Egyptian Scarab Beetle

The Egyptian Scarab Beetle God Khepri

Alternative Names: CHEPRI, KHEPER, KHEPERA, KEHPERI

The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri, in the form of a gigantic scarab, rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky, then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern horizon. Each morning Khepri would renew the sun so that it could give life to all the world.

As a deity closely associated with resurrection, Khepri was believed to be swallowed by his mother, Nut each evening and passed through her body to be reborn each morning. Khepri is also closely associated with Ra and Atum. Later funerary texts combine Khepri with Atum into a ram-headed beetle, a portrayal of the supreme god overseeing the cycle of life and death.

Khepri is one of the oldest Egyptian gods, mentioned as far back as the 5th Dynasty (ca 2494-2345 BC) in the Pyramid Texts.