Nantambu Nicholas

May 14, 2015

Legacy Project Essay
Ancient Egypt was a civilization in northeastern Africa concentrated along the Nile River which
gave birth to pyramids, hieroglyphics, the modern day calendar and advanced the fields of medicine,
astronomy, math, language and architecture.1 It began in 3000 BC and was the precursor to the
Greeks, Romans and many other civilizations. Egypt was governed by Pharaohs, descendants of the
divine who were celebrated throughout Egyptian culture. The culture was comprised of a polytheistic
religion which included many stories of creation and deities such as Ausar(Osiris), Auset(Isis), Heru,
Ra, Maat and Anubis. Each of the deities had a symbol to represent them and through their close
observation of the world around them, the Egyptians were able to use nature as symbols of the Divine.
The winged scarab amulet is one of these symbols. It was created in Egypt during the Third
Intermediate period in Dynasty 21. The scarab, also known as Khepri, its Egyptian name, was a
symbol of the Egyptian Sun God Ra who is a symbol of creation and knowledge. The scarab is often
seen on Egyptian amulets with the ankh, the symbol of life, or in the tombs because of the ancient
Egyptian belief of life after death. The winged scarab amulet from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
represents the eternal truth of rebirth, life and the concept of death after life.2
The scarab beetle was a popular amulet in ancient Egypt because its life cycle was believed to
be associated with the Sun God, Ra. The scarab beetle makes a habitat for its young by rolling balls of
dung along the ground and putting them in burrows. The female would lay her eggs in the ball of dung
and when the eggs hatched, they would consume the dung and emerge from it. According to
historians from the British Museum, the young scarab beetles hatch out of the ball of dung (equivalent
to the sun), which emphasizes the concept of new life and rebirth through the sun.3 This connects
back to the eternal truth of life because of the relationship between the sun giving life to plants and the

1 Contribution of the Egyptian Civilization to the World Civilization, historydiscussion.net,

http://www.historydiscussion.net/world-history/contribution-of-the-egyptian-civilization-to-the-worldcivilization/1844.
2 Scarab pendant, britishmuseum.org, accessed May 10, 2015.
3 Scarab pendant, britishmuseum.org, accessed May 10, 2015.

birth of young scarab beetles from balls of dung. According to historians from the MET, The Egyptians
equated this process with the sun's daily cycle across the sky, believing that a giant scarab moved the
sun from the eastern horizon to the west each day, making the amulet a potent symbol of rebirth.4
Therefore they were given the name, Khepri which means to come into being and adopted into
Egyptian mythology.
The scarab is a symbol of the Sun God Ra who was considered to be the King of the Gods and
described as creating everything.5 The winged scarab is blue to symbolize Ras role in the creation of
the world. Blue is the color of cosmos and the universe. The pyramids represented the rays of light
extending from the sun and therefore connecting the Pharaoh with Ra. Later during the Middle
Kingdom, the Pharaoh at the time, Amun became known as Amun Ra. However Amun was later
rejected by Akhenaten, the next pharaoh, who created a monotheistic Egypt under one God, The Aten.
The worship of Ra was at its peak during the Middle Kingdom. Many of the tombs in the Valley of the
Kings depict the journey of Rah through the Underworld. When Ra dies and is reunited with Ausar,
King of the Dead, he is reborn as the Khepera, scarab God.
Another good example of the scarab and its relationship to Ra is the resemblance with the
wings of Maat, the goddess of truth, justice balance and the weighing of the heart. According to
Egyptian mythology, she came into being when Ra rose from the waters of Nun(Chaos) and was
often described as the daughter of Ra.6 The connection between Ra and Maat is therefore seen in
the winged scarab amulet.
The winged scarab dates back to the Third Intermediate Period in Egypt. At this time, Egypt
was ruled by the pharaohs ruling from Tanis and the High Priest Amun ruling from Thebes. In 945 B.C.
a powerful Libyan family who were Egypts western enemies, took control. The first of this family,
Sheshonq I (ca. 945924 B.C.) appears in the Bible under the name Shishak, the Egyptian ruler who
sacked Jerusalem in year 5 of the reign of Solomon's son, Rehoboam.7 Egypt was mostly polytheistic
4 Egyptian Scarab Amulets, metmuseum.org, accessed, April 25, 2015.
5 Ra, ancientegyptonline.co.uk, http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ra.html.
6 Ra, ancientegyptonline.co.uk, http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ra.html.
7 Egypt in the Third Intermediate Period, metmuseum.org,
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tipd/hd_tipd.htm.

during the New Kingdom and the scarab was one of the symbols of the gods, but Akhenaten in his
1335-1334 BC reign changed Egypts religion from polytheistic to henotheistic.8 Henotheistic is the
worship of one God while accepting the existence of other Gods. It is henotheistic, not monotheistic
because Akhenaten did not deny the existence of other gods or deities.
The Egyptian Book of Coming Forth by Day also known as the Book of the Dead was an
ancient Egyptian funerary text that explains the process a person has to go through after death to
attain eternal life. In this text, the scarab is mentioned in relation to life, rebirth and life after death. The
Book of the Dead states,
Another form of Ptah was Ptah-Seker-Ausar wherein the creator of the world, the sun, and
Osiris as the god of the dead, were represented. A large number of faence figures of this triune god
are found in graves, and specimens exist in all museums. He is represented as a dwarf standing upon
a crocodile, and having a scarabus upon his head; the scarab is the emblem of the new life into
which the deceased is about to break, the crocodile is the emblem of the darkness of death which has
been overcome. According to some the element of Ptah in the triad is the personification of the period
of incubation which follows.9
The first part of this passage mentions the sun and Ausar, the god of the dead. According to
the story of Ausar, Auset and Heru retold by Moustafa Gadalla in the Historical Deception: The Untold
Story of Ancient Egypt, Ausar ruled as a good pharaoh over his people in Egypt. His brother, Set, who
was jealous of him, killed him, cut his body into thirteen pieces and scattered them along the Nile.
Auset, Ausars wife recovered his pieces and put him back together, thus creating the first mummy.
This quote describes the rebirth of Ausar and the birth of Heru,
At the time of his death, Ausar(Osiris) and Auset(Isis) had no children, but by mystical means,
Ausar(Osiris) was resurrected for one night and slept with Auset(Isis). As a result, Auset(Isis)
conceived a son. He was called Heru(Horus) and was raised secretly in the marshes of the Nile Delta,
to protect him from his evil uncle.10
Heru grows up and rids Set of his throne, thus avenging his father and claiming his rightful seat

8 The New Kingdom (1,550-1,070 BC) and Third Intermediate Period (1,070-712 BC), Colorado State
University CEMML.edu, http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/egypt02-05enl.html.
9 The Gods of the Book of the Dead, The Book of the Dead, sacred-texts.com,
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod09.htm.
10 Moustafa Gadalla, Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt ( Cairo, Egypt: Tehuti Research
Foundation 1999), 53-57.

on the throne. Ausar later descends into the afterworld and becomes the god of the dead. This story
depicts the eternal truth of rebirth because Heru is born from Ausar to take his rightful place and Ausar
becomes the god of the dead.
My secondary source, The Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life by Sir Wallis Budge, helps prove
the eternal truth of rebirth and death after life. It states that:
KHEPERA was an old primeval god, and the type of matter which contains within
itself the germ of life which is about to spring into a new existence; thus he
represented the dead body from which the spiritual body was about to rise. He is
depicted in the form of a man having a beetle for a head, and this insect became his
emblem because it was supposed to be self-begotten and self-produced. To the
present day certain of the inhabitants of the Sdn pound the dried scarabus or
beetle and drink it in water, believing that it will insure them a numerous progeny
The name "Khepera" means "he who rolls.11
First the passage states that Khepera was an Egyptian God. Khepera was a form of the sun
god, Re. He is the god of the rising sun and as the passage denotes his symbol is the scarab beetle.
He represented the dead body from which the spiritual body was about to rise. This speaks to rebirth
and death after life. The Egyptians believed that there was an afterlife after a person died and the
passage says that Khepera prepares the soul to rise to the afterlife and therefore is a symbol of
rebirth. Also because of Kheperas duty of rolling the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, he
emphasizes the concept of rebirth and new life through the sun.12 He was self-produced which
denotes the ability to give life. Finally the significance of Sudan inhabitants drinking scarab beetles in
order to ensure numerous progeny is very important. Progeny is defined as a descendant or offspring
and the drinking of scarab beetles to ensure numerous offspring connects back to the eternal truth of
life and the symbolism of the scarab beetle being able to give life.
The winged scarab amulet proves the eternal truth of life, rebirth and life after death in the
ancient world because of the symbolism between the rolling of its young around and the pushing of

11 The Gods of the Egyptians, Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life, sacred-texts.com, http://www.sacredtexts.com/egy/efl/index.htm.
12 Scarab pendant, britishmuseum.org, accessed May 10, 2015.

the sun across the sky. Also it is a symbol of the Sun god, Ra who gives life to all life on earth. Egypt
was mostly polytheistic at the time and the symbolism of the beetle fit into Egyptian mythology. This
eternal truth is backed up by The Book of the Dead and Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life which speak
to the rebirth of the body and the scarab beetles ability to give life.
The winged scarab amulet is significant in the 21st century because it proves the eternal truth
of rebirth, life and life after death and this is portrayed throughout movies and media in the 21st
century.
In a scene from The Mummy 1999, 3 explorers are excavating a wall looking for a tomb. The
explorer who is in charge wonders off and notices shiny rocks in a pattern on the wall. He breaks the
rock in his hand, to find a scarab beetle in it. The scarab beetle starts to crawl up his skin until his
friends are able to cut it out and save him. This relates to the eternal truth because as the explorers
were digging for the tomb they came upon the scarab beetles and the beetles attacked them. The
beetles are guarding the tomb and serving as protectors of the dead. This proves the eternal truth of
the scarab beetle as a symbol for life after death. In ancient Egypt, the dead were buried with tools
that they could use in the afterlife or spiritual world. Many of these tools and garments were adorned
with the scarab beetles because it symbolized life after death and rebirth.
Another example of the eternal truth of rebirth is present in a 2014 Old Spice commercial. In
this commercial, a mother sings about losing her son into manhood because of a body spray that
attracts women. Throughout the song, the sons are seen dating women while the mothers follow and
spy on them. Near the end of the song, one of the mothers says, Old Spice made a man of my son,
now hes kissing all the women and his chores undone. He was just my little, sweetie, tiny, finger
sassy... Now hes touching, kissing, feeling all the women because Old Spice. This shows the
transition from boy to manhood the sons are facing and sadness the mothers are feeling because
theyre losing their sons. This connects back to the eternal truth because, the sons are being reborn
as men and are leaving their childhood behind.
These examples from movies and media depict the eternal truth of rebirth and life after death
because of everyday scenarios such as the jump into manhood that shows how boys leave behind

their boyhood to grown into men although we all know that deodorant does not make a man. The clip
from the The Mummy depicts the scarab in a not very accurate portrayal of Egyptian mythology
although it still has the message of life after death because of the scarabs role in protecting the dead.
These combined messages from media show us that the eternal truth of life, rebirth and life after death
is still alive today.
Bibliography (Chicago Format) :
A Winged scarab amulet, metmuseum.org, accessed May 1, 2015.
B Egyptian Scarab Amulets, metmuseum.org, accessed, April 25, 2015.
C Scarab pendant, britishmuseum.org, accessed May 10, 2015.
D Ra, ancientegyptonline.co.uk, http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ra.html.
E Egypt in the Third Intermediate Period, metmuseum.org,
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tipd/hd_tipd.htm.
F The New Kingdom (1,550-1,070 BC) and Third Intermediate Period (1,070-712 BC),
Colorado State University CEMML.edu,
http://www.cemml.colostate.edu/cultural/09476/egypt02-05enl.html.
G The Gods of the Book of the Dead, The Book of the Dead, sacred-texts.com,
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ebod09.htm.
H The Gods of the Egyptians, Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life, sacred-texts.com,
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/efl/index.htm.
I Moustafa Gadalla, Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt ( Cairo,
Egypt: Tehuti Research Foundation 1999), 53-57.
J Contribution of the Egyptian Civilization to the World Civilization, historydiscussion.net,
http://www.historydiscussion.net/world-history/contribution-of-the-egyptian-civilization-to-theworld-civilization/1844.
K Gloria Fiero, The Humanistic Tradition (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill 2011).
L Ancient Egypt, timemaps.com, http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/Ancient-Egypt.