As I have already said: the larger scarabs are usually found in the body of the mummy in place of the heart, which was always taken out of the corpse and placed in one of the visceral vases, that of Tuamautef. The scarab was a symbol of the re-birth, resurrection and the eternal life of the soul, pronounced pure at the psychostasia; and we know from the Book of the Dead, that at the moment of resurrection, in analogy to the beginning of terrestrial life, it was the heart that was asserted to be given to the dead so as to receive the first vitality of the second birth, it was through the heart that the mummy would revive, thence the inscribed scarab was placed in the mummy in the place formerly occupied by its heart when in terrestrial life. Sometimes the representation of a human heart was engraved on the scarabæus. The small scarabs are not often found inside of the mummy. But frequently large stone scarabs have been found in it in the place of the heart, on which, incised in very small characters, are portions of the Book of the Dead. Those usually inscribed are, the XXXth chapter or those parts of the LXIVth, line 34, or of the XXVIIth chapters, which relate to the heart of a man. They begin usually with the formula: "My heart which comes from my mother, my heart which is necessary for my transformations," etc. They are, following the commands in the Book of the Dead, frequently set in gold, sometimes in bronze, and sometimes are incised with the shape of the hieroglyph for the heart.
At some very remote period, so remote that we cannot even surmise its date, the scarabæus symbol was considered as embodying not only the idea of the creator but also, the idea of the life beyond the grave in eternal futurity. Some scholars assert that the Egyptians rejected every abstraction and did not have any philosophy. This I do not and cannot believe from my investigations of their learning, but I do think, that we have not yet grasped nor understood that philosophy in its fullness, from the few remnants of it which have reached our day. The oldest texts and monuments show, a high condition of culture and thought as well as artistic feeling; the unknown deity was idealized and never represented to the eye on the monuments of early times; the Great Sphinx, itself a philosophical abstraction, was made long before the historical period; and the Book of the Dead, shows beneath its pages, a hidden religious metaphysical philosophy not yet unraveled. This was, likely, secretly taught by word of mouth as Qabbalah or Oral Tradition to the initiates, and was never put into writing. Some of these ideas we have just grasped, for instance, we now have some knowledge of the Egyptian divisions of the spiritual or immaterial part of man, of his psychology, and upon studying these divisions one can readily imagine, a secret religious philosophy accompanying those separations of the spiritual in man. We are also obtaining some knowledge, of their idea of God and of their kosmology and kosmogony.
Six thousand years ago Egypt had attained great advancement. "Its religion was established. It possessed a language and writing. Art under the IVth and Vth Dynasties had reached a height which the following Dynasties[63] never surpassed. It had an especially complicated administration, the result of many years. The Egyptians had civil grades and religious grades, bishops as well as prefects. Registration of land surveys existed. The pharaoh had his organized court, and a large number of functionaries, powerfully and wisely arranged, gravitated around him. Literature was honored and books were composed on morals, some of which have reached our day. This was under the Ancient Empire during which existed the builders of the Pyramids."[64] The deities of literature and of libraries already existed, they were Thoth, the Greek Hermes; Atmu, of Thebes; Ma or Maat, goddess of the harmony of the entire universe, or its law of existence, and of righteousness; Pacht, the mistress of thoughts; Safekh, goddess of books, who presided over the foundations of monuments and who was venerated at Memphis as early as the IVth Dynasty; Selk, who was also the goddess of libraries.
"In one of the tombs at Gizeh, a great functionary of the first period of the VIth Dynasty (circa 3300 B.C.,) takes the title of: 'Governor of the House of Books.' This simple mention incidentally occurring between two titles, more exalted, would suffice, in the absence of others, to show us the extraordinary development which had been reached in the civilization of Egypt at that time. Not only had that people a literature, but that literature was sufficiently large to fill libraries; and its importance was so great, that one of the functionaries of the court was especially attached to the care and preservation of the royal library. He had, without doubt, in his keeping with the contemporaneous works, the books written under the first Dynasties, books of the time of Mena and perhaps of kings anterior to Mena. The works in the library would be composed of religious works; chapters of the Book of the Dead, copied after authentic texts preserved in the Temples; scientific treatises on geometry, medicine and astronomy; historic books in which were preserved the sayings and doings of the ancient kings, together with the number of the years of their lives and the exact duration of their reigns; manuals of philosophy and practical morals and perhaps some romances," etc.[65]
The learned of that ancient people followed special lines of study and thought. There was a division of them known as the Herseshta, or Teachers of Mysteries. These were subdivided, among other divisions into: "The Mystery Teachers of Heaven," or, the astronomers and astrologers; "The Mystery Teachers of All Lands," or, the geographers and those who studied other peoples and countries; "The Mystery Teachers of the Depth," likely, the possessors of a knowledge of minerals, mining, varieties of rocks, etc.; "Mystery Teachers of the Secret Word," doubtless those interested in abstract thought, religious metaphysics and philosophy; "Mystery Teachers of the Sacred Language," men who devoted themselves to grammar and the form of writing; "Mystery Teachers of Pharaoh, or, 'of all the commands of Pharaoh,'" wise men, likely private scribes and secretaries of the king; "Mystery Teachers who examine Words," likely learned men who sat as judges to hear complaints, and sift the opposing statements of litigants and witnesses. The learned writers known as scribes were also divided into many branches.[66]
We cannot accept the statements of most of the Greek authors upon this subject, for the study of the last few years of the Ancient Egyptian papyri and other remains, shows that they either did not know or they willfully misrepresented, Egyptian abstract thought; about the only works, outside of the papyri and the monuments, from which we can gather as to it with any sureness, meagre details; are the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistos; the Osiris and Isis, of Plutarch; the work ascribed to Horapollon, and the book of Iamblichus, entitled: A Treatise on the Mysteries. The Greek writers upon Ancient Egypt, Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Thales, Plato, Pythagoras, Solon, and others, of less note; give but little assistance, indeed in many cases their statements are misleading. It is a question yet to be solved, as to how much of the foundations of the philosophy of Pythagoras, Plato, Solon and other Greek writers, were obtained from the learned men of Egypt or their writings.[67]
Chapter XXX. of the Per-em-hru, or, Book of the Dead, has frequently in the papyrus copies, a picture of the soul of the dead in adoration before a scarabæus set upright upon a support. This chapter is entitled: "Chapter of not allowing the heart of a man to have opposition made to it in the divine inferior region." It says towards the end: "This chapter is to be said over a scarabæus of hard stone, formed and set in gold, which should be placed in the breast of the man, after the opening of the mouth has been made and the head anointed with oil; then the following words shall be said over him in right of a magical charm: 'My heart which comes to me from my mother, my heart which is necessary to me for my transformations.'" See, Appendix A.
The whole of this chapter was frequently engraved upon the large scarabs, which were placed in the breasts of the mummies in place of the heart.
The LXIVth chapter of the Book of the Dead, is one of the oldest of the entire collection and line 34 et seq., uses the same language as to the heart, and says: "Put it on a scarabæus of hard stone set in gold, in the breast of the mummy, having engraved on it: 'My heart is my mother,'" etc. This chapter is fuller than the other just cited.
The CLXIIIrd chapter, lines 9, 10, says: "O Amen bull-scarabæus, master of the eyes: 'Terrible with the pupil of the eye' is thy name. The Osiris * * * (here the name of the deceased was inserted,) is the emanation of thy two eyes." That is, Amen is here invoked as the bull-symbol of generation and also as the scarabæus, that is, as the creator who has engendered himself.