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At Thebes the next most common inscriptions on scarabs relate to Amenhotep III. At Goos, in the same region, I remember to have been offered one made of mother-of-emerald, bearing that king's name, Ra-ma-neb.

The gods most often mentioned are Amen and Ptah. The names sometimes occur alone, but more often with an addition. A large number of not very rare examples have the name or emblems of Osiris; and all, or almost all, the names of the gods are to be found. Sometimes, too, the inscription records the devotion of some town or place to a divinity, or the presentation of some land to a shrine-presumably by the deceased for whose burial rites the scarab is designed.

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I may take at random a few examples. On one string I find first, a little delicately-finished coffeecoloured scarab bearing the words Neferaneb-" good Lord." Next the name Oon-nefer, a title of Osiris. Then the name of a Royal scribe," on a green scarab of very good and probably very early workmanship. Then a little green stone bearing the words Ra se-" son of the Sun." Then a white scarab of a very common type, Nefer-ma-neb-the "good Lord of Justice." Then a blue highly enamelled example bearing the bee, or seket, emblematical of Egypt. Then a yellow one with the name Amen-neb, a blue one with a lotus flower; three, very small and delicately cut, with the words suten-rech-" cousin of the

King," and lastly-besides many which surpass my scholarship—a pale-green scarab with a sitting figure of Osiris on it and the words "good Lord."

Such are a few of the ordinary inscriptions, but the variety is almost infinite. Sometimes the people bring you many examples closely resembling each other, all made about the same time. This is probably caused by the opening of some tomb containing a great number of a single period. Sebekhotep V. Ra-nefer-cha, is so far a rare scarab that it does not occur among those at Boolak; yet I was offered four examples in a week.

In spite of the number of old scarabs in existence a large and very thriving trade in imitations is carried on. Nothing but actual knowledge and comparison will enable the collector to distinguish the genuine from the imitations, and no hard and fast rules can be given to which exceptions may not be found. The oldest often look the freshest. The figures are cut to a uniform but generally very slight depth, and the form of the signs is very delicate. Scratchy-looking inscriptions are either forgeries or belong to a late period. The oldest scarabs are often made of white stone, but generally of earthenware glazed; often of the most beautiful blue. There is an old green which looks as if it had been painted on a white ground and half rubbed off. Sometimes the colour, generally a darkblue, appears to be all through the paste. Ivory scarabs are rare and should never be passed, but a

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number of forgeries in this material are in the market. Large granite scarabs seldom have inscriptions, but I have seen several on which an inscription had been very well copied by a modern hand. It is very hard to detect these frauds unless you have a smattering of hieroglyphic knowledge. Of course, if you have, you may be sure that when an inscription will not read it. must be false.

The Luxor forgeries are the best, the hieroglyphics being very deceptively copied. The glaze, however, betrays itself, and the collector should look cautiously at a kind of tortoiseshell green, which is the nearest thing they can make there to the genuine turquoise. It is very seldom, too, that the inscription is cut uniformly.

Another and large class of forged scarabs is known by its dirty-grey colour, and a splitty look in the glaze. They are chiefly offered for sale at Cairo; I have seen several hundreds in one shop in the bazaar, and have reason to believe that in many cases the dealers are themselves taken in.

A few ancient scarabs occur covered with goldsometimes the gold is so thick as to form a perfect cast, and occasionally you may find this gold case alone.

The Arabs of the Pyramids do a great trade in genuine scarabs, which they import from other places, and sell on the spot. One franc is a sufficient price for an ordinary example uninscribed, or

only bearing the name of Amen-Ra or Thothmes III., but for well-coloured specimens and for old kings' names, a higher price is asked, even a napoleon, or £1, being sometimes demanded, and not unfrequently paid by enthusiastic collectors. Before you give so much you should borrow the scarab for a day and obtain warranty for its genuineness from a good judge.

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How English Tourists see the Pyramids-The Great Time-passage Theory-The True History of Pyramids-A List of Pyramids from the Papyrus-Their Identification-Pyramids now remainingTheir Comparative Heights-The Riddle of the Sphinx unsolvedThe Question of the Tablet-Its Want of Authority-The Use of the Sphinx in Hieroglyphs-The Table of Thothmes-Description from Charlotte Brontë-An Irreverent Sightseer.

It is only after repeated inspection that an adequate idea is obtained of the so-called Pyramid-field. Familiarity brings the most wonderful sights into their proper perspective. After a third or fourth visit, the bigness of the Pyramid of Shoofoo no longer weighs upon the mind, the height of the Pyramid of Chafra

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