Hi Nassif,
Let's do one question at a time.
1. Holes in
scarabs. Most
scarabs were suspended from string, and wires; or mounted in swivel
rings. so they were drilled along their longitudinal
axis, very rarely across the longitudinal
axis. If a
scarab was to be made from
faience, a
terra cotta (clay) mold was made, in two pieces - the bottom and top halves - and a rod, perhaps a pieces of copper or even wax covered string was laid between the two halves The
faience was poured into the mold and when the
faience dried, the
scarab was removed, glazed and fired. Some
scarabs and
amulets are referred to as"kiln wasters" - something happened in the kiln and the
scarabs were spoiled. Sometimes, the hole was filled with molten glaze and the
scarab could not be threaded - thus a
scarab or
amulet with an incomplete hole. The vast majority of
steatite and hard
stone scarabs were drilled half way through from both ends and
met in the middle. Often times, the drilling was not very precise and you could see how the drills strayed in translucent or clear stones like rock crystal, amethyst, carnelian, etc. The holes at each end tend to be wide in
diameter and taper as the drill proceeded into the
stone. The drill moved, it drifted a
bit until a dimple or hollow was formed in the
stone; once the drill
bit was seated, drilling could be more accurate. The drill
bit was probably a copper or soft bronze rod, tapped into
emery or hard quartz sand. As the
emery imbedded in the copper was rotated by the bow drill, the harder sand cut into the softer material. There are exceptions to every rule -
scarabs made for pharaohs show just how accurate royal artisans could be. Some
scarabs have no holes, these were to be inlayed into another material or were to be inserted between mummy bandages. Naturally, the hugh temple
scarabs measuring about 3 x 5 feet were not drilled.
2. I'm not too sure of the question... some naturalistic
scarabs, also referred to as "
scarabs with legs" (made between the Late Period and perhaps
Roman times) are slightly convex. I know of no
scarabs with concave bases.
3. This one is difficult to answer. Let me put it to you this way. If I showed you 100 authentic hardstone
scarabs, then showed you another hundred and added a few
fakes, you would probably be able to
pick out the
fakes. Some hardstone
fakes reflect the period in which they were made. A popular
style was called "art deco" and they were probably made to be reproductions, during the 1920's and 1930's. True
fakes are another story. These were made to deceive, some were very well done, others are easily detected. Sometimes, fakers are usually inspired by the insulting behavior of scholars, dealers or collectors who believe they know everything about everything. Knowledge should not promote conceit; knowledge should produce humility; a mind that is not open is not scholarly.
4. Heart
scarabs were made from various materials. The majority of heart
scarabs are inscribed with Chapter XXXb of the Book of the Dead, but other chapters or spells were also used. Many of these chapters or spells were preceeded by headings or introductions called rubrics. An Old Kingdom rubric reads in
part "Words to be spoken over a
scarab of green
stone encircled with wasmu metal with its ring of silver..." If a
heart scarab was to be mounted in a gold bezel, there would be no need to drill it Up until the XVIIIth Dynasty, most heart
scarabs were made of durite, schist and green glazed
steatite and
faience. In fact, one of
King Tut's two heart
scarabs was made of resin and inlayed with a
glass mosaic. From the XVIIIth dynasty and later, other stones were also used.
5. If you are referring to "naturalistic
scarabs" or "
scarabs with legs", they are of five
types: The
scarab back, made from different materials; the falcon/hawk headed, almost always made from
lapis lazuli; the human headed, very
rare; the four rams heads headed
scarab, very
rare; and the
bull headed, made from basalt(/) or black
faience.
I
hope this helps.
Russ
