on the Emblem Scarabceus. 
17 3 
5thly. Of the sun ; 6thly. Of the moon from horns ; and 
7thly. Of one-horned Mercury. 
It is mentioned also by the same writer as an emblem adopted 
by the Romans, who made it a part of some of their legionary 
standards. Without entering into a discussion of the various 
opinions above stated, it may be asserted generally that they are 
gathered from the writings of antiquity ; some of them are too 
trivial to deserve a remark, while others have with some reason 
been accredited. After considering the origin of the emblem of 
the Scarabceus attentively, I am inclined to think that its primary 
signification has been strangely overlooked, while more weight 
has been attached to secondary, and sometimes visionary inter- 
pretations. I will therefore suggest another. 
That the Egyptians believed in the immortality of the soul 
cannot be questioned ; now it is probable that the Scarabceus was 
the emblem denoting that belief, or a belief in the reanimation of 
the body ; and although I am little acquainted with the anti- 
quities of Egypt, I think 1 shall be able to substantiate this 
interpretation. The Hermitybics Calasiries were the soldiery of 
Egypt ; and it is asserted by Plutarch that they carried a ring, on 
which a beetle was engraved ;* by others, “ It is said that the 
Egyptians hung Scarabcei round their necks when going to 
battle.” Now, if the Scarabceus was an emblem of a belief in the 
immortality of the soul, or of the reanimation of the body, the 
custom of putting them on previous to battle would imply that 
they were to act as a charm ; and what charm could possibly 
inspire the raw recruit, or even the veteran, with more enthusiasm 
and courage than a belief that after they were killed in battle they 
should yet, at a future period, rise to life again? It may be 
probable that the Egyptians, who were exceedingly tenacious of 
the rites of burial, put these Scarabcei on before battle in order 
that if found on them when slain they might be distinguished 
from the enemy, and receive the rites of sepulture. It appears 
that the nobles and military, as well as the ladies of Egypt, wore 
the sacred Scarabcei about their persons while living ; and in the 
coffins of the dead of the lower orders, as well as the higher, 
these emblems are usually met with. They are seen sculptured 
on the funeral tablets buried with the deceased, and are repeatedly 
found on the ornaments of the ring and necklace, and sometimes 
in pendants attached to them. It appears, then, to have been an 
emblem universally adopted, and it is not unlikely that Egyptian 
females wore them in their necklaces in the same way and for the 
* Vide Plutarch’s Treatise of Isis and Osiris, p. 13. “ Of a like nature is 
that beetle which we see engraven on the signets of the soldiers.” 
