Khepri: The Egyptian God of Scarab Beetles

The Egyptian God Khepri

When people first think of anything with beetles in its name, they would probably assume that it would have no connection to a god. In fact, some people think that beetles are merely miniscule insects that roam around aimlessly. Well, that judgement is incorrect. Khepri, whose name means “He who is Coming into Being”, is an Egyptian god who played very important roles as a deity to the civilization of Ancient Egypt. But who would have thought that the representation of this god was a scarab beetle? Read on to discover more about the god of scarab beetles, Khepri.

To begin with, Khepri was the son of Nu/Naunet, the primordial elemental god/goddess of water. But most people say that this concept is misinterpreted.

Firstly, the heart scarab amulets placed during the mummification rituals were weighed by Ma’at, the god of justice. It allowed him to see the people who were evildoers throughout the process called the Final Judgement. Later, Khepri combined with Atum to make a ram headed beetle, the most significant symbol of life’s victory over death. This occurrence defines why scarab beetles were figures of life and rebirth. Another the scarab beetle was so important was because of the sun. The sun, one of the most crucial aspects of nature, provided a lot. It gave them light in order to see, allowed plants to grow, and it ensured that warmth would keep them from freezing to death. In other words, the sun was a big deal to the people, so they spent a big deal of time honoring it. When someone saw a scarab beetle on the ground rolling a ball of dung, they saw the sun as the same ball being rolled through the sky by Khepri or a scarab beetle. Because of this, Khepri was worshipped in the Heliopolis, or “sun city.” So as you can see, Khepri was a very major god due to the fact that he supposedly rolled the sun from the underworld into the sky and across to the western horizon back into the underworld for the people on