in some zodiacs in the place of Cancer; and with funereal rites.[83]
To no place in particular, as the dog at Cynopolis, the ichneumon at
Heracleopolis, was the worship of the beetle confined; but traces of it
are found throughout the whole of Egypt. It is probable, however, it
received the greatest honors at Memphis and Heliopolis, of which cities
Pthah and the Sun were the chief Deities.[84] The worship is also of
great antiquity, for in many of the above-mentioned characters, the
beetle occurs upon the royal sepulchers of Biban-el-Moluc, which are
said to be more ancient than the Pyramids.[85] Scarabæi are, in fact, to
be retraced in all their monuments and sculptures, and under divers
positions, and often depicted of gigantic dimensions. Mr. Hamilton tells
us that in the most conspicuous part of the magnificent temple which
marks the site of the ancient Ombite nome, priests are represented
paying divine honors to this beetle, placed upon an altar; and, that it
might have a character of more mysterious sanctity, it was generally
figured with two mitered heads--that of the common hawk, and that of the
ram with the horn of Ammon.[86] It may be remarked here, that the
Scarabæus, when represented with the head of a hawk, or of a ram, is
meant to be an emblem of the sun; and as such emblem it is most commonly
found. It often occurs in a boat with extended wings, holding the globe
of the sun in its claws, or elevated in the firmament as a type of that
luminary in the meridian. Figures too of other Deities are often seen
praying to it when in this character.[87]
In the cabinet of Montfaucon, there is a Scarabæus in the middle of a
large stone, with outspread feet; and two men, or women, who are perhaps
priests, or priestesses, stand before it with clasped hands as if in
adoration.[88] This gentleman also has remarked that on the Isiac table,
there is the figure of a man in a sitting posture, who holds his hands
toward a beetle which has the head of a man with a crescent upon it.[89]
On this table there is another Scarab with the head of Isis.[90] Besides
these Scarabæi with the heads of hawks, rams, men, and the goddess Isis,
Mr. Hertz has in his possession a small Scarabæus in stone with the
head of a cow.[91]
The mode of representing the Scarabæi on the monuments was frequently
very arbitrary. Some are figured with, and some without the scutellum;
and others are sometimes introduced with two scutella, one on either
clypeus. An instance of this mode of representation, of which no example
is to be found in nature, occurs in a large Scarabæus in the British
museum.[92]
Among the ideographics of the hieroglyphic writing, the Scarabæus is
found under several forms: seated with closed and spread wings upon the
head of a god, it signifies the name of a god--a Creator;[93] and with
the head and legs of a man, it is emblematic of the same creative power,
or of Pthah. Another emblem of Pthah is supported by the arms of a man
kneeling on the heavens, and surmounted by a winged Scarab supporting a
globe or sun.[94]
The Scarabæus likewise belongs to the hieroglyphic signs as a syllabic
phonetic; and with complement a mouth, signifies type, form, and
transformation: flying, to mount--a phonetic of the later alphabet, with
sound of H in the name of Pthah. Another phonetic of the later alphabet,
belonging to the XXVI. dynasty, of the time of Domitianus and Trajanus,
was a Scarabæus in repose.[95]
The Scarabæus entered also into the royal scutcheons. It first appeared
in the XI. dynasty, and is found afterward in the XII., XIII., XIV.,
XVIII., XIX., XX., XXI., XXII., XXIII., and XXX.[96]
The most important monuments of the great edifice of Amenophis--the
so-called Palace of Luxon,--in an historical sense, are said to be four
great Scarabæi. They contain statements as to the frontier of the
Egyptian empire under Amenophis at the time of his marriage with Taja.
Rosellini has given copies and explanations of two of them. A third, now
in the Louvre, states that the King, conqueror of the Lybian Shepherds,
husband of Taja, made the foreign country of the Karai his southern
frontier, the foreign land of Nharina (Mesopotamia) his northern. The
inscription of the other Scarabæus, now in the Vatican, states that in
the eleventh year and third month of his reign, King Amenhept made a
great tank or lake to celebrate the festival of the waters; on which
occasion he entered it in a barge of “the most gracious Disc of the
Sun.” This substitution, by the King, of the barge of the Disc of the
Sun for the usual barge of Amun-Ra, is the _first_ indication of an
heretical sun-worship.[97]
Such historical Scarabæi, Champollion and Rosellini have happily
compared to commemorative coins; and, in fact, those which record the
names of the kings might perhaps be considered as small Egyptian
coins.[98]
Besides being ensculped upon monuments and tablets, Scarabæi, as images
in baked earth, are found in great numbers with the mummies of Egypt.
These little figures also present an intermingling of several animal
forms; for some are found with the heads of men, others with those of
dogs, lions, and cats, and others are figures entirely fantastical.
Father Kirker says, they were interred with the dead to drive away evil
spirits; and there is much probability, he continues, that these were
put here for no other purpose than to protect their relatives.[99] The
largest of these rude images of Scarabæi, thus used for funereal
purposes, frequently had a prayer, or legend connected with the dead,
engraved upon them; and a winged Scarabæus was generally placed on those
bodies which were embalmed according to the most extensive process.[100]
These latter are found in various positions, but generally upon the eye
and breast of the body.[101] Placed over the stomach, it was deemed a
never-failing talisman to shield the “soul” of its wearer against the
terrific genii of Amenthi.[102]
A small, closely cut, glazed limestone Scarabæus has been found tied
like a ring by a twist of plain cord on the fourth finger of the left
hand. This has occurred twice. Another has been found fastened around
the left wrist.[103]
It has been remarked before that the Scarabæus was connected with
astronomical subjects. Donovan tells us that “when sculptured on
astronomical tables, or on columns, it expressed the divine wisdom which
regulated the universe and enlightened man.”[104]
From another point of view we will look now upon the worship of the
Scarabæus. When the hieroglyphics of the _ancient_ Egyptians, by reason
of their antiquity, became unintelligible, and, in consequence, to the
superstitious people, sacred, they were formed into circles and borders,
after the manner of cordons, and engraved upon precious stones and gems,
by way of amulets and trinkets. It is thought this fashion was coeval
with the introduction of the worship of Serapis by the Ptolemies.[105]
In the second century, that sect of the Egyptians called the
Basilidians, intermingling the new-born Christianity with their
heathenism, introduced that particular kind of mysterious hieroglyphics
and figures called Abraxas, which were supposed to have the singular
property of curing diseases.[106] These abraxas are generally oval, and
made of black Egyptian basalt. They are sometimes covered with letters
and characters, fac-similes of the ancient hieroglyphics, but more
commonly with the inscriptions in the more modern letters. Besides these
inscriptions, figures of animals and scenes were also frequently
represented; and among the animals, one of frequent occurrence was the
Scarabæus. For this insect the Basilidians had the same great veneration
as their forefathers; and they paid to it almost the same divine honors.
This appears in many abraxas, and particularly in one in the cabinet of
Montfaucon, where two women are seen standing before a beetle, with
uplifted hands, as if supplicating it to grant them some favor. Above is
a large star, or, more probably, the sun, of which the beetle was the
well-known symbol.[107] On another abraxas, figured by Montfaucon, there
are two birds with human heads, which stand before a Scarab. These
figures are surrounded by a snake the ends of which meet. Upon the other
side is written in Greek characters the word φρὴ (Phre or Phri), which
in the Coptic or Egyptian language signifies the sun.[108] Chifflet has
figured an abraxas which contains a Scarabæus having the sun for its
head, and the arms of a man for legs.[109] Another, in the cabinet of M.
Capello, is remarkable for having a woman on its reverse, who holds two
infants in her arms.[110] Montfaucon has also figured two others, given
by Fabreti; and Count Caylus has engraved one, which represents a
woman’s head upon the body of a Scarab. The head is that of Isis.[111]
As these beetles differ much in form, it may be there are several
species. To the abraxas succeeded the talismans, which were of the
highest estimation in the East.
Carved Scarabæi of all sizes and qualities are quite common in the
cabinets of Europe. They were principally used for sets in rings,
necklaces, and other ornamental trinkets, and are now called Scarabæi
gems,[112] though some suppose them to have been money. All of these
gems, Winkleman says, which have a beetle on the convex side, and an
Egyptian deity on the concave, are of a date posterior to the
Ptolemies; and, moreover, all the ordinary gems, which represent the
figures or heads of Serapis, or Anubis, are of the Roman era.[113]
According to C. Caylus, the Egyptians used these gems for amulets, and
made them of all substances except metal. They preferred, however, those
of pottery, covered with green and black enamel. Cylinders, squares, and
pyramids were first used; then came the Scarabæi, which were the last
forms. They now began to have the appearance of seals or stamps, and
many believe them to have been such. The body of the beetle being a
convenient hold for the hand, and the base a place of safety and
facility to engrave whatsoever was wished to be stamped or printed. Many
of these characters are as yet unintelligible. These seals are made of
the most durable stones, and their convex part commonly worked without
much art.
The Egyptian form of the Scarabæus, which somewhat resembled a
half-walnut, the Etruscans adopted in the manufacture of their gems.
These scarcely exceed the natural size of the Scarabæus which they have
on the convex side. They have also a hole drilled through them
lengthwise, for suspension from the neck, or annexation to some other
part of the person. They are generally cornelians. Some are of a style
very ancient, and of extremely precious work, although in the Etruscan
manner, which is correctness of design in the figures, and hardness in
the turn of the muscles.
The Greeks also made use of the Scarabæus in their gems; but in the end
they suppressed the insect, and preserved alone the oval form which the
base presented, for the body of the sculpture. They also mounted them in
their rings.[114]
Several Egyptian Scarabæi were among the relics discovered by Layard at
Arban on the banks of the Khabour; and similar objects have been brought
from Nimroud, and various other ruins in Assyria.[115]
Layard has figured a bronze cup, and two bronze cubes, found among the
ruins of Nimroud, on which occur as ornaments the figures of Scarabs.
Those on the cubes are with outstretched wings, inlaid with gold. The
cubes have much the appearance of weights.[116]
The Scarabæus was not only venerated when alive, but embalmed after
death. In that state they are found at Thebes. It, however, was not the
only insect thus honored, for in one of the heads brought by Mr.
Wilkinson from Thebes, several others were discovered. These were
submitted to Mr. Hope for examination; and the species ascertained by
this gentleman, Mr. Pettigrew has enumerated as follows:
1. Corynetes violaceous, _Fab._
2. Necrobia mumiarum, _Hope_.
3. Dermestes vulpinus, _Fab._
4. ---- pollinctus, _Hope_.
5. ---- roei, _Hope_.
6. ---- elongatus, _Hope_.
7. Pimelia spinulosa, _Klug_?
8. Copris sabæus? “found by Passalacqua; so named on the testimony of
Latrielle.”
9. Midas, _Fab._
10. Pithecius, _Fab._
11. A species of Cantharis in Passalacqua’s Collection, No. 442.[117]
The House-fly has also been found embalmed at Thebes.[118]
* * * * *
Concerning the worship in general of the Scarabæus, many curious
observations have been made besides the ones above recorded.
Pliny, in the words of his ancient translator, Philemon Holland, tells
us “The greater part of Ægypt honour all beetles, and adore them as
gods, or at leastwise having some divine power in them: which
ceremoniall devotion of theirs, Appion giveth a subtile and curious
reason of; for he doth collect, that there is some resemblance between
the operations and works of the Sun, and this flie; and this he setteth
abroad, for to colour and excuse his countrymen.”[119]
Dr. Molyneux, in the conclusion of his article on the swarms of beetles
that appeared in Ireland in 1688, makes the following allusion to the
worship of the Scarabæus by the Egyptians: “It is also more than
probable that this same destructive Beetle (Hedge-chafer--_Melontha
vulgaris_) we are speaking of, was that very kind of _Scarabæus_ the
idolatrous _Ægyptians_ of old had in such high veneration, as to pay
divine worship to it. For nothing can be supposed more natural, than to
imagine a Nation addicted to Polytheism, as the _Ægyptians_ were, in a
Country frequently suffering great Mischief and Scarcity from Swarms of
devouring Insects, should from a strong Sense and Fear of Evil to come
(the common Principle of Superstition and Idolatry) give sacred worship
to the visible Authors of these their Sufferings, in hopes to render
them more propitious for the future. Thus ’tis allowed on all hands,
that the same People adored as a God the ravenous Crocodile of the River
Nile; and thus the _Romans_, though more polite and civilized in their
Idolatry, _Febrem ad minas nocendam venerabantur, eamque variis Templis
extructis colebant_, says Valerius Maximus, L. 2, c. 5.”[120]
It is curious to observe how the reason is affected by circumstances.
The mind of Dr. Molyneux being long engaged upon the destruction caused
by insects, worked itself insensibly into certain grooves, out of which
it was afterward impossible to act. The same may be remarked of Mr.
Henry Baker, as appears from his article, “On a _Beetle_ that lived
three years without Food.” In conclusion, this gentleman says, “As the
_Egyptians_ were a wise and learned people, we cannot imagine they would
show so much regard to a creature of such a mean appearance (as the
Beetle) without some extraordinary reason for so doing. And is it not
possible they might have discovered its being able to subsist a very
long time without any visible sustenance, and therefore made it a symbol
of the Deity?”[121]
In parts of Europe the ladies string together for necklaces the
burnished violet-colored thighs of the _Geotrupes stercorarius_ and such
like brilliant species of insects.[122]
Under _Copris molossus_, in Donovan’s Insects of China, it is mentioned
that the larvæ of the larger kinds of coleopterous insects, abounding in
unctuous moisture, are much esteemed as food by the Chinese. “Under the
roots of the canes is found a large, white grub, which, being fried in
oil, is eaten as a dainty by the Chinese.” Donovan suggests that perhaps
this is the larvæ of the _Scarabæus (copris) molossus_, the general
description and abundance of which insect in China favors such an
opinion.[123]
Insects belonging to the family Scarabæidæ have been used also in
medicine. Pliny says the green Scarabæus has the property of rendering
the sight more piercing of those who gaze upon it, and that hence,
engravers of precious stones use these insects to steady their
sight.[124]
Again, he says: “And many there be, who, by the directions of magicians,
carrie about them in like manner,” _i.e._ tied up in a linen cloth with
a red string, and attached to the body, “for the quartan ague, one of
these flies or beetles that use to roll up little balls of earth.”[125]
We learn from Schroder (v. 345) that the powder of the _Scarabæus
pilurarius_ “sprinkled upon a protuberating eye or prolapsed anus, is
said to afford singular relief;” and that “an oil prepared of these
insects by boiling in oil till they are consumed, and applied to the
blind hæmorrhoids, by means of a piece of cotton, is said to mitigate
the pains thereof.”[126] Fabricius states that the _Scarabæus (copris)
molossus_ is medicinally employed in China.[127]
We quote the following from Moufet: “The Beetle engraven on an emerald
yeelds a present remedy against all witchcrafts, and no less effectual
than that moly which Mercury once gave Ulysses. Nor is it good only
against these, but it is also very useful, if any one be about to go
before the king upon any occasion, so that such a ring ought especially
to be worn by them that intend to beg of noblemen some jolly preferment
or some rich province. It keeps away likewise the head-ach, which,
truly, is no small mischief, especially to great drinkers....
“The magicians will scarce finde credit, when foolishly rather than
truly, they report and imagine that the precious stone Chelonitis, that
is adorned with golden spots, put into hot water with a Beetle, raiseth
tempests.” _Pliny_, _l._ 37, _c._ 10.
“The eagle, the Beetle’s proud and cruel enemy, does no less make havock
of and devour this creature of so mean a rank, yet as soon as it gets an
opportunity, it returneth like for like, and sufficiently punisheth that
spoiler. For it flyeth up nimbly into her nest with its fellow-soldiers,
the Scara-beetles, and in the absence of the old she eagle bringeth out
of the nest the eagle’s eggs one after another, till there be none left;
which falling, and being broken, the young ones, while they are yet
unshapen, being dashed miserably against the stones, are deprived of
life, before they can have any sense of it. Neither do I see indeed how
she should more torment the eagle than in her young ones. For some who
slight the greatest torments of their own body, cannot endure the least
torments of their sons.”[128]
Pliny says that in Thrace, near Olynthus, there is a small locality, the
only one in which the beetle[129] cannot exist; from which circumstance
it has received the name of “Cantharolethus--Fatal-to-the-Beetle.”[130]
Dynastidæ--Hercules-beetle, etc.
The Hercules-beetle, _Dynastes Hercules_, is four, five, or even
sometimes six inches long, and a native of South America. It is said
great numbers of these immense insects are sometimes seen on the
Mammæa-tree, rasping off the rind of the slender branches by working
nimbly round them with their horns, till they cause the juice to flow,
which they drink to intoxication, and thus fall senseless to the
ground! These stories, however, as the learned Fabricius has well
observed, seem not very probable; since the thoracic horn, being bearded
on its lower surface, would undoubtedly be made bare by this
operation.[131]
Col. St. Clair, though he confesses he never could take one of these
insects in the act of sawing off the limbs of trees, or ascertain
what they worked for, gravely repeats the above old story, and says
that during the operation they make a noise exactly like that of a
knife-grinder holding steel against the stone of his wheel; but a
thousand knife-grinders at work at the same moment, he continues,
could not equal their noise! He calls this beetle hence the
knife-grinder.[132]
The Goliath-beetle, _Dynastes Goliathus_, is said to be roasted and
eaten by the natives of South America and Africa.[133]
The enormous prices of £30, £40, and even £50 used to be asked for these
latter beetles a piece; fine specimens for cabinets even now bring from
five to six pounds.[134]
The large pulpy larva of a species of Dynastidæ--the _Oryctes
rhinoceros_, called by the Singhalese _Gascooroominiya_--is,
notwithstanding its repulsive aspect, esteemed a luxury by the Malabar
coolies.[135]
Immediately after mentioning the above fact, Tennent records the
following interesting superstition respecting a beetle when found in a
house after sunset:
“Among the superstitions of the Singhalese arising out of their belief
in demonology, one remarkable one is connected with the appearance of a
beetle when observed on the floor of a dwelling-house after nightfall.
The popular belief is that in obedience to a certain form of incantation
(called _cooroominiya-pilli_) a demon in shape of a beetle is sent to
the house of some person or family whose destruction it is intended to
compass, and who presently falls sick and dies. The only means of
averting this catastrophy is, that some one, himself an adept in
necromancy, should perform a counter-charm, the effect of which is to
send back the disguised beetle to destroy his original employer; for in
such a conjuncture the death of one or the other is essential to
appease the demon whose intervention has been invoked. Hence the
discomfort of a Singhalese on finding a beetle in his house after
sunset, and his anxiety to expel but not kill it.”[136]
The _Dynastes Goliathus_, Moufet says, “like to beetles (_Ateuchus
sacer_), hath no female, but it shapes its own form itself. It produceth
its young one from the ground by itself, which Joach. Camerarius did
elegantly express, when he sent to Pennius the shape of this insect out
of the storehouse of natural things of the Duke of Saxony; with these
verses:
A bee begat me not, nor yet did I proceed
From any female, but myself I breed.
For it dies once in a year,” continues Moufet, “and from its own
corruption, like a Phœnix, it lives again (as Moninus witnesseth) by
heat of the sun.
A thousand summers’ heat and winters’ cold
When she hath felt, and that she doth grow old,
Her life that seems a burden, in a tomb
O’ spices laid, comes younger in her room.”[137]
Melolonthidæ--Cock-chafers.
The family of insects, commonly called _Cock-chafers_, _Hedge-chafers_,
_May-bugs_, and _Dorrs_ (from the Irish _dord_, humming, buzzing, or
from the Anglo-Saxon _dora_, a locust or drone) have been included by
Fabricius in the genus _Melolontha_,--a word which retains an odd notion
of the Greeks respecting them, viz., that they were produced from or
with the flowers of apple-trees. It is a name also by which the Greeks
themselves used to distinguish the same kind of insects.
In Sweden the peasants look upon the grub of the Cock-chafer,
_Melolontha vulgaris_, as furnishing an unfailing prognostic whether the
ensuing winter will be mild or severe; if the animal have a bluish hue
(a circumstance which arises from its being replete with food), they
affirm it will be mild, but on the contrary if it be white, the weather
will be severe: and they carry this so far as to foretell, that if the
anterior be white and the posterior blue, the cold will be most severe
at the beginning of the winter. Hence they call this grub
_Bemärkelse-mask_--prognostic worm.[138]
An absurd notion obtains in England that the larvæ of the May-bugs are
changed into briers.[139]