Beauty crowned; or, The story of Esther, the Jewish maiden . n hissignet ring to authenticate any document which hewishes to prepare. The use of the seal belonged to remote antiq-uity. No document in the East is regarded as au-thentic unless sealed. In Egypt engraved stones werepierced through lengthwise and hung by a stringor chain about the neck or arm, or set in rings to beworn on the finger. An ancient form was thescarabaeus, made of stone or blue pottery or porcelain,with an inscription or device on the flat side. TheEgyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians used cylinder-seals of precious st
Beauty crowned; or, The story of Esther, the Jewish maiden . n hissignet ring to authenticate any document which hewishes to prepare. The use of the seal belonged to remote antiq-uity. No document in the East is regarded as au-thentic unless sealed. In Egypt engraved stones werepierced through lengthwise and hung by a stringor chain about the neck or arm, or set in rings to beworn on the finger. An ancient form was thescarabaeus, made of stone or blue pottery or porcelain,with an inscription or device on the flat side. TheEgyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians used cylinder-seals of precious stone, or terra-cotta, which theyrolled over the document to be sealed. Among thetwo latter nations the document was frequently ofclay, which was sealed while soft and afterwardbaked or dried. Sometimes the seal consisted of alump of clay which was impressed with the sealand attached to the document by a string. Doorsof tombs were closed and sealed. The importance Superstition and Cruelty. 169 of sealing is evident from its metaphorical use inthe Bible. (Si1. Seal Rings. The ring-seal came into use later. It consisted ofa ring, to one side of which a seal was attached, theseal being sometimes stationary, with the inscriptionupon the outer side only; at other times it was soconstructed as to revolve upon its axis, and possessedseveral inscriptions, which might be used at theoption of the wearer. Sometimes the seal was a flatoval disk having inscriptions upon the two oppositesurfaces, at other times it was in the form of a cubewith inscriptions upon the four sides. * The custom of using the seal was introduced intoGreece and Rome from the East. The importance ofthe signet-ring illustrates many passages of The seals of Osirtasen I., of Sabaco, and of Cheops,the builder of the Great Pyramid, have been recov-ered ; also the seal which it is thought Pharaoh gaveto Joseph, and those of Sennacherib and DariusHystaspis. The seal was a symbol of authority, and was part-ed with
Size: 2509px × 996px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidbeautycrowne, bookyear1887
