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Scarab amulets were sometimes placed in tombs as part of the deceased's personal effects or jewelry, though not all scarabs had an association with ancient Egyptian funerary practices. There are, however, three types of scarabs that seem to be specifically related to ancient funerary practices: heart scarabs , pectoral scarabs and naturalistic ...
The use of insects as live jewelry has existed for many centuries, with the Egyptians believed to have been the first to have worn insects as jewelry. Ancient Egyptian soldiers commonly wore scarab beetles into battle as the beetles were considered to have supernatural powers of protection against enemies. [1] [2]
Scarab beetles were one of the most common material objects made by the ancient Egyptians. These scarabs, from the Middle Kingdom, were likely used as jewelry, specifically amulets. The scarab beetle is symbolic of Khepri, the Egyptian sun deity who represents creation and rebirth.
These beetles are typically between 15–35 mm (0.6–1.4 in) in length. The majority of species have bright shiny green upperparts, but metallic silver and gold are also common colors (species with all-silver or all-golden upperparts only occur in Central and South America), and a few can be metallic reddish.
Scarab ring of Tuthmosis III. The Scarab ring is a style of finger ring featuring a small sculpture of a scarab as the bezel that was popular in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom and later. [1] [2] They generally incorporated an inscription on the base of the scarab but not always. [1] [2]
[3] [7] [4]: 67 For example, the common amulet shape the scarab beetle is the emblem of the god Khepri. [3] [4]: 67 The most common material for such amulets was a kind of ceramic known as Egyptian faience or tjehenet, but amulets were also made of stone, metal, bone, wood and gold.
A "scarabaeus" is also a now outdated term (OED 2) for an object in the form of a scarab beetle in art. The scarab was a popular form of amulet in Ancient Egypt, [3] and in ancient Greek art engraved gems were often carved as scarabs on the rest of the stone behind the main flattish face, which was used for sealing documents. [4]
Scarabaeus sacer is the most famous of the scarab beetles. [14] To the Ancient Egyptians, S. sacer was a symbol of Khepri, the early morning manifestation of the sun god Ra, from an analogy between the beetle's behaviour of rolling a ball of dung across the ground and Khepri's task of rolling the sun across the sky. [15]