“May thy name be established; mayst thou have a son.”
[2 hieroglyphs] (within ornamental border), “good stability.”
[3 hieroglyphs] _ikht neb nefer_, “All good things.”
(Inlaid). “A good day” (a holiday).
“A mother is a truly good thing” or “Truth is a good Mother.”
The scarab, for the Egyptians a type of the rising sun and hence of
the renewal of life after death, was copied by the Phœnicians from
the Egyptian types and modified in various ways to suit the religious
fancies of the various lands to which they bore the products of their
art. Much of the original significance of this symbol must have been
lost; probably in many cases little was left but a vague idea that an
amulet of this form would bring good luck to the wearer and guard from
harm.
Funeral scarabs were often made of jasper, amethyst, lapis-lazuli,
ruby, or carnelian, with the names of gods, kings, priests, officials,
or private persons engraved on the base; occasionally monograms or
floral devices were engraved. Sometimes the base of the scarab was
heart-shaped and at others the scarab was combined with the “utat,” or
eye of Horus, and also with the frog, typifying revivification. Set in
rings they were placed on the fingers of the dead, or else, wrapped in
linen bandages, they rested on the heart of the deceased, a type of
the sun which rose each day to renewed life. They were symbols of the
resurrection of the body.[170]
Some of the Egyptian scarabs were evidently used as talismanic gifts
from one friend to another. Two such scarabs are in the collection of
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. One bears the inscription
“May Ra grant you a happy New Year,” the text of the other reading as
follows: “May your name be established, may you have a son,” and “May
your house flourish every day.” It is a curious fact that the modern
greeting “Happy New Year” was current in Egypt probably three thousand
years ago.[171]
On the Egyptian inscribed scarabs used as signets were engraved many
of the symbols to which a talismanic virtue was attributed. The uræus
serpent, signifying death, is sometimes associated with the knot, the
so-called _ankh_ symbol, denoting life. Often the hieroglyph for _nub_,
gold, appears; this symbol is a necklace with pendant beads, showing
that gold beads must have been known in Egypt in the early days when
the hieroglyph for gold was first used. All these symbolic figures, of
which a great number occur, served to impart to the signet a sacred and
auspicious quality which communicated itself to the wearer, and even to
the impression made by the seal, this in its turn acquiring a certain
magic force. Few of us would be willing to confess to a belief in the
innate power of any symbol, but the suggestive power of a symbol is as
real to-day as it ever was. Any object that evokes a high thought or
serves to emphasize a profound conviction really possesses a kind of
magical quality, since it is capable of causing an effect out of all
proportion to its intrinsic worth or its material quality.
Many scarabs and signets exist made of the artificial _cyanus_,
which was an imitation lapis-lazuli made in Egypt. This was an
alkaline silicate, colored a deep blue with carbonate of copper.
Often a wonderful translucent or opaque blue glass was used. The
genuine lapis-lazuli was also used to a considerable extent for
scarabs and cylinders, in Egypt and Assyria, and gems were also cut
from it in imperial Roman times.[172] A notable instance of the use
of lapis-lazuli in ancient Egypt was as the material for the image
of Truth (_Ma_), which the Egyptian chief-justice wore on his neck,
suspended from a golden chain.[173]
In Roman times some of the legionaries are said to have worn rings set
with scarabs, for the reason that this figure was believed to impart
great courage and vigor to the wearer.[174]
The Egyptian amulets of the earliest period, up to the XII dynasty
(circa 2000 B.C.), differ considerably from those made and worn after
the beginning of the XVIII dynasty (1580 B.C.). Those of the earlier
period are not numerous and present but a small number of types, animal
forms or the heads of animals constituting the most favored models.
The precious stone materials are principally carnelian, beryl, and
amethyst. After the close of the so-called Hyksos period, the age
during which foreign kings ruled over Egypt, came the brilliant revival
and development of Egyptian civilization that characterized the XVIII
dynasty. Some of the old forms were entirely cast aside while others
were greatly modified in form and significance, the animal forms losing
much of their fetichistic quality and coming to be more and more
regarded as images of the multifarious divinities worshipped in this
later period. In many cases the animal type was entirely or partially
discarded and the amulets figured the conventional types given to the
various divinities. However, while some of these images were wholly
human, many of them show a human body with an animal head. Various
symbolic designs were also favored, one believed to signify the blood
of Isis having the form of a knot or tie. A frog fashioned out of
lapis-lazuli and having eyes of gold is one of these amulets of the
XVIII dynasty or later.
An interesting Egyptian talisman in the Louvre is engraved with a
design representing Thothmes II seizing a lion by the tail and raising
the animal aloft; at the same time he brandishes in the other hand
a club, with which he is about to dash out the lion’s brains. The
Egyptian word _quen_, “strength,” is engraved beneath the design and
indicates that the virtue of the talisman was to increase the strength
and courage of the wearer, the inscription being a kind of perpetual
invocation to the higher powers whose aid was sought.[175]
The children of Israel, when in the desert, were said to have engraved
figures on carnelian, “just as seals are engraved.”[176] This
statement, repeated by many early writers, may perhaps have arisen from
an identification of carnelian with the first stone of the breastplate,
the _odem_, unquestionably a red stone, and very possibly carnelian.
There can be no doubt that this was one of the first stones used for
ornamental purposes and for engraving, as a number of specimens have
been preserved from early Egyptian times. Because of the cooling and
calming effect exercised by carnelian upon the blood, if worn on the
neck or on the finger, it was believed to still all angry passions.[177]
A class of amulets even older than the Egyptian scarabs is represented
by the engraved Assyrio-Babylonian cylinders. There has been much
discussion among scholars as to the original purpose for which these
cylinders were made, some holding that they were exclusively employed
as seals or signets, while others incline to the belief that many of
them were intended only for use as amulets or talismans.
These cylinders are perforated and were worn suspended from the neck or
wrist, as is most frequently the case with talismans, and the engraved
designs often represent religious or mythological subjects, the
accompanying inscription merely consisting of the names of the gods.
Cylinders of this type could not have been used as personal signets,
and it is quite possible that Dr. Wiedemann is right in supposing
that their imprint on a document was considered to impart a certain
mystic sanction to the agreement, and render the divinities or spirits
accountable for the fulfilment of the contract.[178]
The oldest known form of seal is the cylinder. Babylonian and Assyrian
cylinder-seals are known of a date as early as 4000 B.C. From the
earliest period until 2500 B.C. they were made of black or green
serpentine, conglomerate, diorite, and frequently of the central
core of a large conch shell from the Persian Gulf. From 2500 B.C.
to 500 B.C. the cylindrical form was prevalent, and the materials
include a brick-red ferruginous quartz, red hematite (an iron ore),
and chalcedony, a beautiful variety of the last-named stone known as
sapphirine being sometimes used. On the cylinders produced from 4000
B.C. to 2500 B.C. the designs most frequently represent animal forms;
on those dating from 2500 B.C. to 500 B.C. are generally inscribed
five or six rows of cuneiform characters. Up to the last-named date
the work was all done by the sapphire point, and not by the wheel, and
it is not until the fifth century B.C. that wheel work is apparent in
any Babylonian or Assyrian stone-engraving. In the course of the sixth
century B.C. the cylindrical seals became less frequent, and the tall
cone-like seals came into use.[179]
A new type makes its appearance about the fifth or sixth century B.C.,
namely, the scaraboid seal introduced from Egypt. From the third
century B.C. until the second or third century A.D., the seals became
lower and flatter, and the perforation larger, until they sometimes
assumed the form of rings; later the ring form becomes general. They
are usually hollowed a little in the middle, which gives them the shape
and size of the lower short joints of a reed; indeed, it has been
suggested that the original seal was rudely patterned after a reed
joint. The materials used for these cylinders include lapis-lazuli,
very freely used and probably from the Persian mines, jasper,
rock-crystals, chalcedony, carnelian, agate, jade, etc.; a hard, black
variety of serpentine is perhaps the most common of all the materials
used for this purpose.[180]
[Illustration: PHOENICIAN SCARAB, WITH ENGRAVED SCORPION. (See page
115.)]
[Illustration: ANCIENT BABYLONIAN CYLINDER IMPRESSION, BEARING FIGURES
OF THE GOD NEBO AND A WORSHIPPER, AND SYMBOLS OF SUN AND MOON.
From Fischer and Wiedemann “Ueber Babylonische Talismane,” Stuttgart,
1881, Pl. 1, fig. 3.]
[Illustration: A SMALL JADE CELT ENGRAVED WITH GNOSTIC INSCRIPTIONS IN
THE FOURTH CENTURY.
On one side are seven lines of characters, principally consisting
of the seven Greek vowels used to denote the Ineffable Name. On the
reverse is cut a laurel branch with 18 leaves, enclosed within each of
which are characters expressing the name of one of the personifications
of Gnostic theosophy. Brought from Egypt and deposited by its
possessor, General Lefroy, in the Rotunda at Woolwich. Now in the
Egyptian Department of the British Museum. (See page 129.)]
A good example of these talismanic cylinders shows the figure of the
god Nebo, seated on a throne and holding a ring in his left hand.
Before him are two altars, over which appear, respectively, a star
and the crescent moon; in front of the god is the figure of a man in
an attitude of adoration. Borsippa, where the cylinder was found, was
the special seat of the worship of Nebo, whose name appears in those
of the kings Nebuchadnezzar, Nebopalasser, and Nabonaid. Regarded
as the inventor of writing and as the god of learning, Nebo was the
lord of the planet Mercury, and this shows a close connection between
Babylonian and Græco-Roman ideas in reference to the god associated
with that planet. Nebo was also believed to be the orderer of times
and seasons, and this character is indicated by the star and the
crescent.[181]
The Cretan peasants of to-day set a high value upon certain very
ancient seals—dating perhaps from as early as 2500 B.C.—which they
find buried in the soil. These seals are inscribed with symbols
supposed to represent the prehistoric Cretan form of writing. Of
course these inscriptions, which have not yet been deciphered by
archæologists, are utterly incomprehensible for the peasants, but they
undoubtedly serve to render the stones objects of mystery. The peasants
call them _galopetræ_, or “milk-stones,” and they are supposed to
promote the secretion of milk, as was the case with the galactite.[182]
The careful preservation of these so-called _galopetræ_ by Cretan women
has served the purpose of archæological research, as otherwise so large
a supply of these very interesting seals would not now be available.
[Illustration: 1. ENGRAVED HELIOTROPE.
Head of Serapis surrounded by the twelve Zodiacal symbols. From Gori’s
“Thesaurus Gemmarum Antiquarum Astriferarum,” Florence, 1750. Vol. i,
Pl. XVII.]
[Illustration: 2. ENGRAVED RED JASPER.
Head of Medusa, Museum Cl. Passerii.]
Many engraved stones of the Roman imperial period bore the figures
of Serapis and of Isis, the former signifying Time and the latter
Earth. On other stones the symbols of the zodiacal signs appear,
referring to the natal constellation of the wearer. The astrologers,
who derived their lore from the Orient, were consulted by all classes
of the Roman people, and it is therefore very natural that the signet,
or the ring worn as an amulet, should frequently have been engraved
with astrological symbols. These designs were usually engraved on
onyxes, carnelians, and similar stones, in Greek and Roman times; but
occasionally the emerald was used in this way, and more rarely the
ruby or the sapphire. Here the costliness of the material was probably
thought to enhance the value of the amulet. The emerald ring of
Polycrates must have possessed some other than a purely artistic value
in his eyes, when it could be regarded by him as the most precious of
his possessions.
In Roman times the image of Alexander the Great was looked upon as
possessing magic virtues, and it is related that when Cornelius
Macer gave a splendid banquet in the temple of Hercules, the chief
ornament of the table was an amber cup, in the midst of which was a
portrait of Alexander, and around this his whole history figured in
small, finely engraved representations. From this cup Macer drank to
the health of the pontifex and then ordered that it should be passed
around among the guests, so that each one might gaze upon the image
of the great man. Pollio, relating this, states that it was a common
belief that everything happened fortunately for those who bore with
them Alexander’s portrait executed in gold or silver.[183] Indeed, even
among Christians coins of Alexander were in great favor as amulets, and
the stern John Chrysostom sharply rebukes those who wore bronze coins
of this monarch attached to their heads and their feet.[184]
Nowhere in the world was the use of amulets so common as in Alexandria,
especially in the first centuries of our era, and the types produced
here were scattered far and wide throughout the Roman world. Amulets
made from various colored stones had been used for religious purposes
in Egypt from the very earliest period of its history, so that the
custom was deeply rooted in that land. When, therefore, Alexandria was
founded in the fourth century B.C., and became a great commercial
centre, attracting men of all races and all religions, it is not
surprising that the population eagerly adopted the various amulets
used by the adherents of the different religions. The result was a
combining and confusion of many different types. With the rapid rise
and growth of the Christian religion, a new element was introduced.
Unquestionably the leading Christian teachers were strongly opposed to
such superstitious practices, but the rank and file of the faithful
clung to their old fancies.
In the second century the Gnostic heresy gave a new impulse to the
fabrication of amulets. This strange eclecticism, resulting from
an interweaving of pagan and Christian ideas, with its complicated
symbolism, much of which is almost incomprehensible, found expression
in the creation of the most bizarre types of amulets, and the magic
virtues of the curious designs was enhanced by inscriptions purposely
obscure. The incomprehensible always seems to have a mysterious charm
for those devoted to the magic arts, and the adepts willingly catered
to this taste, so that we can often only guess at the signification of
the words and names engraved upon the Gnostic or Basilidian gems. So
widespread was their use throughout the Roman Empire, that there were
factories entirely devoted to the production of these objects.[185]
Regarding the sacred name Abrasax, which was inscribed on so many
Gnostic gems, we read in St. Augustine’s treatise De hæres., vi,
“Basilides asserted that there were 365 heavens; it was for this reason
that he regarded the name Abrasax as sacred and venerable.”
[Illustration: 1. Gnostic gem, heliotrope, with Abraxas god. Gorlaeus
Collection. From the “Abraxas seu Apistopistus” of Macarius (L’Heureux)
Antwerp, 1657, Pl. II.
2. Another type; with seven stars.
3. Gnostic gem. Type of Abraxas god and mystic letters I A W. From
Gori’s “Thesaurus Gemmarum Antiquarum Astriferarum,” Florence, 1750,
vol. i, Pl. CLXXXIX.
4. Abraxas gem, jasper, mystic letters I A W. From Gorlaeus, “Cabinet
de Pierres Gravées,” Paris, 1778.
5. Jasper engraved with the symbol of the Agathodaemon Serpent.
The type of amulet noted by Galen as that used by the Egyptian
king “Nechepsus” (Necho 610-594 B.C.). Original at one time in the
collection of Johann Schinkel. From the “Abraxas seu Apistopistus” of
Macarius (L’Heureux) Antwerp, 1657, Pl. XVII. See page 385.]
According to the Greek notation the letters comprising this name give
that number:
α = 1
β = 2
ρ = 100
α = 1
σ = 200
α = 1
ξ = 60
—-—
365
It is, however, not unlikely that the 365 days in the solar year
are signified; and this enigmatical name might thus be brought into
connection with Mithra, the solar divinity, who was worshipped
throughout the Persian and Roman empires in the first and second
centuries of our era.
A very recondite but ingenious explanation of the Gnostic name Abrasax
is given by Harduin in his notes to Pliny’s “Natural History.”[186]
He sees in the first three letters the initials of the three Hebrew
words signifying father, son, and spirit (_ab_, _ben_, _ruah_), the
Triune God; the last four letters are the initials of the Greek words
ἀνθρώπους σώζει ἁγίῳ ξύλῳ or “he saves men by the sacred wood” (the
cross). This seems rather far-fetched, it must be confessed, and yet
to any one familiar with the vagaries of Alexandrine eclecticism, and
with the tendency of the time and place to make strange and uncouth
combinations of Greek and Hebrew forms, there is nothing inherently
improbable in the explanation. Indeed, the Hebrew and Greek words
in this composite sentence might have been regarded as typifying
the union of the Old and New Testaments, and such an acrostic would
certainly have been looked upon as possessing a mystic and supernatural
power.
[Illustration: ANTIQUE JADE CELT CONVERTED INTO A GNOSTIC TALISMAN.]
Enclosed within the outlines of the 18 leaves are as many names of the
personifications of Gnostic Theosophy.]
Many explanations have been offered as to the origin and significance
of the characteristic figure of the Abrasax god engraved on a number
of Gnostic amulets. There seems to be no doubt that this figure was
invented by Basilides, chief of the Gnostic sect bearing his name, and
who flourished in the early part of the second century A.D. While the
details of the type as perfected were undoubtedly borrowed from the
eclectic symbolism of the Egyptian and western Asiatic world it is
almost impossible to conjecture the reasons determining the selection
of this particular form.
A jasper engraved with the famous Gnostic symbol was set in the ring
worn by Seffrid, Bishop of Chichester (A.D. 1159). This ring was found
on the skeleton of the bishop and is now preserved in the treasury of
the Cathedral of Chichester. Undoubtedly the curious symbolic figure
was given a perfectly orthodox meaning, and, indeed, it was not really
a pagan symbol, as the Gnostics were “indifferent Christians,” although
their system was a fanciful elaboration of the doctrines of the late
Alexandrian school of Greek Philosophy and an adaptation of this to the
teachings of Christian tradition. In many cases, however, gems with
purely pagan designs were worn by Christians, designs such as Isis with
the child Horus, which was taken to be the Virgin Mary with the infant
Jesus.
A curious amulet, apparently belonging to the Gnostic variety, and
intended to bring success to the owner of a racehorse, is now in the
collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York. The material
is green jasper with red spots. On the obverse the horse is figured
with the victor’s palm and the name Tiberis; on the reverse appears
the vulture-headed figure of the Abraxas god and the characters,
“ZACTA IAW BAPIA,” which have been translated, “Iao the Destroyer and
Creator.”[187] Possibly this amulet may have been attached to the horse
during his races to insure victory, as we know that amulets of this
kind were used in this way.
As illustrating the eclectic character of some of the amulets used
in the early Christian centuries, we may note one in the Cabinet de
Médailles, in Paris. This has upon the obverse the head of Alexander
the Great; on the reverse is a she-ass with her foal, and below
this a scorpion and the name Jesus Christ. Another amulet of this
class, figured by Vettori,[188] also has the head of Alexander on
the obverse, while the reverse bears the Greek monogram of the name
Christos.
After the third or fourth century of our era the art of gem-engraving
seems to have been lost, or at least to have been very seldom
practised, and it is noteworthy in the matter that after this period
writers who treat of the virtues of engraved gems as talismans rarely,
if ever, use the words “if you engrave” such or such a figure on a
stone, but write “if you find” such a figure.
The figures engraved on precious stones were supposed to have a greater
or lesser degree of efficacy in themselves independent of the virtues
peculiar to the stone on which they were engraved, and this efficacy
depended largely upon the hour, day, or month during which the work
was executed. For the influence of the planet, star, or constellation
which was in the ascendant was thought to infuse a subtle essence into
the stone while the appropriate image was being engraved. However,
to exert the maximum power, the virtue of the image must be of the
same character as the virtue inherent in the material, and the gem
became less potent when this was not the case. Certain images, those
symbolizing the zodiacal signs for instance, were looked upon as
possessing such power that their peculiar nature impressed itself
even upon stones inherently of different quality; others again were
only efficacious when engraved on stones the quality of which was in
sympathy with them.[189]
Naturally, many of the ancient gems which had been preserved from
Greek and Roman times were recognized as being purely products of art,
but in medieval and later times the idea of the magic quality of all
engraved gems had become so deeply rooted that in many cases a magical
character was ascribed to them entirely foreign to the intention of the
engraver. Great ingenuity was often displayed in seeking and finding
some analogy between the supposed significance of the design and the
fancied power of the stone itself. Taking the agate as an illustration,
Camillo Leonardo says that its many different varieties had as
many different virtues, and he finds in this an explanation of the
multiplicity of images engraved on the various kinds of agate, without
realizing that the true reason was that this material lent itself more
readily to artistic treatment than did many others.
The idea that some special design should be engraved upon a given
stone became quite general in the early centuries of our era. The
emerald, for instance, according to Damigeron, was to be engraved with
a scarab, beneath which was to be a standing figure of Isis. The gem,
when completed, was to be pierced longitudinally and worn in a brooch.
The fortunate owner of this talisman was then to adorn himself and the
members of his family, and, a consecration having been pronounced, he
was assured that he would see “the glory of the stone granted it by
God.”[190] Possibly this may have meant that the stone would become
luminous.