Page:Poetical works of Mathilde Blind.djvu/483

Rh Page 405. "Scarabæus." The beetle (Scarabæus sacer) was the emblem of the principle of life and creative power, which the Egyptians worshipped under such manifold forms. It was supposed to have no female, and to roll the eggs which produce its offspring into a kind of ball, sparing no effort to place them in safety.

Page 407. "The Sakiyeh": The ancient Egyptian water-wheel, still in use. It is made of a notch-wheel fixed vertically on a horizontal axle, and a long chain of earthenware vessels brings the water either from the river itself or from some little branch canal, and empties it into a system of troughs and reservoirs.

UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.