to them, and that its presence would promote their future
happiness and bring them good luck; therefore, it became the custom to
place the scarabs in all graves. At first the real insects were used,
but it was found that these did not last, so imitations made of
semi-precious stones were substituted, and then large quantities were
allotted to the dead, so as to make sure. By easy transition, the
custom of placing scarabs on the bodies of the dead passed to putting
them on the living, and men and women wore the scarab as a silent act
of homage to the Creator, who was not only the God of the dead but of
the living also. These charms are easily carried and can be used in
settings for many ornamental purposes; therefore they are the most
popular and widely sought article in the market. They are as small as
a coffee bean, and run up sometimes to the size of a walnut, green and
brown being the most popular colors of the stones out of which they are
made. Vast quantities of them have been taken from graves, but these
have been absorbed by museums and amateur collectors, and now we have
to fall back on imitations. No yearning desire is allowed to yearn
long here, and so we find factories making scarabs at Luxor and in many
other parts of Egypt. Of course there is a marked difference between a
scarab cut by an old Egyptian, which has been buried for thousands of
years, and something made out of glazed terra-cotta and sold by the
dozen; the former being worth a good sum of money and the latter a mere
trifle. I have spoken of this at such length because there is now a
veritable and increasing boom in scarabs all over the Nile Valley, but
particularly in Cairo. More than half the men you meet on the streets
are peddling them, shouting that they sell