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III. 



SCAUABS IN THE DUBLIN MUSEUM. 

 By miss M. a. MUERAY, F.S.A. Scot. 



[cOMMtnsriCATED BT COL. G. T. PLTINKETT, C.B.] 



[Read April 14th, 1902.] 



The Dublin Museum contains, among many other interesting Egyptian 

 antiquities, a fairly representative collection of "scarabs," those little 

 beetles made of stone or faience, which were held in high estimation 

 by the ancient dwellers on the Nile. The living scarabseus beetle was 

 the symbol of the god Khepra, the Creator, and was also emblematic 

 of the Besurrection ; its effigy is therefore appropriately deposited in 

 the tomb as the symbol of life hereafter and as placing the dead body 

 under the dii'ect protection of its Maker. This, however, accounts 

 only for the scarabs found with the dead, and gives no clue to their 

 use among the living. All scarabs, whether for the living or for the 

 dead (with the exception of the so-called heart-scarabs which had a 

 hpecial purpose), are pierced as if for thi-eading, or for setting on a 

 swivel as the hezil of a ring, and are plainly intended for a more 

 definite use than mere ornament. 



The underside of the scarab is flat, and this little oval space is 

 inscribed, the interest and value of the scarab depending entirely upon 

 the inscrij)tion. The reason for this use of the scarab has never been 

 explained, nor, as I said before, has the real use of scarabs themselves 

 ever been satisfactorily demonstrated. The generally-accepted theory 

 is that some were seals and some were charms, and this though not 

 altogether satisfactory, serves as a convenient foundation for classifi- 

 cation. 



The meaning of the signs in the inscriptions is one of the chief 

 difficulties in the study of scarabs. Take, for instance, the very com- 

 mon hieroglyph Neb, Lord, which appears continually on scarabs. It 

 is impossible to say whether it is inserted merely as being of a con- 

 venient shape to fill the curved ends of the oval, or as a semi-sacred 

 word, and therefore appropriate on a protective amulet. The latter 

 reason would account for the constant use of other semi-sacred signs, 



