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Egyptian Antiquities :
Egyptian Scarabs : Egyptian Scarab
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Egyptian Scarab - OS.033
Origin: Egypt
Circa: 1300
BC
to 900
BC
Dimensions:
1.1" (2.8cm) wide
Collection: Egyptian Art
Medium: Steatite
Additional Information: f
£1,600.00
Location: Great Britain
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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.
- (OS.033)
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