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Egyptian Antiquities :
Egyptian Scarab Rings : Scarab Ring
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Scarab Ring - MT.118
Origin: Israel
Circa: 1600
BC
to 1100
BC
Collection: Egyptian Scarabs
Condition: Fine
$4,200.00
Location: United States
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| Description |
By far the most important amulet in ancient
Egypt was the scarab, symbolically as sacred to
the Egyptians as the cross is to Christians. Based
upon the dung beetle, this sacred creature forms
a ball of dung around its semen and rolls it in a
large ball over the sand dropping it into its
burrow. The female lays her eggs on the ground
and covers them with the excrement ball that is
consumed by the larvae that emerge in the
following days as if miraculously reborn. In the
life cycle of the beetle, the Ancient Egyptians
envisioned a microcosm of the daily rebirth of
the sun. They imagined the ancient sun god
Khepri was a great scarab beetle rolling the sun
across the heavens. The scarab also became a
symbol of the enduring human soul as well,
hence its frequent appearance in funerary art.
Scarabs of various materials form an important
class of Egyptian antiquities. Though they first
appeared in the late Old Kingdom (roughly
2575–2130 B.C.), scarabs remained rare until
Middle Kingdom times (circa 1938-1600 B.C.)
when they were fashioned in great numbers.
While some were used as ornaments, others were
purely amuletic in purpose.
- (MT.118)
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