[Illustration: Fig. 19. CYLINDER SEAL. (Figured in a tomb at Sakkara.
From a drawing by Borchardt, _A.Z._, vol. xxxv, p. 106.)]
[Sidenote: Its history.]
The history of cylinder seals in Egypt covers the period from
prehistoric times to the end of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, but they were
only in general use down to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty, when they
gave place to the more convenient “scarab” form of seal. They may be
most conveniently classified according to the subjects found engraved
upon them, but it is also an important matter for the student to
carefully note the shape and the size of their perforation, two points
which are often of considerable importance when it is desired to
accurately date a specimen.
[Illustration: Fig. 20. AN EARLY CYLINDER SEAL.]
[Illustration: Fig. 21. A CYLINDER SEAL BEARING THE NAME OF MERŶ RA. (In
the collection of Mr. Piers.)]
[Sidenote: Varieties of shape and perforation.]
The earliest examples that are at present known are of a peculiarly
short thick type, with a narrow hole running through them (fig. 20);
they are almost identical in shape with the Chaldean and early
Babylonian cylinder seals, and consequently may be thought to indicate a
connection at a very remote period between the civilizations of Western
Asia and Egypt—a connection which is still more apparent when we come to
consider the subjects engraved on many of the seals themselves.[82] At a
later period appears another variety, which is long and thick (see fig.
21), but with a much larger perforation than that of the cylinders of
the earliest period. These two varieties have been found together in
tombs of the beginning of the First Dynasty, but the earlier disappears
soon after the reign of King Zet (First Dynasty), while the later one
was in general use down to the end of the Sixth Dynasty.
With the beginning of the Middle Kingdom we have another type of
cylinder seal making its appearance; this resembles more a long
cylindrical bead (fig. 22), with an aperture of only sufficient size to
admit of its being strung on a thin cord or thread. The examples dating
from the time of Amenemhat III and his immediate successors are often of
fairly large size, but with narrow perforation, while those of the
latter part of the Thirteenth Dynasty are always much smaller, and
dwindle down in shape to mere cylindrical beads.
The few cylinder seals of the Hyksos period that are known are of medium
size (fig. 23), with narrow perforation, and are somewhat like those of
the earlier half of the Twelfth Dynasty. The specimens of the Eighteenth
and later Dynasties vary in size considerably, but they always have a
narrow perforation (fig. 24).
[Illustration: Fig. 22. A CYLINDER SEAL OF AMENEMHAT III.]
[Illustration: Fig. 23. A CYLINDER SEAL OF KHŶAN. (Cairo.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 24. A CYLINDER SEAL OF SEN-MUT.]
[Sidenote: Material.]
Although comparatively few specimens have been found in wood, it is
clear from many clay impressions[83] that cylinder seals were generally
made of this material. One example of wood was found at Abydos[84]
having the inscription written upon it in ink, showing that the design
was sketched out on the cylinder by a scribe before it was cut by the
engraver. Next to wood, the commonest material in early times was black
steatite; but a few specimens have been found of hæmatite, green jasper,
and ivory. Copper and bronze examples appear during the Fifth and Sixth
Dynasties, and glazed pottery specimens appear a little later. White or
grey steatite, coated with blue or green glaze, was the favourite
material of the Twelfth Dynasty kings and officials, and this material
was in vogue till the Nineteenth Dynasty. At the beginning of the
Eighteenth Dynasty carnelian cylinder seals make their appearance, and
the latest specimen known is of this hard stone.
[Sidenote: The subjects engraved upon Egyptian cylinder seals.]
The subjects engraved upon Egyptian cylinder seals may be grouped into
three well defined divisions. Firstly, there is a small class the
engraving on which depicts figures of men and animals, sometimes very
beautifully executed. Secondly, a much larger class, represented by
several hundred specimens, which bear true hieroglyphic inscriptions.
Thirdly, a very small class with scroll patterns or other ornamental
devices.
[Sidenote: I. Figures of men and animals.]
The specimens of the first class require to be studied in some detail,
for they contain elements which are of great importance to the
comparative archaeologist. A typical example is given in fig. 25, and a
second will be found in Pl. III, fig. 1. One of the most distinctive
features of these seals is the double-forequartered animal, a feature
which occurs again on the button-shaped seals[85] of the period
intervening between the Sixth and the Twelfth Dynasties. This does not
appear to be an Upper Egyptian _motif_, but one common to the Delta and
to an early civilization of Western Asia.
[Illustration: Fig. 25. IMPRESSION FROM A CYLINDER-SEAL IN THE BERLIN
MUSEUM.]
Another distinctive feature of these early cylinder seals is a curious
bow-legged figure of a man, which is found also on the button-shaped
seals[86] of a later date. “The characteristic form of the lower limbs,”
writes Mr. Evans, who was the first to draw attention to this class of
seal,[87] “shows that we have here to deal with the same grotesque
personage who so often makes his appearance in a secondary position in
Babylonian cylinders[88]” of an extremely archaic type, and Mr. Evans is
of opinion that this figure has been taken direct from the early
cylinders of Babylon.[89] I would suggest, however, that this feature,
like that of the double-headed animals, is but another instance of Delta
and Western Asian influence. It is not, indeed, improbable that in the
cylinders of this class we have relics of a Delta civilization which was
distinct from that of Middle and Upper Egypt. In point of date the
specimens of this group range from prehistoric times to about the end of
the Old Kingdom (_circa_ 2500 B.C.), when they appear to have entirely
died out.
[Illustration: Fig. 26. IMPRESSION FROM A CYLINDER-SEAL IN THE BERLIN
MUSEUM.]
[Sidenote: II. Hieroglyphic inscriptions.]
Of the second group of Egyptian cylinder seals, namely, those bearing
hieroglyphic inscriptions, a large number are figured in the plates, but
a glance at the reproductions of them will show that they are of several
different types, and that they may be more conveniently studied if they
are grouped into subdivisions. The examples of an earlier period than
the First Dynasty may be subdivided into two separate classes.
[Sidenote: Primitive cylinder-seals. Class I.]
In the first may be placed all those bearing any primitive hieroglyphic
signs which appear to give personal names written in a horizontal line
(fig. 26). A remarkable feature of this class is, that on most of the
examples occurs a curious figure of a stork with head turned over its
back.
[Sidenote: Class II.]
To the second class belong all those seals which give personal names,
with a seated figure as determinative, and always written in a
horizontal line (see fig. 27). This seated figure is very unlike that
which occurs in later hieroglyphic inscriptions; it is always
represented as wearing a long wig of hair, which falls behind the head
to some distance below the shoulders, and in front of the figure is
generally shown a table upon which are figured loaves of bread. The
standard-sign _Neith_ is often found on cylinder-seals of this type, and
would perhaps point to the Western Delta as the place of their origin:
the stork, so common on specimens on Class I, seems, however never to
occur in them.
[Illustration: Fig. 27. A CYLINDER-SEAL IN THE COLLECTION OF CAPT.
TIMMINS.]
[Sidenote: Class III.]
With the beginning of the historical period appears another class, which
is characterized by rude hieroglyphic inscriptions written in vertical
columns, which columns are generally divided by lines (see fig. 28)
These are the true prototypes of the Egyptian cylinder-seals of the Old
and Middle Kingdoms.
[Sidenote: Cylinder-seals of Dynastic times.]
Cylinder-seals of Dynastic times which bear hieroglyphic inscriptions
may be divided into groups according to the meaning of their
inscriptions. Thus we have (I) a group which bears the names and titles
of kings and other royal personages; (II) a group of officials which
bear the king’s name and the title of the office or official, but
_never_ the personal name of the latter; and (III) a small group of
private seals which bear the name and titles of the former.
[Illustration: Fig. 28. IMPRESSION OF A CYLINDER-SEAL FROM MR.
MACGREGOR’S COLLECTION.]
[Illustration: Fig. 29. IMPRESSION OF A CYLINDER-SEAL OF NARMER. (From
Petrie’s _Royal Tombs_, II, Pl. XIII, 91.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 30. IMPRESSION OF A CYLINDER-SEAL OF KING ZER. (From
Petrie’s _Royal Tombs_, II, Pl. XV, 108.)]
[Sidenote: Cylinder-seals bearing Royal names.]
One of the earliest Royal seals that we know of is that of Narmer, the
predecessor of Mena; it is reproduced in outline in fig. 29, and gives
merely the Horus-name of the king. The Royal seal of Zer, Mena’s
successor, gives besides the name of the monarch, a _figure_ of him
seated and wearing the two crowns, typical of Upper and Lower Egypt (see
fig. 30). At the time of the Third Dynasty the Royal name is first put
into an oval ring or cartouche, and a little later the name is generally
accompanied by the statement that the king is “beloved of the gods,” or
beloved “of the goddess Hathor.” With Men-kau-ra the title _Sa Ra_, “Son
of Ra,” first appears,[90] but it is not till the Twelfth Dynasty that
we find the full name of a king cut on a single seal. At the time of the
Twelfth and Thirteenth Dynasties the king’s name is generally given in a
cartouche either with[91] or without[92] his official titles, and then
it is often accompanied by the statement that he is “beloved of
Sebek”[93] of some specified locality. A few cylinder-seals of this
period also bear the names of two or more kings.[94] The only specimens
of the Hyksos period that are known up to the present are those of
Khŷan; one of these is in the Museum at Athens,[95] another is in the
possession of Signor Lanzone,[96] and a third is in the Cairo Museum
(see fig. 23). Two remarkable cylinders of about the same period are
figured in Pl. VII, 2, and VIII, 1; while to the latter half of the
Hyksos period must be placed the cylinder-seal of King Antef
(Nub-kheper-ra), of the early Seventeenth Dynasty, which is figured in
Pl. VII, 12. The Royal cylinder-seals of the Eighteenth Dynasty
generally bear the king’s name in the cartouche without other
decorations,[97] but some have also a figure of the king, or figures of
gods and animals.[98] The large specimen reproduced in outline on Pl.
VIII, 7, is the seal of Sety I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and is one the
latest specimens of Royal cylinder-seal known.
[Illustration: Fig. 31. IMPRESSION FROM A CYLINDER-SEAL OF PEPŶ I. (In
Mr. Piers’ Collection.)]
[Sidenote: Official cylinder-seals.]
Official cylinder-seals are of two kinds. They either bear (_a_) the
name of the king together with the title of the office or official, but
not the personal name of the latter; or (_b_) simply the title of the
official without the name of the king. The Royal name appears once or
thrice on the seals of the first group, and, if repeated, the rest of
the inscription is placed between the names; the titles and name of the
king are almost always written in a direction contrary to that of the
other words, apparently as a mark of respect (see fig. 31). These
official cylinder-seals range in date from the First Dynasty to the time
of Pepŷ II of the Sixth Dynasty, when they became superseded by the
seals of the stamp form.
[Sidenote: Private cylinder-seals.]
[Illustration: Fig. 32.]
Cylinder-seals bearing the name and titles of officials are also known
(see fig. 32). These appear to have been used as the private seals of
the persons whose names are engraved upon them. They date from the
Twelfth Dynasty into the Twenty-Sixth but are very rare.
[Sidenote: III. Scroll patterns, etc.]
A very small class of cylinder-seal bears scroll patterns or geometrical
devices.[99] These appear for the first time during the intermediate
period between the end of the Sixth and the beginning of the Twelfth
Dynasty, when they are generally made of glazed pottery, and are very
coarsely executed. The specimens of a later time (probably Seventeenth
or early Eighteenth Dynasty) are of glazed steatite, and beautifully
cut.
[Illustration: Figs. 33 and 34.]
2. BUTTON-SHAPED AND HEMI-CYLINDER SEALS.
[Sidenote: Button-shaped seals.]
A small, but very distinctive class of seal, cut in the shape of a
button, with flat circular disc and loop at the back (see fig. 33), has
recently been found in Egypt, and closely akin to this class is another,
but much smaller one, the examples of which are cut in the form of a
hemi-cylinder (sometimes with projecting base), and pierced through
their length by a hole of [Sidenote: Hemi-cylinders.] sufficient size to
admit of a fine piece of string being inserted (see fig. 34). Some of
the button-shaped seals have ornamented backs: instead of the loop being
plain as in fig. 39, it is cut in such a way as to represent two hawks’
heads, or the fore-parts of two lions back to back. Occasionally we also
find specimens in the shape of a hippopotamus’ head (fig. 40).
[Illustration: Figs. 35 and 36.]
[Sidenote: How used and mounted.]
The specimens of these two classes were used as stamps, and they are
generally found either attached to a finger by a flaxen thread, or
threaded to a string of beads, in which case they were worn around the
neck as pendants.[100] Occasionally they have been found without any
attachment, but simply held by the owner in his or her left hand.
[Sidenote: Their history.]
These two classes of seal were in use in Egypt for a limited period
only. They appear for the first time in graves belonging to the end of
the Sixth Dynasty,[101] and during the period intervening between that
time and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom they were the commonest
form of seal in use.[102] Before the end of the Eleventh Dynasty they
seem to have entirely disappeared.
[Illustration: Fig. 39.]
[Illustration: Fig. 40.]
[Sidenote: The subjects engraved on (1) button-shaped seals.]
The patterns[103] that we find engraved upon button-shaped seals are
distinctive, and they are certainly not Upper Egyptian in their origin.
Hieroglyphs very rarely occur (_cf._ fig. 41), and when they do, they
are clearly imitations of Egyptian characters made apparently by
foreigners. The motives for some of the designs are clear; thus a common
type is that which has already been noticed as occurring on a class of
early cylinder-seal—the linked forequarters of gazelles and other
animals symmetrically arranged (_cf._ figs. 39, 40); sometimes also we
find a curious running figure of a man (fig. 42, and _cf._ fig. 35), and
occasionally a tortoise, a lizard (_cf._ fig. 43), or a spider (_cf._
fig. 44). Conventional and geometrical patterns are also found, the
meander[104] and the radiated disc being perhaps the most frequent. See
also figs. 45-6.
[Illustration: Figs. 41, 42 and 43.]
[Sidenote: (2) Hemi-cylinders.]
The patterns occurring on the hemi-cylinder seals are nearly all
geometrical, as shown in figs. 47-57, but the human figure is sometimes
represented, as in fig. 34.
[Illustration: Figs. 44, 45 and 46.]
[Illustration: Figs. 47, 48 and 49.]
[Illustration: Figs. 50 and 51.]
[Sidenote: Historical importance of button-shaped seals.]
The button-shaped seals are of considerable interest to the student of
comparative archaeology, and they are certainly not Upper Egyptian in
their origin. The earlier forms have, moreover, no affinity to the
Mycenaean series of designs, and, as Mr. Petrie[105] has remarked, the
spirals, butterfly, cuttlefish and other characteristic types are
absent. On the other hand, they have several links which connect them to
the Greek Island and Cretan class of seals, and also to some found in
Italy, from which we may perhaps infer that they are of common
origin.[106] An almost exact reproduction of some of these steatite
buttons in clay actually occurs in the Italian _terramare_, and in the
Ligurian cave deposits of neolithic and æneolithic periods. Mr. A. Evans
writes, “The clay stamp from the _terramare_ of Montale in the Modenese,
represented in fig. 52, the top of which is now broken, was probably
once perforated, is not only analogous in form but bears a simple
geometrical design almost identical with that on an early steatite
button-seal from Knossos.”[107]
[Illustration: Fig. 52.]
[Sidenote: Material.]
Specimens of button-seals have been found in gold, amethyst, carnelian,
lapis lazuli, black steatite, steatite glazed blue or green, ivory,
bone, and blue or green glazed pottery. The hemi-cylinders are only as
yet known in steatite glazed blue or green.
3. SCARAB-SHAPED SEALS.
[Sidenote: Scarab-shaped seals.]
By far the commonest form of Egyptian seal was that cut in the shape of
the scarabaeus beetle, hence its name, “Scarab” or “Scarabaeus,” from
the Greek name of the insect, [Greek: skarabos] or [Greek: skarabeios]
(Latin scarabaeus).[108] The beetle is represented standing on an
elliptical base, on which is engraved in intaglio a hieroglyphic
inscription or ornamental pattern. The seals of this class range in size
from a fifth of an inch in length to four or even five inches, but the
commonest size is about three-quarters of an inch, by half-an-inch broad
and a quarter of an inch high. They are nearly always pierced
longitudinally with a hole, the size of which is usually just sufficient
to receive a thread or thin wire.
[Sidenote: How used.]
When the scarab-seal was used for sealing, it was simply pressed upon
the clay destined to receive the impression, just as a signet is used at
the present day. A large number of clay-sealings from scarabs have been
found in different localities in Egypt, and bear witness to the manner
in which this class of seal was used.
[Sidenote: How mounted.]
[Illustration: Fig. 53.]
The greater number of scarabs were probably simply strung on a thread of
string, by which they were secured to the garment or girdle of the
person to whom they belonged. Sometimes they were worn on the finger,
attached by a piece of string (fig. 53), or they were simply mounted as
swivels to metal rings, in which they revolved (fig. 54), or they were
enclosed in a metal frame or _funda_ in order to protect their edges
from injury, and then mounted as swivels to metal rings (fig. 55). Such
mountings often give us a clue to the date of these objects, and will be
found described in detail in the section on signet-rings.
[Illustration: Fig. 54. 1:1. Fig. 55. 2:1.]
[Sidenote: Current ideas regarding scarabs.]
The beetle upon which these little seals are modelled, and from which
they take their name, is the _Scarabaeus sacer_ of entomologists, an
insect which is remarkable not only for the structure and situation of
its hind legs, which give it a singular appearance when walking, but
also for its habit of rolling up balls of excrementitious matter in
which the female encloses her eggs. The balls of dung the insect rolls
about the sand until they become coated with a thick layer of dust, and
grow to a size often as large as the insect itself. The Egyptians, who
were always keen observers of nature, early noticed this remarkable
habit, and selected the scarabaeus as the symbol of their god Khepera,
“he who turns” or “rolls;” for the conception was that Khepera caused
the sun to move across the sky, as the beetle causes its ball to roll
along the sand. There was also another reason for the Egyptian linking
the insect and the god together: as the young beetle came forth from the
ball of clay it was believed that a female beetle did not exist, that it
was consequently the “only-begotten,” because it was a “creature
self-produced and not conceived by a female.” Hence we find that for
this reason it is said to have been taken as the emblem of Khepera, the
“Father of the Gods,” who created all things out of clay. Consequently
we find that several archaeologists attach a sacred meaning to the
myriads of scarabs that have been found in Egypt; they regard them
simply as emblems of the god Khepera.
It is, however, as a “charm” or “amulet” having magical qualities that
the scarab is usually spoken of at the present day, and that a few of
them had a magical signification is proved beyond a doubt by the
inscriptions that are found engraved upon some of them. There is also a
mention of a scarab being employed for the purposes of magic in a
magical receipt book[109] of the period intervening between the end of
the Twelfth and the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty; but it must
here be remarked that in this case the scarab is called a _khetem_ or
“seal,” which clearly shows that the Egyptians regarded these objects
primarily as seals, to whatever other uses they may have put them.
From the fact that scarabs bearing royal names are often found with
mummies in the tombs, it has been conjectured that they were laid with
the dead “to place them under the protection of their former lord in the
next world, and to ensure that they should follow him and share in all
the immunities and privileges that so great a divine being would enjoy
with the gods.”
Another theory regarding Egyptian scarabs is that they were employed as
tokens of value, but, as we have already remarked,[110] the idea that
they were used for the purposes of barter or exchange is not supported
by the inscriptions, or by any of the scenes depicted on the walls of
the ancient tombs or temples. The statement of Plato that engraved
stones were used in Ethiopia as money refers to Ethiopia alone and not
to Egypt, for there was certainly no coined money in the Nile Valley
until the period of the Ptolemies.
Other archaeologists there are who hold that these objects were made and
used for the purpose of personal decoration; but although there is every
reason to believe that they were often, perhaps generally, worn on the
person, it by no means follows that this was their only or even their
principal use. At the present day we often carry our seals on our watch
chains, or we wear our signets as rings on our fingers, but we cannot
rightly say that these articles were made solely for the adornment of
the person.
These are the principal theories regarding the use and signification of
the Egyptian scarab which have been set forth in works hitherto
published on the subject, but archaeologists are beginning to abandon
these views in favour of another and a simpler one, that has not as yet
been discussed at length, but that recognizes in these little objects
nothing more than a simple seal or signet.[111] This use is borne
witness to by the great number of actual impressions of them on bits of
clay that have served as seals to letters and other documents, as well
as to boxes, vases, and bags that have been found in the ruins of
ancient towns; and these impressions include every variety of
scarab—royal, official, and private, as well as those bearing figures of
animals and ornamental patterns. The large number of scarabs which bear
the names of officials and private persons also points to the same
conclusion, for it is impossible to regard the examples of this
extensive group in any other light than as the “direct forerunners of
the private seals which are so universal in the East at the present
day.” A large number of scarabs have also been dug up by excavators
which are mounted in metal bands (_fundae_), showing that they had
served as bezels to rings, and many early rings with scarab bezels may
be seen in our museums; these can hardly be regarded in any other light
than as signet-rings.