EXHIBIT OF KIHLICAL ANTIQUITIES. 967 



Sacked scarabaeus {Ateuchus sacer). — The Ateucnm was- wor- 

 shiped by the aiuiieut Egyptians, aud often represented by hiero- 

 glyphics and on monuments. Models of them in the most precious 

 materials were worn as charms aud buried with mummies. The insects 

 themselves have also been found in coffins. It may be that the worship 

 of the scarabaeus in Egypt was in some way connected with that of 

 Baalzebub, the lord of flies, in Ekron.' 



Hornet ( Vespa orientalis; Hebrew, ^irah). — Hornets are spoken of 

 in the Bible as an instrument in God's hands for the punishment and 

 expulsion of the Canaanites.^ " I will send the hornet before thee, 

 which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaauite, and the Hittite from 

 before thee." ' It is assumed by some that they are used tiguratively 

 for panic or terror. Hornets are abundant in Palestine, and were so 

 in former times, as is perhaps indicated from the name of the city in 

 Judah, (j^ore'ah, '-place of hornets." There are at present four species 

 in Palestine; the most common is ^'espa orientalis. 



Locust [Acridium pereijrinmn; Hebrew, Arbeh). — Of all the "creep- 

 ing creatures" the locust is most frequently mentioned in the Bible. It 

 occurs under nine different names {haf/ah, hargol, sol am, gazam, yeleq, 

 hasil, geb or gob, gelagal), which probably denote different species. 

 Locusts were one of the ten plagues inflicted on Egypt.^ They were 

 permitted as food,' aud were the chief food of John the Baptist,^ 

 Among the Moorish Arabs they are held in high esteem as a stimulant, 

 and in Central Arabia they are regarded as a dainty. Their appearance, 

 habits, ravages, etc., are often referred to figuratively in the Scriptures 

 as destructive armies, Nahum iii, 15-17: "Make thyself many as the 

 locusts. * * * Thy crowned are as the locusts and thy marshals 

 as the swarms of grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold 

 day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their i^lace is not 

 known where they are:"" "Aud the shapes of the locusts were like 

 unto horses prepared for war * * *,"etc. In Proverbs xxx, 27, they 

 are enumerated among the "four things which are little upon the earth, 

 but they are exceeding wise," " The locusts have no king, yet they go 

 forth all of them by bands." 



Moth (Hebrew, Ash, Sas). — The destructiveness of the moth and its 

 own extreme frailty are often referred to in the Bible as an illustration 

 of the i)erishable nature of temporal things." " Behold they all shall 

 w;ix old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up." ^ "Lay not up for 



' II Kings i, 2. 



2 Exodus xxiii, 29; Deuteronomy vii, 20; Joshua xxiv, 12. 



='(!ompare Deuteronomy vii, 20; Joshua xxiv, 12. 



* Exodus X. 



■^Leviticus xi, 20-22. 



''Matthew iii, 4; Mark i, 6. Compare above under "Pods of the carob tree." 



"Prov^erbs xxx, 2; Revehition ix, 7. 



" Isaiah i, 9. 



"Matthew vi, 19, 20. 



