Scarab (artifact)


Scarabs were popular amulets and impression seals in ancient Egypt. They survive in large numbers and, through their inscriptions and typology, they 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, amulets in the form of scarab beetles had become enormously popular in Ancient Egypt by the early Middle Kingdom 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 apparently created for political or diplomatic purposes to commemorate or advertise royal achievements. By the early New Kingdom, heart scarabs had become part of the battery of amulets protecting mummies.
From the middle Bronze Age, other ancient peoples of the Mediterranean and the Middle East imported scarabs from Egypt and also produced scarabs in Egyptian or local styles, especially in the Levant.
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 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 to form an impression seal. 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. Heart scarabs were made for a specific funerary purpose and should be considered separately.
Scarabs were generally either carved from stone or moulded from Egyptian faience. 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, a soft stone which becomes hard when fired. Hardstone scarabs were also made and the stones most commonly used were green jasper, amethyst and carnelian.
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 sun god Ra is seen to roll across the sky each day, transforming bodies and souls. Beetles of the family Scarabaeidae roll dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs; this way, the larvae hatch and are immediately surrounded by food. For these reasons the scarab was seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of 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, the next day. A golden scarab of Nefertiti was discovered in the Uluburun wreck.

Historical development

By the end of the First Intermediate Period scarabs had become extremely common. They largely replaced cylinder seals 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 New Kingdom 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

is famous for having commemorative scarabs made. These were large 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. 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 at major temples during the reign of Thuthmosis III. The tradition was revived centuries later during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, when the Kushite pharaoh Shabaka 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 rites. There are, however, three types of specifically funerary scarabs, heart scarabs, pectoral scarabs and naturalistic scarabs.
Heart scarabs became popular in the early New Kingdom and remained in use until the Third Intermediate Period. They are large scarabs 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 hieroglyphs which name the deceased and repeat some or all of spell 30B from the Book of the Dead. The spell commands the deceased's heart 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 Twenty-fifth Dynasty onwards large 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 Khepri, who is often depicted in the same form.
A third kind of funerary scarab is the naturalistic scarab. These were relatively small scarabs 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 Egyptian 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 being sent to Hell 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.

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. It is now believed these were produced in later periods, most probably during the Twenty-fifth Dynasty or Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 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 New Kingdom king Thuthmosis III Men Kheper Re. 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 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 User Maat Re, 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