Scarabaeus synonyms

The Egyptians adopted from the Greeks, with considerable modifications of its attendant symbolism, the twelve-fold division of the zodiac. Aries became the Fleece; two Sprouting Plants, typifying equality or resemblance, stood for Gemini; Cancer was re-named Scarabaeus; Leo was converted, from the axe-like configuration of its chief stars, into the Knife: Libra into the Mountain of the Sun, a reminiscence, apparently, of the Euphratean association of the seventh month with a " holy mound," designating the biblical tower of Babel.

In 1548 he took the degree of master of arts; but in the same year he found it necessary to leave England on account of the suspicions entertained of his being a conjurer; these were first excited by a piece of machinery, which, in the Pax of Aristophanes, he exhibited to the university, representing the scarabaeus flying up to Jupiter, with a man and a basket of victuals on its back.

There are many varieties of beetle, including a number of species representing the scarabaeus of the ancients.