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[Illustration: _Egyptian Antiquities._ _Plate I._ Ring bearing the name
of King Apepŷ. Ring bearing the name of King Nefer-Ka-Ra. Ring of King
Amenhetep II. Ring of King Akhenaten. Ring of King Hor-em-heb.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY
EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
SCARABS
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN
SEALS AND SIGNET RINGS
BY
PERCY E. NEWBERRY
_Author of “The Amherst Papyri” “The Life of Rekhmara” “Beni Hasan,”
“El Bersheh,” &c._
WITH
_FORTY-FOUR PLATES AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT_
CHEAPER RE-ISSUE.
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO LTD
1908
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARRISON AND SONS,
PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HIS MAJESTY,
ST. MARTIN’S LANE, LONDON.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO
MY FRIEND
MRS. E. B. ANDREWS
OF
“THE BEDUÎN.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
-------
SINCE the year 1895, when Professor Flinders Petrie’s book on
_Historical Scarabs_ became “out of print,” the want of a comprehensive
work on these interesting little Egyptian antiquities has been much
felt. Two volumes on Egyptian Scarabs, it is true, have been published
since that date, but these works treat of private collections and do not
claim to deal with the subject in its entirety or even in a scientific
manner.
A long residence, extending over several years, at Thebes, the centre of
the Upper Egyptian Scarab market, and the place where the best imitation
Scarabs are now manufactured, has, I may claim, given me exceptional
opportunities for studying this class of Ancient Egyptian antiquities
and its allied forms. For some years it was my custom to pay a weekly
visit to the Luxor antiquity shops, with the object of examining these
and other articles in the dealers’ hands; and, latterly, scarcely a week
has passed during my winter’s sojourn on the banks of the Nile but that
someone, Egyptologist, collector, tourist, or dealer, has consulted me
as to the genuineness, reading, etc., of Scarabs that they have either
purchased or intended to buy. The frequency of these appeals, and the
ignorance so generally displayed by the traveller in speaking of
Egyptian Scarabs, convinced me that I could at least advance a step or
two on what had been previously written on the subject; so, after
classifying my notes and visiting and studying the principal collections
of England and the Continent, I have prepared the following Introduction
to the Study of Egyptian Seals, which will, I venture to hope, be useful
to Students and Collectors.
That I have spared no pains in order to make this book as complete as
possible will, I think, be obvious to anyone who will take the trouble
to read the letterpress and examine the plates. About one thousand three
hundred specimens of Egyptian Seals and Signet-rings are figured, but
these have been selected from drawings of some seven thousand, and from
an examination of over thirty thousand examples. It may be noticed that
the splendid collection preserved in the National Museum at Cairo has
been drawn from but sparingly: this is due to the fact that M. Maspero
had already commissioned me to prepare and publish a separate catalogue
of the unique collection which is in that great savant’s care. The
manuscript of this catalogue is now finished, and it will be published
early in the coming year.
I have to thank the Keepers of Public Museums and many owners of Private
Collections for the courtesy and kindness that they have shown in
allowing me to inspect and draw from the specimens in their possession.
To Prof. Erman and Dr. Schäfer I am indebted for plaster casts of the
Berlin Museum seals; and to Prof. Petrie I am indebted for his
generosity in placing at my disposal the magnificent historical series
which he has gathered together at University College, London. To Mr.
Walter Nash, F.S.A., I also wish to express my grateful thanks for much
kindly help and encouragement in the earlier stages of this work; and in
conclusion I must thank my friends and colleagues Prof. J. M. Mackay and
Mr. John Garstang, for kindly looking through the proofs of this volume,
and to the latter also for placing at my disposal the library of the
Institute of Archæology of the University of Liverpool, wherein the
manuscript has been completed.
PERCY E. NEWBERRY.
INSTITUTE OF ARCHÆOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL. 1905.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
-------
PAGE
PREFACE V
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN
SEALS:—
(1) General Remarks 1
(2) Importance of the Seal in Ancient 4
Times
(3) Origin of the Seal 8
(4) The various Uses of the Seal:—
(_a_) For securing property 12
(_b_) For authenticating documents, 22
etc.
(_c_) For transference of authority 26
(5) The Egyptian Officials concerned 29
in the use of the Seal
(6) Seal Engravers and the Technique 40
of Seal Engraving
THE VARIETIES OF EGYPTIAN SEALS:—
(1) Cylinder Seals 43
(2) Button-shaped Seals and 56
Hemi-Cylinders
(3) Beetle-shaped Seals (Scarabs) 61
(4) Miscellaneous forms 85
(5) Signet-rings 92
DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIMENS ILLUSTRATED 97
IN THE PLATES I-XLV
INDICES:—
To Personal Names 201
To Titles 205
To Royal Names:—
(_a_) Kings 211
(_b_) Queens 216
(_c_) Princes 217
(_d_) Princesses 218
FOOTNOTES 304
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
PLATE I. Some specimens of rings _Frontispiece._
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
FIG. PAGE
1, 2. Two jars of the First Dynasty, to 13
illustrate the ancient method of
sealing
3, 4. Complete jar neck, bearing the stamp of 14
Amasis
5-7. Jars showing method of securing 16
contents. (From paintings in the tombs
at Beni Hasan)
8. A man sealing up a honey jar. (From a 17
tomb at Abusîr)
9. A sealed jar. (From a painting in a tomb 17
at Medûm)
10. A sealed bag. (From a painting in a tomb 17
at Medûm)
11. Sealing of doors 20
12. Securing of folding doors 21
13. Sealing of boxes 22
14. A papyrus roll, tied up and sealed 23
15. The office of the Superintendent of the 35
Seal
16. The working of the bow drill. (From the 42
tomb of Rekhmara)
17. A mounted cylinder-seal. (In the Louvre) 45
18. A Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at 45
Medûm)
19. Cylinder-seal. (Figured in a tomb at 45
Sakkara)
20. An early cylinder-seal 46
21. A cylinder-seal bearing the name of 46
Merŷ-ra. (In the collection of Mr.
Piers)
22. A cylinder-seal of Amenemhat III 47
23. A cylinder-seal of Khŷan. (Cairo) 47
24. A cylinder-seal of Sen-mut. (Petrie 47
Collection)
25. Impression from a cylinder-seal in the 49
Berlin Museum
26. Impression from a cylinder-seal in the 50
Berlin Museum
27. Cylinder-seal bearing personal name 51
28. Cylinder-seal bearing rude hieroglyphic 52
inscriptions written in vertical
columns
29. Royal seal of Narmer, predecessor of 53
Mena, reproduced in outline
30. Royal seal of Zer, Mena’s successor; 53
gives besides the name a _figure_ of
the monarch
31. Official cylinder-seal, with royal name 55
32. Official cylinder-seal bearing the name 55
and titles of officials
33. Button-shaped seal 56
34. Hemi-cylinder seal 56
35. Button-shaped seal 57
36. Button-shaped seal 57
37. Button-shaped seal 57
38. Button-shaped seal 57
39. Button-shaped seal 58
40. Button-shaped seal 58
41. Button-shaped seal 59
42. Button-shaped seal 59
43. Button-shaped seal 59
44. Button-shaped seal 59
45. Button-shaped seal 59
46. Button-shaped seal 59
47. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
48. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
49. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
50. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
51. Hemi-cylinder seal 60
52. Clay stamp from the _terramare_ of 61
Montale in the Modenese
53. Scarab-shaped seal worn on the finger, 62
attached by a piece of string
54. Scarab-shaped seal mounted as swivel to 62
metal ring
55. Scarab-shaped seal enclosed in metal 62
frame or _funda_
56. Scarab bearing the name of Mer-en-ra 68
57. Scarab bearing the names Thothmes III 68
and Amenhetep II
58. Specimen of a Scarab-beetle (the real 70
_Scarabæus sacer_)
59. Specimens of scarabs from El Mahasna 70
60. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
61. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
62. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
63. Specimen scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty 71
64. Specimen scarabs of the Thirteenth 72
Dynasty
65. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
66. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
67. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 72
68. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 73
69. Specimen scarabs of the Hyksos Period 73
70. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 73
Dynasty
71. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 73
Dynasty
72. Specimen scarabs of the Early Eighteenth 74
Dynasty
73. Specimen scarabs of the Middle 74
Eighteenth Dynasty
74. Specimen scarabs of the Amenhetep III 74
75. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 74
Dynasty
76. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75
Dynasty
77. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75
Dynasty
78. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75
Dynasty
79. Specimen scarabs of the Nineteenth 75
Dynasty
80. Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian 76
dominion
81. Specimen scarabs of the Ethiopian 76
dominion
82. Scarab of Usertsen I 80
83. A seal of the Twelfth Dynasty 85
84. A seal of the Eighteenth Dynasty 85
85. A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty 86
86. A seal of the Eleventh Dynasty 86
87. A seal bearing the name of King 87
Mentuhetep
88. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
89. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
90. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
91. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
92. Specimen seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty 87
93. A seal bearing the name of King 88
Amenemhat III
94. A stamp seal 88
95. A seal bearing the name of King 89
Seqen-en-ra
96. A seal bearing the name of King Sa-Amen 89
97. A stamp seal 89
98. A seal bearing the name of King Thothmes 90
III
99. A seal bearing the name of the Hyksos 90
Period
100. A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth 90
Dynasty
101. A seal bearing the name of the Twelfth 90
Dynasty
102. A seal bearing the name of the 90
Eighteenth Dynasty
103. A seal bearing the name of Rameses II 90
104. A seal of the Saïte Period 91
105. A seal of Thirtieth Dynasty 91
106. A seal of Nekhtenebo 92
107. A ring of Usertsen III 93
108. A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty 93
109. A ring of the Thirteenth Dynasty 93
110. A ring of Thothmes III 94
111. A ring of the period of Akhenaten 94
112. A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty 94
113. A ring of the Twentieth Dynasty 94
114. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
115. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
116. A ring of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty 95
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE
I. Some specimens of rings.
II. Scene representing the Chancellor of
Tût-ankh-Amen investing a Governor of
Ethiopia with the signet-ring of office.
III. Pre-dynastic cylinder-seals.
IV. Impressions of early cylinder-seals.
V. Cylinder-seals of the Fourth to Sixth
Dynasties.
VI. Cylinder-seals of the Twelfth Dynasty.
VII. Cylinder-seals of the Twelfth to Seventeenth
Dynasties.
VIII. Miscellaneous cylinder-seals.
IX. Scarabs bearing royal names. Fourth to
Twelfth Dynasties.
X. Scarabs of the kings of the Thirteenth and
Fourteenth Dynasties.
XI. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties.
XII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XIII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XIV. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XV. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVI. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVII. Scarabs of officials of the Twelfth to
Fourteenth Dynasties—_continued_.
XVIII. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth
Dynasties.
XIX. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth
Dynasties—_continued_.
XX. Decorative Scarabs: Twelfth to Eighteenth
Dynasties—_continued_.
XXI. Scarabs of the Hyksos Kings. (I).
XXII. Scarabs of the Hyksos Kings. (II).
XXIII. Scarabs of royal and other personages of the
Hyksos Period.
XXIV. Miscellaneous scarabs of the Hyksos Period.
XXV. Decorative scarabs, mostly of the Hyksos
Period.
XXVI. Scarabs of kings, etc., mostly of the
Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Dynasties.
XXVII. Scarabs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. (Thothmes
I to Hatshepsut.)
XXVIII. Scarabs of the Eighteenth
Dynasty—_continued_. (Thothmes III and his
family.)
XXIX. Officials of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and
kings, etc., from the tomb of Maket, at
Gurob (_temp._ Thothmes III).
XXX. Scarab of the Eighteenth Dynasty—_continued_.
XXXI. Scarab of the Eighteenth Dynasty—_continued_.
XXXII. Historical scarabs of Amenhetep III:
1. Kirgipa and her Harîm.
2. The Lion Hunts of Amenhetep III.
3. The Parents of Queen Thŷi and the Limits
of the Egyptian Empire.
XXXIII. Historical scarabs of Amenhetep
III—_continued_:
1. The Wild Cattle hunt.
2. The Lake at Zarukha.
XXXIV. Scarabs of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Dynasties.
XXXV. Scarabs of the Nineteenth Dynasty (Rameses
II).
XXXVI. Scarabs bearing royal names: Meren-ptah I to
Sa-Amen.
XXXVII. Scarabs of the Twenty-second to Twenty-fifth
Dynasty Kings.
XXXVIII. Royal and private scarabs and rings
(Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth Dynasties).
XXXIX. Scarabs bearing mottoes, good wishes, etc.
XL. Scarabs bearing mottoes, good wishes,
etc.—_continued_.
XLI. Scarabs bearing names of figures of gods,
etc.
XLII. Hieroglyphics, flowers, etc.
XLIII. Miscellaneous royal and private scarabs.
XLIV. Miscellaneous royal and private
scarabs—_continued_.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
TO
THE STUDY OF EGYPTIAN SEALS.
-------
1. GENERAL REMARKS.
[Sidenote: General Remarks on Egyptian seals.]
There are few small objects of antiquity which present themselves so
often to the traveller’s notice in Egypt, as the little seals of stone,
pottery and other material, carved in various forms and engraved on
their base, or around their circumference, with an ornamental device or
brief hieroglyphic inscription. These seals are found in a variety of
forms; some of them are cylindrical in shape, others are button-shaped,
but by far the greater number are carved to represent the scarabaeus
beetle standing upon an elliptical base, the under side of which is
engraved with the device or inscription intended to be impressed upon
the sealing clay. The specimens of this last variety of seal are
universally known as “Scarabs.”[1] Like the gems of Greece and Italy,
Egyptian seals are generally found in excellent preservation; other and
larger antiquities usually show on their face the signs of weathering,
or they bear the marks of mutilation by man, but these interesting
little monuments of a long past age often continue to this day as
perfect in their finish and delicate workmanship as when they first left
the hands of the ancient lapidary. The soil of Egypt literally teems
with them. Thousands have been found among the _débris_ of long deserted
and ruined towns and temples; the fellah often turns them up in the soil
whilst ploughing his fields, and rich harvests of these little objects
have been gathered by the antiquary from the myriad tombs that line the
desert edge on both sides of the Nile from Alexandria and El Arîsh to
Aswân. Outside the boundaries of the Nile Valley also, Egyptian seals
are frequently discovered; and in our museums are to be seen specimens
from Italy, Sicily, Cyprus and the Greek Islands, as well as from the
Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, and even from as far afield as
Nineveh and the valley of the Euphrates.
[Sidenote: Clay impressions of seals.]
Besides the actual seals, pieces of fine clay bearing impressions of
them are often brought to light by the excavator; some of these served
as sealings to jars of wine, honey, etc., whilst others had been
affixed, like modern seals of wax, to documents written on papyrus or
leather. The documents to which some of them had been attached have,
unfortunately, too often perished from decay, or they have been consumed
by fire, but in the stamped clay may still nearly always be seen the
holes for the string, or the markings of it, by which the seal was fixed
to the document: in some instances even the string itself remains. These
sealings are usually unearthed in excellent preservation, and they are
consequently as useful for the purposes of study as the seals
themselves.
[Sidenote: Importance of the study of Egyptian seals.]
To the student of the history and civilization of ancient Egypt the
importance of these seals and “sealings” is very great; to him they are
as the coins and gems to the student of Ancient Greece and Rome. Their
range in date is greater than that of any other class of inscribed
monument; the earliest appear as far back as the very dawn of History,
and these little objects present from that period onward an unbroken
series of such length and completeness that they afford a most valuable
illustration of the early history of the Nile Valley. In some cases they
supply the outline of a portion of history that was otherwise almost
wholly lost. To them we owe most of our information regarding the
earliest dynasties. For much of our knowledge of the period intervening
between the end of the Twelfth and the beginning of the Eighteenth
Dynasties we are also indebted to the same class of monument, while
small scarab-shaped seals are as yet the only extant evidence of several
of the Hyksos kings. Their value as corroborative evidence to other
historical data must not be overlooked, nor can certain classes of them
be lightly cast aside as bric-à-brac by the archaeologist who sets
himself the task of solving, or of inquiring into, the many problems
that have lately arisen concerning the early people of the Mediterranean
region. To the student of Ancient Art also they afford a most happy
illustration of the ever-varying styles in vogue in successive reigns,
and their study, as will be seen in the following pages, often enables
us to obtain those glimpses into the manners and customs of the ancient
Egyptian people which so wonderfully help to elucidate our view of
bygone days and men.
2. IMPORTANCE OF THE SEAL IN ANCIENT TIMES.
[Sidenote: Importance of the seal in ancient times.]
It is very difficult for us, especially for those of us who are not
familiar with Eastern civilization, to realize the great importance that
was attached to the seal by the peoples of the Ancient World. It was far
more of a necessity in everyday life to the people of antiquity than are
our seals to us, or locks and keys to a modern householder. We still use
the seal, it is true, for our legal documents, sometimes for our
letters, for our post-bags, and occasionally for sealing up a room. Our
Ministers of State have their Seals of Office, our Corporations and
Companies have their registered official seals, and in our Coronation
ceremonies there is the investiture of the Sovereign with the Royal
Signet Ring. But all these uses of the seal are as ancient as the
pyramid-builders of Memphis. When we use the signet for sealing our
letters or our legal documents, we are but following in the footsteps of
the Ancient Egyptian, who, many hundred years before the time of Moses,
employed the seal for the same purpose. When our Ministers of State
receive from the Sovereign their Seals of Office, they are but following
a custom that prevailed in Egypt as early as the Fourth Millennium
before Christ; and when Edward the Seventh was recently invested with
the Royal Signet Ring at his Coronation, he was but conforming to a
ceremonial act that was recorded by the rulers of the Nile Valley four
thousand years before William the Norman set foot on the shores of
Britain.
But in ancient times the seal was used for many purposes for which later
inventions have proved more convenient. At the present day, when closing
our doors, we generally lock them by a spring-bolt, and only attach a
seal on very rare occasions. Locks and keys, however, are comparatively
modern inventions, for the most ancient in Egypt are not older than the
Roman period; and what locks and keys are to us, seals were to the
people of the Old World. In ancient times, whenever a man left his home
he always sealed up such parts as contained stores or other valuable
property, so that they might be rendered secure from the attacks of
thieves or slaves. In like manner boxes containing clothes or personal
ornaments, and jars containing wine or oils, were kept under seal. The
words meaning “to close” and “to seal” were in Egyptian[2] synonymous;
indeed, to place a thing “under seal” was an ancient expression
equivalent to the modern one of keeping a thing “under lock and key.”
To secure property from theft was, however, only one of the many uses of
the seal; it was employed in other equally important ways. In Western
countries, where writing has now become a universal accomplishment, a
person’s written signature is sufficient to give authority to a
document, but in ancient times a seal or signet was a necessity to
anyone possessed of even the smallest amount of property, for without it
no legal or other writing could be attested. Herodotus (I, 195) mentions
that everyone in Babylonia carried a seal, and the same remark would
apply with equal truth to Egypt. In England, from the Norman Conquest to
the time of the taking effect of the original Statute of Frauds (1677),
the seal was always used to make a writing valid and binding, and in
Scotland every freeholder was required by law to have a registered
seal.[3] At the present day an Eastern, when sealing a letter, smears
the seal, not the document, with the sealing-substance, and illiterate
persons will sometimes use the object nearest at hand, such as their own
finger, which they daub with ink, and press upon the paper therewith. In
Babylonia the finger-nail was sometimes impressed into the clay as a
seal; while in America, in comparatively recent times, the eye-tooth
impressed upon the wax has been used for attesting a document (1 Wash.
Va. 42, quoted in _American Law Review_, Vol. XXVIII, p. 25). The right
hand smeared with ink and impressed upon a parchment was often used in
mediaeval times in place of a signature, and this, with the seal
impressed beside it, gave rise to the modern legal expression, “Witness
my hand and seal.” The Sultan’s cipher, which appears on the coinage and
official documents of the Turks, is said to have originated in this way.
The Republic of Ragusa concluded a commercial treaty with the Ottomans
in 1395, by which it placed itself under their protection, and it is
said that Murad signed the treaty, for lack of a pen, with his open
hand, over which he had smeared some ink, in the manner of Eastern
seals—a veritable sign-manual. (Stanley Lane-Poole, _Turkey_, p. 35.) In
ancient times, however, the document was rolled up and tied with a piece
of string, the knot of which was covered with a pellet of clay and
sealed. It was not only in Egypt that this was so, but in all countries
of the ancient world; in Babylonia and Assyria as well as in Greece and
Italy. A written signature would have been of no avail to attest a
document; a seal had always to be used. Doubtless in the earliest times
only the most powerful persons possessed seals, but as civilization
advanced the officers of the administration came to use, besides their
own personal seals, official ones for government purposes. Thus it was
that the seal, being the real instrument of the power and authority of
an office, came to be used as the symbol of it, and the delivery of an
official or State seal to an individual, gave to that individual the
authority and power to execute the rights and duties of his office.
The various links in the history of the seal which connect its original
employment for securing the contents of jars, to its latest one for
transferring authority from one person to another, are all preserved,
and form a most interesting object lesson in “social evolution.” The
seal is, indeed, so intimately associated with the early history of
civilization, that it is probable that its origin goes back to the very
institution of the right of private property. Its early history is full
of interest. If we turn to any of the literatures of the Old
World—whether it be the Egyptian or Babylonian, the Hebraic or Assyrian,
the Greek or Roman, it is the same; we find in each and all of them
abundant passages concerning the importance of the seal and the various
uses that it was put to. Further, if we study these references, we
discover that the signification of these little objects was everywhere
the same, and if passages were selected from the Egyptian writers
regarding the uses of the seal, it would be easy to parallel them all
from the works of any of the other Old World peoples. We ought, however,
before discussing the various uses of the seal, to inquire into its
origin.
3. ORIGIN OF THE SEAL.
[Sidenote: Origin of the seal.]
In his _Hand-book of Engraved Gems_,[4] King has stated his belief that
the use of the seal was almost coeval with the very institution of the
right of private property, and this seems to be well borne out by what
we actually know of its early history. All the evidence from Babylonia
and Egypt available as to its original use appears to point in one
direction, that it was first employed for securing household stuff and
other moveable property. In the earlier stages of civilization this
consisted mainly of grain, honey, etc., always liable to be pilfered by
the dishonest slave, or by smaller hands addicted to picking and
stealing. If the proprietor, therefore, wished to keep his stores of
food intact, it was necessary that he should adopt some means of
checking the pilferer, and the idea early occurred to him that if he
placed his little store in a jar or other vessel, and covered the mouth
of it with a plaster of mud or clay, it might be protected to a certain
degree against the thief. But merely plastering the mouth with mud or
clay was not enough to preserve the contents from a skilful plunderer,
for he might easily, and without fear of immediate detection, remove a
capping, steal the contents of a jar, put on another plaster of mud, and
leave no trace of his theft until the jar was opened by its owner. It
was obvious therefore that a capping of clay alone was not sufficient.
Now it is probable that the mud used in the process of covering the
mouth of the vessel would often be rolled or smeared flat with a piece
of stick, a joint of a reed, or a flat-bottomed pebble. Many of these
objects must have had natural markings on them which would have left
impressions on the clay, while these impressions, we can hardly doubt,
were early noticed by the primitive store owner, and their condition
served to tell him whether or not his closed jars had been tampered
with. In this connection it is interesting to note that Aristophanes
(Thesmo., 424-428), when referring to the custom of securing doors by
sealing them, alludes to certain [Greek: thripêdesta sphragidia], which
were worm-eaten bits of wood used as rude seals. He speaks of them as
having supplanted the simple seals of olden days, but they ought rather
to be considered as a return to the early type of “reed” seal. (Muller,
_Archäol., I. Kunst._, 97, 2.) From the natural markings upon the
objects employed to smooth the clay, the transition was easy to some
definite device scratched around the circumference of the stick or reed,
or upon the surface of the stone or pebble, by the owner, and
appropriated to himself as his own peculiar mark. But as these markings
or devices would have had little weight with a determined thief, we can
hardly doubt that, in Babylonia at any rate, they became early imbued
with a _magical_ signification: so that their real power would be moral
rather than physical. The reasoning of the lawyers of the Middle Ages
regarding the sealing of contracts was that a _seal_ attracts and
excites caution in illiterate persons, and thereby operates as a
security against fraud.[5]
The simple scratchings that we find on so many of the early Egyptian
pots were the possessors’ marks; indeed, King contends that “this
instinct of possession extending itself to the assumption of exclusive
ownership in certain configurations of lines, or rude delineations of
natural objects, is a universal impulse of man’s nature, and one found
existing amongst all savage nations when first discovered, wheresoever
the faintest trace of social life and polity have begun to develop
themselves.” A great number of these signs Professor Petrie has
preserved in his various records of explorations. (_Cf._ his _Naqada_,
p. 44.) Thus the Red Indian has besides the tribal mark, that of the
individual (his special _totem_), wherewith to identify his own
property, or the game he may kill. The South Sea Islander carries the
tattooed pattern that distinguishes his particular family, imprinted
upon his own skin, and also draws the same upon his credentials like a
regular coat of arms. It is therefore in these markings firstly
scratched on pots, and next on rude seals, that we have the very
beginnings of writing; but a long period probably elapsed before these
primitive signs were combined together to form words. The designs on
these seals were probably at first rough configurations of lines, which
sufficiently served their purpose if they could be readily identified by
the owner; but after a time these primitive figures seem to have given
place to rude delineations of natural objects which expressed the name
of the owner, like the Greek coins of Rhodes (a rose); of Melitaea (a
bee), and were consequently looked upon as his particular mark. We have
not as yet got back in Egypt to such primitive forms, but on Greek gems
and coins this _type parlant_, “figured speech,” is well known.
The original forms of the two great groups of Egyptian seals we have in
the piece of notched reed and in the small scratched pebble; the first
the true prototype of the cylinder, both in form and in mode of
application; the second as clearly the original of the stamp seal.
Simple as the invention of these two forms and the art of sealing may
now appear, the discovery that an impression of a seal could be obtained
by pressing it on clay or other plastic substance was nevertheless one
of the most momentous that has yet been made, and the seal-impression
furthermore suggested the idea of decoration in bas-relief. From the
invention of the simple seal to the complex printing-press with its
moveable types appears a long way to travel, but that we have the germ
of this great invention in the simple seal is obvious when we come to
think of it. The old Egyptian or Babylonian who first took an impression
of his signet on a lump of plastic clay, had discovered the principle of
printing, though it took the human mind many hundred years before the
next great step was made, that of smearing some black or coloured
substance upon the seal and taking a “print” of it on plaster, as in the
tomb of Thothmes IV (_circa_ B.C. 1400), and in ink on a papyrus of the
Ptolemaic age.
4. VARIOUS USES OF THE SEAL.
(_a_) _For securing Property._
It has been suggested in a preceding paragraph that the original use of
the seal was for securing stores of food from dishonest servants; and
this statement is corroborated by the fact that the earliest “sealings”
that have been found in Egypt are from jars that were used for storing
wine, honey, grain, and other food stuffs. Figures 1 and 2 represent two
jars found by M. de Morgan in a First Dynasty cemetery in Upper
Egypt,[6] (_circa_ B.C. 3500), and the general system of sealing jars
and large vessels may be clearly seen from these examples. The mouth of
the jar, it will be observed, was first covered by an inverted plate or
cup of pottery (fig. 1), in order to prevent the wet clay (the [Greek:
gê sêmagtris], “sealing earth,” of the Greeks) used in the process of
closing the mouth from falling into the jar. Upon and around this was
plastered a high cone of clay (fig. 2), mixed with palm fibre, and
carefully smoothed, so as to take easily the impression of the cylinder
seal, which was rolled across it at right angles. Generally two
impressions of the same seal are found on each clay cone, but sometimes
two or more impressions upon the same cone occur from _different_ seals.
This shows the great care that was given in early times to secure the
contents of a vessel from thievish servants, a fact which is emphasised
by our sometimes finding that a jar had often two _separate_ sealings,
one below the other, the outer coat being put on while the inner one was
still damp. “Thus,” writes Professor Petrie of some clay cones of this
kind which he found at Abydos, “often a quite illegible cone may yet
yield a good inscription by carefully knocking away the outer coat.”[7]
[Illustration: Figs. 1 and 2. TWO JARS OF THE FIRST DYNASTY, TO
ILLUSTRATE THE ANCIENT METHOD OF SEALING.]
[Illustration: Figs. 3. and 4.]
This system of sealing large jars with high clay cones apparently lasted
on till the beginning of the sixteenth century B.C.; then another kind
of sealing is met with. In the place of the high clay cone, a clay cap
with flat top was used, the flat top and sometimes the sides being
impressed with a wooden stamp. Later still, at the time of the
Twenty-sixth Dynasty, the early inverted cap or plate gave way to a
pottery cap or bung, which was secured in place by string or linen
bands, and covered with a rounded cap of plaster. There is an
interesting specimen of a complete jar neck bearing the stamp of Amasis,
with clay and plaster sealing still fixed to it, found at Tell Defenneh
(see figs. 3 and 4); it is important as showing the very elaborate
system of sealing jars at that time in vogue. Firstly, a large bung of
pottery (fig. 3), made hollow, was put into the mouth of the jar. This
was then fastened down by linen bands, the ends of which were tied up in
the middle, and a lump of sealing clay fixed upon it and impressed with
six different seals of inspectors. Although this clay had crumbled and
been washed out by rains in the course of ages, it still left a cast in
the plaster showing the seals as they appear in fig. 4. After the six
inspectors had each put his seal on it, the jar was sent out to the
plasterer, who capped the whole top with a head of plaster, and sealed
it with the royal name in its oval-cartouche. Even these elaborate
precautions, it would seem, did not suffice to secure the contents of
this particular amphora from the thief, for the jar neck, as Professor
Petrie remarks, is an instance of a successful attack upon the royal
stores. The cap of plaster has been bored through just at the edge of
the jar, and the large bung inside smashed through, so as to enable the
thief to reach freely the wine. The piece of plaster broken out here is
shown missing in fig. 4, though it was found in the jar; the hole just
shows the edge of the neck, and was filled up with a scrap of the old
plaster and a smear of new of a different quality; no attempt was made
to imitate the missing part of the cartouche, and this probably raised
the cellarer’s suspicion, and made him break off and preserve the whole
jar neck as evidence. (Petrie, _Defenneh_, p. 72.)
This method of securing the contents of large jars and amphorae lasted
on far into Roman times. Horace mentions as a test of a good tempered
house master, that he did not go wild with passion even if he found that
a seal of a wine jar had been broken. And even at the present day the
traveller on the Nile may still see boats, at certain seasons of the
year, floating down stream from Erment, Kûs, and other centres of the
sugar industry, laden with molasses in peculiar jars (_ballalîs_),
secured, in place of the early bung and the earlier inverted plates, by
a plug of sugar cane leaves thrust into the mouth of the vessel, and
plastered over with a thick cap of white clay.
[Illustration: Figs. 5, 6 and 7. JARS SHOWING METHOD OF SECURING
CONTENTS. (From paintings in the tombs at Beni Hasan.)]
For securing the contents of smaller vessels the Egyptians had another
method. This was by stretching over the mouth a piece of skin or beaten
metal, which was then firmly tied down by a cord, the two ends and knot
of which were covered by a pellet of clay, and impressed by a small
stamp or scarab (see figs. 5, 6, and 7).
[Illustration: Fig. 8. A MAN SEALING UP A HONEY JAR. (From a sculpture
at Abusîr.) _A.Z._, Vol. xxxviii, Pl. v.]
An illustration of a man actually engaged in the process of covering up
a jar of honey has been preserved in a tomb at Abusîr; he is fastening
the string around the vase, and above him is the legend, _Khetem bati_,
“sealing honey” (see fig. 8).
The beautiful dolomite marble and carnelian vases found in the tomb of
King Khasekhemui (_circa_ 3300 B.C.) at Abydos are secured in this way.
Each of these has a cover of thick gold foil fitted over the top, and
tied down with a double turn of twisted gold wire, over the tie of which
a small lump of clay is fixed, which in this instance has not been
impressed with a seal, but merely pressed together by the fingers.
Generally the pellet of clay to be “sealed” was placed on the top of the
jar (as in figs. 5 and 7), but sometimes it covered the knot at the side
(as in fig. 9). The same manner of securing the mouth of a jar still
survives in the way our liqueur bottles, etc., are often sealed, and in
the way we close our jam pots, except that in the latter case we no
longer find it necessary to attach a seal.
[Illustration: Fig. 9. A SEALED JAR. (From a painting in a tomb at
Medûm.)]
The contents of bags and sacks were also secured by means of the seal; a
piece of cord was tied round the neck, the knot of which was immersed in
a pellet of clay and “sealed” (see fig. 10). A large number of broken
seals of this kind have been found in Egypt, and sealed bags containing
gold dust and other materials are often figured in the ancient paintings
of the tombs. To the custom of sealing bags Job alludes (xiv, 17). In
the story of Hor-ded-ef we read of certain midwives who had assisted in
bringing into the world a child, being rewarded by the father with “a
bushel of barley,” which is straightway sent to the brewhouse to be kept
under the midwives’ seal. Our modern post bags are rendered secure from
being examined by unauthorised persons in exactly the same manner.
[Illustration: Fig. 10. A SEALED BAG. (From a painting in a tomb at
Medûm.)]
The Ancient Egyptians, it has already been remarked, were unacquainted
with the use of locks and keys, hence we find that they employed their
seals for the purpose of securing the doors of their houses and
storerooms. These latter, indeed, were termed [Egyptian **] _Khetemu_,
“sealed rooms,” and they are frequently alluded to in the ancient
inscriptions:[8] Such storehouses in foreign lands were provision depôts
for the Egyptian troops or garrisons. Government storehouses were, of
course, in charge of officials who kept them under their seals. Nebuaiu
(_circa_ 1500 B.C.), for instance, proudly boasts that the treasury of
the Temple of Osiris was kept “under his signet ring,” and the Vezîr
Rekhmara (_circa_ 1500 B.C.) tells us that it was his duty to “seal up
all the precious things in the temple of Amen,”[9] and that all the bags
of gold dust and other valuables were “under his signet.”[10] When a
storeroom was opened, the official responsible for the things contained
in it appeared in person and sealed it up again when the stores were
taken out.
There are many passages in the papyri which tend to show how great was
the care taken to prevent irresponsible hands from pilfering.[11] The
storehouses of private people were probably in the care of the
housewife, or some other woman of the household, for when scarab seals
are discovered in graves, it has been noticed that they are usually
found at the side of, or near to, the body of a female.[12] Thus it is
probable that in Egypt, as in other countries, it was the matron of the
household who had charge of the grain and other provisions, and her
little string of seals has its direct lineal descendant in our modern
housekeeper’s bunch of keys. “How happy the times,” wrote Pliny, “how
truly innocent, in which no seal was ever put to anything; at the
present day, on the contrary, our very food even and our drink have to
be preserved from theft, through the agency of the ring.” The modern
“wedding ring” originated in the custom of the man presenting his wife,
on her marriage, with a seal, which she was to use for sealing up her
stores of provisions, etc. At first these seals were worn suspended from
a string of beads around the neck. Sometimes they were strung on a cord
which was tied round the wrist, and at a later period they were secured
to the finger by a piece of string or wire. This wire and seal developed
into the signet-ring. Then, with the introduction of locks and keys, it
was the key-ring that was given by the husband to his wife. These
key-rings, however, were soon found to be too cumbersome to be worn with
comfort on the finger, and so a plain band of metal was given to the
bride with a key. “The key,” writes Cicero (Ph. 2. 28), “was given to
the bride on entering her home, to signify that she was appointed
mistress of the house (_mater familias_)”; it was, in fact, used by her
to lock up her store-room, and in case she was divorced it was taken
away from her. At the present day, if the ring is not forthcoming at a
wedding, the key of the chancel door can be used instead.
[Illustration: Fig 11.]
The manner of sealing doors was very simple. In the case of single doors
a wooden peg with projecting head was fixed in the jamb and another in
the door (see fig. 11). When the door was closed the two pegs would be
near to one another, so that a piece of string could be easily tied
round them. This string having been securely fastened by a knot, the
knot was then covered with clay, and the clay impressed by seal, thus
making it impossible to open the door without destroying the seal or
removing the pegs.
Folding doors were secured by a sliding bolt, but such bolts of course
gave no security against a thief, so they also were sealed. They were
shaped as in fig. 12, with a groove running across the centre; a piece
of string was stretched across this groove, and then, after pellets of
clay had been put on the two ends, it was sealed down as shown in the
figure.
[Illustration: Fig. 12.]
An interesting reference to this last method of sealing doors occurs in
the well known inscription of Piankhy preserved in the Cairo Museum.
This Ethiopian king, after his victorious journey through Egypt, goes to
Heliopolis to present offerings of flowers, etc., to Ra, the famous god
of that town. Proceeding to the shrine of the deity, Piankhy relates
that “he stood alone,” that he “broke the seals” and “slid back the door
bolt,” opened “the double doors” and saw his father Ra in the holy
shrine. After performing certain ceremonies therein, he goes on to tell
us that the doors were again shut, “clay was applied” to them, which was
then sealed by the king’s own hand. Herodotus also, it may be
remembered, refers to the Egyptian custom of sealing up doors, in the
story of Rhampsinitus and the clever thief, who succeeded in pilfering
the royal treasury by means of a loose stone in the wall of it. When the
king happened to open the chamber, says the historian, he was astonished
at seeing the vessels deficient in treasure, but he was unable to accuse
anyone, as the seals were unbroken and the chamber well secured.
The sealings to tomb doors, the Egyptian’s “eternal habitation,” being
required to be permanent, were much more elaborate.[13] After the
mourners had retired, and the door had been closed, clay was smeared
round the juncture of it with the lintel, jambs and threshold, and then
stamped all over by the seal of the priest in charge.
As in the case of doors of houses and store-chambers, so also with
boxes, the lids were sealed down to secure their contents.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.]
On nearly all ancient Egyptian boxes that have been found are to be seen
two knobs (or the holes into which they were fastened), one on the lid,
the other on the box itself. Fig. 13 shows how these were placed, and
with a piece of string, a lump of clay and a seal, it was an easy matter
to secure the contents; all that had to be done was to follow the same
process that has already been described for securing doors.
[Illustration: Fig. 14. A PAPYRUS ROLL, TIED UP AND SEALED. (This
hieroglyph was used as a determinative of all abstract words from a very
early period.)]
(_b_) _For authenticating Documents, etc._
With the advance of civilization, and the development of the art and
practice of writing, the seal began to be employed for documents also.
Till very recent times writing has been an accomplishment of few except
professional scribes, hence it was natural that seals which bore the
personal badge or mark of the owner, began to be used by those who could
not write their names for giving that authenticity and authority to a
document which is now more usually conferred by a written signature.
Legal documents were therefore attested by the seal, and a legal
contract was known in Egypt by the name [Egyptian **] _Khetemt_, “the
sealed.”[14] But the method of attaching the seal to the document was
different in ancient times to that of the present day. The old Egyptian,
instead of impressing with his signet the surface of the sheet of
papyrus, used to roll it up,[15] tie it round with string, and then,
after knotting the string in the middle of the roll, he affixed the clay
to the knot and sealed it (see fig. 14). Thus the roll could not be
opened, and consequently the writing of it could not be altered nor new
matter introduced without the seal being first broken, and the mere
breaking of the seal would be legal proof enough to show that the
document had been tampered with. It is not till the Ptolemaïc period
that there is an instance of a document _stamped_ with ink,[16] although
the stamp in paint has been shown to be as early as the Eighteenth
Dynasty.[17] A familiar instance of the use of the seal for legal
documents is given by the prophet Jeremiah. Having bought a field of
Hanameel, he payed the owner seventeen shekels of silver for it; then
subscribed the evidence and sealed it. This being done, he took the
evidence of the purchaser, “both that which was sealed according to the
law and custom and that which was open,” and gave it to Baruch in order
that it might be put in an earthen vessel, and so preserved in case of
any dispute. (Jeremiah xxxii, 9-14.)
But it was not only legal documents that were attested by the signet;
letters also were sealed up by the sender before they left his
hands,[18] and several such letters, with the seals still unbroken, have
been found by the excavator. The aim of the signet in this connection
was of course to afford proof of the identity of the sender, and to
warrant the contents of the letter. The importance attached to the seal
at present in the East is so great, that without one no document is
regarded as authentic.