|
If you know my work, at this point you'll probably have spotted my penchant for amulets, including the Scarab Beetle. Beautiful bold and blue, but also packed with meaning, you can enjoy it as a spot of colour, a reference to antiquity, or perhaps ponder a bit more on why it's an enduring symbol of renewal. An endless cycleHonestly, the reason why the scarab beetle became such a popular amulet in Ancient Egypt by the early Middle Kingdom (approx. 2000 BCE) is one of those "making educated guesses" reasons. Archaeologists and historians can look at trends and deduce, but it's usually not easy to say why one symbol or idea gains popularity over others! What is known is that the ancient Egyptians believed that Ra the sun god, in the form of Khepri, renewed the sun each morning and pushed it over the horizon. An endless cycle of the sun being born, travelling cross the sky, sinking, being carried through the otherworld, and back to being born again for the sunrise. From god to beetleObserving the dung beetle pushing its ball of dirt, which we now know is a mixture of food and beetle eggs, to the ancient Egyptians it seemed to mirror the sun's journey, especially as the ball "miraculously" bursts forth into live young. They linked the two together and associated the scarab with Khepri's themes of renewal and rebirth, transformation and regeneration. The beetle became a symbol of these ideas in it's own right, and was worn by the richest and poorest alike. Multi-functional too!Scarabs increasingly had patterns, names or simple messages written on their flat side, such as the names of deceased pharaohs (treated almost like saints) good wishes, personal or magical mottos, images of deities, sacred animals, and religious symbols. Not only amulets of protection, scarabs were also increasingly used as seals by their owners, their inscribed underside stamped into clay as a form of signature. If you are already carrying a small item which can be incised on a flat side, why also carry a separate seal with you?! Double the purpose.
3 Comments
|
Join the Newsletter Gang!A welcome discount, plus news and special offers. You're almost in the Gang now!Check your emails (perhaps in dastardly spam or junk) to confirm your email address, and then be sure to make use of your welcome discount! Categories
All
Archives
January 2025
|