nt or future; and to wear one was
to provide against annihilation. A thousand mystic meanings were evolved
from this first idea, each in some subtle sense connected with one or other
of the daily acts or usages of life, so that scarabaei were multiplied _ad
infinitum_. They are found in all materials and sizes; some having hawks'
heads, some with rams' heads, some with heads of men or bulls. Some are
wrought or inscribed on the underside; others are left flat and plain
underneath; and others again but vaguely recall the form of the insect, and
are called scarabaeoids. These amulets are pierced longwise, the hole being
large enough to admit the passage of a fine wire of bronze or silver, or of
a thread, for suspension. The larger sort were regarded as images of the
heart. These, having outspread wings attached, were fastened to the breast
of the mummy, and are inscribed on the underside with a prayer adjuring the
heart not to bear witness against the deceased at the day of judgment. In
order to be still more efficacious, some scenes of adoration were
occasionally added to the formula: _e.g._, the disc of the moon adorned by
two apes upon the shoulder; two squatting figures of Amen upon the wing-
sheaths; on the flat reverse, a representation of the boat of the Sun; and
below the boat, Osiris mummified, squatting between Isis and Nephthys, who
overshadow him with their wings. The small scarabs, having begun as
phylacteries, ended by becoming mere ornaments without any kind of
religious meaning, just as crosses are now worn without thought of
significance by the women of our own day. They were set as rings, as
necklace pendants, as earrings, and as bracelets. The underside is often
plain, but is more commonly ornamented with incised designs which involve
no kind of modelling. Relief-cutting, properly so called (as in cameo-
cutting), was unknown to Egyptian lapidaries before the Greek period.
Scarabaei and the subjects engraved on them have not as yet been fully
classified and catalogued.[55] The subjects consist of simple combinations
of lines; of scrolls; of interlacings without any precise signification; of
symbols to which the owner attached a mysterious meaning, unknown to
everyone but himself; of the names and titles of individuals; of royal
ovals, which are historically interesting; of good wishes; of pious
ejaculations; and of magic formulae. The earliest examples known date from
the Fourth Dynasty, and are small and