AmunhotepIIIAndQueenTiye-MarriageScarab BrooklynMuseum

Scarabs were popular

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

s and

impression seal The impression seal is a common Seal (emblem), seal that leaves an impression, typically in clay and less often in sealing wax. In Ancient history, antiquity they were common, largely because they served to authenticate legal documents, such as t ...

s in ancient Egypt. They survive in large numbers and, through their inscriptions and

typology Typology is the study of types or the systematic classification of the types of something according to their common characteristics. Typology is the act of finding, counting and classification facts with the help of eyes, other senses and logic. Ty ...

, are an important source of information for archaeologists and historians of the ancient world. They also represent a significant body of ancient art. For reasons that are not clear (although likely connected to the religious significance of the Egyptian god

Khepri Khepri (Egyptian: ''ḫprj,'' also transliterated Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri) is a scarab-faced god in ancient Egyptian religion who represents the rising or morning sun. By extension, he can also represent creation and the renewal of life. ...

), amulets in the form of

scarab beetles The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

had become enormously popular in Ancient Egypt by the early Middle Kingdom (approx. 2000 BCE) and remained popular for the rest of the pharaonic period and beyond. During that long period the function of scarabs repeatedly changed. Primarily amulets, they were also inscribed for use as personal or administrative seals or were incorporated into jewelry. Some scarabs were created for political or diplomatic purposes to commemorate or advertise royal achievements. By the early

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, ''heart scarabs'' had become part of the battery of amulets protecting

mummies A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furth ...

. From the

middle Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, other ancient peoples of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

imported scarabs from Egypt and also produced scarabs in Egyptian or local styles, especially in the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

. Scarabs are a common counterfeit product of present day forgers.

Description

Scarabs were produced in vast numbers for many centuries and many thousands have survived. They were generally intended to be worn or carried by the living. They were typically carved or moulded in the form of a scarab beetle (usually identified as ''

Scarabaeus sacer ''Scarabaeus sacer'', common name sacred scarab, is the type species of dung beetles in its genus and the family Scarabaeidae. Taxonomy ''Scarabaeus sacer'' was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the st ...

'') with varying degrees of naturalism but usually at least indicating the head, wing case and legs but with a flat base. The base was usually inscribed with designs or

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

to form an

. Scarabs were usually drilled from end to end to allow them to be strung on a thread or incorporated into a swivel ring. The common length for standard scarabs is between 6 mm and 40 mm and most are between 10 mm and 20 mm. Larger scarabs were made from time to time for particular purposes (such as the

commemorative scarabs of Amenhotep III During the reign of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III hundreds of so-called memorial scarabs were issued to commemorate the deeds of the pharaoh. Such scarabs were found in several archaeological sites of the Near East, from Syria to Suda ...

). ''Heart scarabs'' (typically 50 mm to 90 mm long, made of dark hardstone and not pierced for suspension) were made for a specific funerary purpose and should be considered separately. Scarabs were generally either carved from stone or moulded from

Egyptian faience Egyptian faience is a sintered-quartz ceramic material from Ancient Egypt. The sintering process "covered he materialwith a true vitreous coating" as the quartz underwent vitrification, creating a bright lustre of various colours "usually in ...

. Once carved, they would typically be glazed blue or green and then fired. The most common stone used for scarabs was a form of

steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

, a soft stone which becomes hard when fired (forming

enstatite Enstatite is a mineral; the magnesium endmember of the pyroxene silicate mineral series enstatite (MgSiO3) – ferrosilite (FeSiO3). The magnesium rich members of the solid solution series are common rock-forming minerals found in igneous and m ...

). Hardstone scarabs were also made and the stones most commonly used were green

jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

amethyst Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...

and

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...

. While the majority of scarabs would originally have been green or blue the coloured glazes used have often either become discoloured or have been lost, leaving most steatite scarabs appearing white or brown. Scarabs were often of very light color.

Religious significance of the scarab beetle

In ancient Egyptian religion, the god Ra is seen to roll the sun across the sky each day, transforming bodies and souls. Beetles of the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

(

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

) roll dung into a ball. Because of its symbolically similar action, the scarab was seen as a reflection of the heavenly cycle, and as representing the idea of rebirth or regeneration. The Egyptian god Khepri, Ra as the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle or as a scarab beetle-headed man. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day, before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it again on the next day. A golden scarab of

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...

was discovered in the

Uluburun The Uluburun Shipwreck is a Late Bronze Age shipwreck dated to the late 14th century BC, discovered close to the east shore of Uluburun (Grand Cape), Turkey, in the Mediterranean Sea. The shipwreck was discovered in the summer of 1982 by Mehmed Ç ...

wreck.

Historical development

By the end of the

First Intermediate Period The First Intermediate Period, described as a 'dark period' in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately 125 years, c. 2181–2055 BC, after the end of the Old Kingdom. It comprises the Seventh (although this is mostly considered spurious ...

(about 2055 BCE) scarabs had become extremely common. They largely replaced

cylinder seals A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch (2 to 3 cm) in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally ...

and circular "button seals" with simple geometric designs. Throughout the period in which they were made, scarabs were often engraved with the names of pharaohs and other royal persons. In the Middle Kingdom scarabs were also engraved with the names and titles of officials and used as official seals. From the

scarabs bearing the names and titles of officials became rarer, while scarabs bearing the names of gods, often combined with short prayers or mottos, like "With Ra behind there is nothing to fear" became more popular. These "wish" scarabs are often difficult to translate.

Commemorative scarabs

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

(immediate predecessor of

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

) is famous for having commemorative scarabs made. These were large (mostly between 3.5 cm and 10 cm long) and made of steatite. They are beautifully crafted scarabs, apparently created under royal supervision or control and carry lengthy inscriptions describing one of five important events in his reign (and all of which mention his queen,

Tiye Tiye (c. 1398 BC – 1338 BC, also spelled Tye, Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the daughter of Yuya and Thuya. She became the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was the mother of Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. I ...

). More than 200 examples have survived and they have been found in locations that suggest they were sent out as royal gifts/propaganda in support of Egyptian diplomatic activities. These large scarabs continued and developed an earlier Eighteenth Dynasty tradition of making scarabs celebrating specific royal achievements, such as the erection of

obelisks An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

at major temples during the reign of Thuthmosis III. The tradition was revived centuries later during the

Twenty-fifth Dynasty The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of th ...

, when the

Kushite The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what i ...

pharaoh

Shabaka Neferkare Shabaka, or Shabako (Egyptian: 𓆷𓃞𓂓 ''šꜣ bꜣ kꜣ'', Assyrian: ''Sha-ba-ku-u'') was the third Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 705 to 690 BC.F. Payraudeau, Retour sur la succession Sha ...

(721–707 BCE) had large scarabs made commemorating his victories in imitation of those produced for Amenhotep III.

Funerary scarabs

Although scarab amulets were sometimes placed in tombs as part of the deceased's personal effects or as jewelry, generally they have no particular association with

ancient Egyptian funerary practices The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals included mummifying the body, casting magic spells, and burials with specific grave goods ...

. There are, however, three types of specifically funerary scarabs, ''heart scarabs'', ''pectoral scarabs'' and ''naturalistic'' scarabs. WLA brooklynmuseum Scarab with Separate Wings 3

WLA brooklynmuseum Scarab with Separate Wings 3

Heart scarabs became popular in the early

and remained in use until the

Third Intermediate Period The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latt ...

. They are large scarabs (typically 4 cm-12 cm long) often made from dark green or black stone and are not pierced for suspension. The base of a heart scarab was usually carved, either directly or on a gold plate fixed to the base, with

which name the deceased and repeat some or all of spell 30B from the

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...

. The spell commands the deceased's heart (typically left in the mummy's chest cavity, unlike the other

viscera In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a ...

) not to give evidence against the deceased, when the deceased is being judged by the gods of the underworld. It is often suggested that the heart is being commanded not to give false evidence but the opposite may be true. The Book of the Dead requires the heart scarab to be made of green ''nemehef'' stone but a variety of green or dark coloured stones were used. Heart scarabs were often hung around the mummy's neck with a gold wire and the scarab itself was held in a gold frame. From the

onwards large (typically 3 cm-8 cm long) relatively flat uninscribed ''pectoral scarabs'' were sewn, via holes formed at the edge of the scarab, onto the chests of mummies, together with a pair of separately made outstretched wings. These were mainly made from faience and glazed blue. The association of pectoral scarabs appears to be with the god

, who is often depicted in the same form. A third kind of funerary scarab is the ''naturalistic'' scarab. These were relatively small scarabs (typically 2 cm to 3 cm long) made from a wide variety of hardstones and faience and are distinguished from other scarabs by having naturalistic carved "3D" bases, which often also include an integral suspension loop running widthways. Groups of these funerary scarabs, often made from different materials, formed part of the battery of amulets which protected mummies in the Late Period. When a person died and went to their final judgement, the gods of the underworld would ask many detailed and intricate questions which had to be answered precisely and ritually, according to the Book of the Dead. Since many people of those days were illiterate, even placing a copy of this scroll in their coffin would not be enough to protect them from judgment for giving a wrong answer. As a result, the priests would read the questions and their appropriate answers to the beetle, which would then be killed, mummified, and placed in the ear of the deceased. When the gods then asked their questions, the ghostly scarab would whisper the correct answer into the ear of the supplicant, who could then answer the gods wisely and correctly.John Ward. The Sacred Beetle: A Popular Treatise on Egyptian Scarabs in Art and History. London: John Murray Co. 1902.

Scarabs with royal names

Scarabs are often found inscribed with the names of pharaohs and more rarely with the names of their queens and other members of the royal family. Generally, the better established and longer reigning a king was, the more scarabs are found bearing one or more of his names. Most scarabs bearing a royal name can reasonably be dated to the period in which the person named lived. However, there are a number of important exceptions. Scarabs are found bearing the names of pharaohs of the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth ...

(particularly of well-known kings such as

Khufu Khufu or Cheops was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom period ( 26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his father Sneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having co ...

Khafre Khafre (also read as Khafra and gr, Χεφρήν Khephren or Chephren) was an ancient Egyptian King (pharaoh) of the 4th Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historia ...

and

Unas Unas or Wenis, also spelled Unis ( egy, wnjs, hellenized form Oenas or Onnos), was a pharaoh, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (circa 23 ...

). It is now believed these were produced in later periods, most probably during the

Twenty-sixth Dynasty The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) dynasty was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although others followed). The dynasty's reign (664–525 ...

, when there was considerable interest in and imitation of the works of great kings of the past. Scarabs are also found in vast numbers which appear to bear the throne name of the

king Thuthmosis III (1504–1450 BCE) ''Men Kheper Re'' ("the appearance of Ra is established"). Many of these scarabs do date from the long and successful reign of this great warrior pharaoh, or shortly thereafter but many, perhaps the majority, probably do not. Like all pharaohs, Thuthmosis was regarded as a god after his death. Unlike most pharaohs his cult, centered on his mortuary temple, seems to have continued for years, if not centuries. As a result, many scarabs bearing the inscription ''Men Kheper Re'' are likely to commemorate Thuthmosis III but may have been produced hundreds of years later. Later pharaohs adopted the same throne name (including Piye of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, 747–716 BCE) and this can lead to confusion. The hieroglyphs making ''Men Kheper Re'' seem to have become regarded as a protective charm in themselves and were inscribed on scarabs without any specific reference to Thuthmosis III. It can be doubted that in many cases the carver understood the meaning of the inscription but reproduced it blindly. On a lesser scale the same may be true of the throne name of

Rameses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...

(1279–1212 BCE) ''User Maat Re'' ("the justice of Ra is powerful"), which is commonly found on scarabs which otherwise do not appear to date from his reign. The birth names of pharaohs were also popular names among private individuals and so, for example, a scarab simply bearing the name "Amenhotep" need not be associated with any particular king who also bore that name. The significance of a scarab bearing a royal name is unclear and probably changed over time and from scarab to scarab. Many may simply have been made privately in honour of a ruler during or after his lifetime. Some may also have been royal gifts. In some cases scarabs with royal names may have been official seals or badges of office, perhaps connected with the royal estates or household, others, although relatively few, may have been personal seals owned by the royal individual named on them. As the king fulfilled many different roles in ancient Egyptian society, so scarabs naming a pharaoh may have had a direct or indirect connection with a wide range of private and public activities.

Scarab rings

From the late Old Kingdom onwards Scarab rings developed from scarabs tied to the fingers with threads through full rings with Scarab bezels in the middle kingdom to rings with cast Scarabs in the new kingdom.

Literary and popular culture reference

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...

's first Blandings novel — ''

Something Fresh ''Something Fresh'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published as "Something New" in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on 3 September 1915.McIlvaine, E., Sherby, L.S. and Heineman, J.H. (1990) ''P.G. Wodehouse: A comprehensive bib ...

'' (1915) — involves the pilfering of a rare Egyptian scarab (a "

Cheops Khufu or Cheops was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his father Sneferu as king. He is generally accepted as having ...

of the

Fourth Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

") as a key plot device. * In the British crime novelist

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

` novel ''

Murder Must Advertise ''Murder Must Advertise'' is a 1933 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, the eighth in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Most of the action of the novel takes place in an advertising agency, a setting with which Sayers was familiar as s ...

'' a scarab, catapulted, is the murder weapon. * The rock band

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

uses various types of scarabs as their main logo and in the cover art of the albums '' Departure'', '' Captured'', ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'', ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'', ''

Arrival Arrival(s) or The Arrival(s) may refer to: Film * ''The Arrival'' (1991 film), an American science fiction horror film * ''The Arrival'' (1996 film), an American-Mexican science fiction horror film * ''Arrival'' (film), a 2016 American science ...

'', ''

Generations A generation is "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively." Generation or generations may also refer to: Science and technology * Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles * Gen ...

'', ''

Revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

'', and ''

The Essential Journey ''The Essential Journey'' is a compilation of songs from the rock band Journey. Released on October 16, 2001, it is part of Sony BMG's "Essential" series of compilation albums. The album includes most of Journey's major and minor hits that have c ...

'' * The Egyptian death metal band Scarab takes its name from these artifacts. * The Dutch print-maker,

M. C. Escher Maurits Cornelis Escher (; 17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972) was a Dutch graphic artist who made mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs, and mezzotints. Despite wide popular interest, Escher was for most of his life neglected in t ...

(1898–1972) created a wood engraving in 1935 depicting two scarabs or dung beetles. * In Stephen Sommers' ''

The Mummy A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse. Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to: Places *Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States *Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...

'' (1999), the scarab is used as a deadly, ancient beetle that eats the internal and external organs, killing whom ever it comes into contact with. * In ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology television series created by Rod Serling. The episodes are in various genres, including fantasy, science fiction, absurdism, dystopian fiction, suspense, horror, su ...

'' episode Queen of the Nile season 5, episode 23 (1964), the main character Pamela Morris has an ancient scarab beetle amulet that can drain the youth of anyone she places it on, enabling her to remain young forever. Ms. Morris tells her final victim that she got it from "the pharaohs, who understood its power." * In Disney's animated movie ''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; ar, علاء الدين, ', , ATU 561, ‘Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with ''The Book of One Thousand and One Nights'' (''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of ...

'', the location of the Cave of Wonders is revealed when two halves of a scarab beetle are joined together. * Scarabs are used as the monetary unit of planet Sauria (originally known as Dinosaur Planet) in the 2002 video game ''

Star Fox Adventures ''Star Fox Adventures'' is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. The game had a long development cycle starting in 1997. Originally developed as ''Dinosaur Planet'' with Rare-created characters as the prota ...

''. * Scarabs appear in droves in '' Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation''. They deal damage to Lara Croft throughout the game.

Scarabs showing top and inscriptions

File:Egyptian - Scarab Amulet - Walters 4241 - Back.jpg, Back of scarab amulet File:Louvre 122006 002.jpg, Amulets: Scarab and

Papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

File:ScarabBearingNameOfApophis MuseumOfFineArtsBoston.png, Scarab with a

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

File:Scarab (PSF).png, Scarab: top, and engravings. File:Scarab of king Tut-E 22807-Egypte louvre 148.jpg, alt=Signet ring, with cartouche of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun :'Perfect God, Lord of the Two Lands' – ('Neter-Nefer, Neb-taui'),

Signet ring A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with a ...

, with cartouche of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun :
'Perfect God, Lord of the Two Lands' – ('Neter-Nefer, Neb-taui') File:Egyptian - Scarab with Spread Wings - Walters 421430 - Back.jpg, Faience pectoral scarab with spread wings, The

Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

. File:Bead net with scarab HARGM3698.JPG, Faience pectoral scarab with spread wings and bead net, Royal Pump Room, Harrogate File:Scarab550bc.jpg, A modern scarab produced for the tourist trade. File:Amenophis III Blue Glazed lion hunt Scarab - top view - HARGM3683.JPG, Amenophis III lion hunt Scarab – top view, Royal Pump Room, Harrogate File:Amenophis III Blue Glazed lion hunt Scarab - base view - HARGM3683.JPG, Amenophis III lion hunt Scarab – base view, Royal Pump Room, Harrogate File:Tutankhamun pendant with Wadjet.jpg, A pendant in the shape of a winged scarab carrying the

Eye of Horus The Eye of Horus, ''wedjat'' eye or ''udjat'' eye is a concept and symbol in ancient Egyptian religion that represents well-being, healing, and protection. It derives from the mythical conflict between the god Horus with his rival Set, in wh ...

, from the treasury of

Tut's tomb Pyramid is a patience or solitaire game of the Simple Addition family, where the object is to get all the cards from the pyramid to the foundation. The object of the game is to remove pairs of cards that add up to a total of 13, the equivalent ...

Footnotes

References

Sources

* Andrews, Carol, 1994. ''Amulets of Ancient Egypt,'' chapter 4: ''Scarabs for the living and funerary scarabs,'' pp. 50–59, Andrews, Carol, 1993, University of Texas Press; (softcover, ) * * * Blankenberg-van Delden, C., 1969
''The large commemorative scarabs of Amenhotep III''
Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui, Vol. 15. Leiden: E.J. Brill. . * Budge, 1977, (1926). ''The Dwellers on the Nile,'' E. A. Wallis Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1977, (originally, c 1926, by Religious Tract Society, titled as: ''The Dwellers on the Nile: Chapter of the Life, History, Religion and Literature of the Ancient-Egyptians''); pp 265–268: ''"account of the hunting of wild cattle by Amenhetep III"'', "taken from a great scarab"; (there are 16

register Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

s-(lines) of hieroglyphs); (softcover, ) * * Kerrigan, Michael. "Tiy's Wedding Scarab." The Ancients in Their Own Words. N.p.: Fall River, 2009. 54–55. Print. * * * Schulz, R., Seidel, M. ''Egypt, The World of the Pharaohs,'' Eds. Regine Schulz and Matthias Seidel, (w/ 34 contributing Authors), (Konemann, Germany), c 1998. ''( 2 ) Scarab seals,'' (as

s), (Top/Bottom, 1.5 cm), and ''"Commemorative Scarab"'' of

, (Top/Bottom hieroglyphs), p. 353. (hardcover, ) * * * Ward, John, and F. L. Griffith. The Sacred Beetle: A Popular Treatise on Egyptian Scarabs in Art and History. Five hundred examples of scarabs and cylinders, the translations by F. Llewellyn Griffith. London: John Murray, 1902.

External links

1.1 cm Scaraboid impression seal.

Hapy Hapi ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥʿpy'') was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.Wilkinson, p.106 Hapi was gre ...

, Nile god holding Water-vessel, and kneeling on

hieroglyph A hieroglyph ( Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatoni ...

for ''"Lord"'', "Lord of the Nile". (Click on picture. Top, and bottom views.)
'Positive-impression' cowrie-scaraboid.
''Collection of Ten'' scaraboid seals. (Click on picture. Top, and bottom views.)
Hatshepsut: from Queen to Pharaoh
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains a significant amount of material on scarabs (see index)
Scarab beetles and the people of Ancient Egypt
Great video on scarab beetles.
Heart Scarab Amulet
Picture of a Heart Scarab Amulet from the British Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarab (Artifact) Egyptian amulets Egyptian artefact types Ancient Egyptian symbols Egyptian hieroglyphs: invertebrates and lesser animals Seals (insignia) Insects in culture Insects in religion Insects in art Beetles and humans

Description

Religious significance of the scarab beetle

Historical development

Commemorative scarabs

Funerary scarabs

Scarabs with royal names

Scarab rings

Literary and popular culture reference

Scarabs showing top and inscriptions

See also

Footnotes

References

Sources

External links