h these exceptions, the domain
of the lapidary was almost as extensive as at the present day. That domain
included the amethyst, the emerald, the garnet, the aquamarine, the
chrysoprase, the innumerable varieties of agate and jasper, lapis lazuli,
felspar, obsidian; also various rocks, such as granite, serpentine, and
porphyry; certain fossils, as yellow amber and some kinds of turquoise;
organic remains, as coral, mother-of-pearl, and pearls; metallic ores and
carbonates, such as hematite and malachite, and the calaite, or Oriental
turquoise. These substances were for the most part cut in the shape of
round, square, oval, spindle-shaped, pear-shaped, or lozenge-shaped beads.
Strung and arranged row above row, these beads were made into necklaces,
and are picked up by myriads in the sands of the great cemeteries at
Memphis, Erment, Ekhmim, and Abydos. The perfection with which many are
cut, the deftness with which they are pierced, and the beauty of the
polish, do honour to the craftsmen who made them. But their skill did not
end here. With the point, saw, drill, and grindstone, they fashioned these
materials into an infinity of shapes--hearts, human fingers, serpents,
animals, images of divinities. All these were amulets; and they were
probably less valued for the charm of the workmanship than for the
supernatural virtues which they were supposed to possess. The girdle-buckle
in carnelian (fig. 210) symbolised the blood of Isis, and washed away the
sins of the wearer. The frog (fig. 211) was emblematic of renewed birth.
The little lotus-flower column in green felspar (fig. 212) typified the
divine gift of eternal youth. The "Uat," or sacred eye (fig. 213), tied to
the wrist or the arm by a slender string, protected against the evil eye,
against words spoken in envy or anger, and against the bites of serpents.
Commerce dispersed these objects throughout all parts of the ancient world,
and many of them, especially those which represented the sacred beetle,
were imitated abroad by the Phoenicians and Syrians, and by the craftsmen
of Greece, Asia Minor, Etruria, and Sardinia. This insect was called
_kheper_ in Egyptian, and its name was supposed to be derived from the root
_khepra_, "to become." By an obvious play upon words, the beetle was made
the emblem of terrestrial life, and of the successive "becomings" or
developments of man in the life to come. The scarabaeus amulet (fig. 214)
is therefore a symbol of duration, prese