The scarab beetle was an exceedingly popular symbol in the art of Ancient Egypt, thought to represent the sun god, Ra. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the scarab beetle rolling its ball of dung across the desert mirrored the journey of the sun across the sky from day to night. As the beetle laid its eggs within the dung, it became a symbol of rebirth and regeneration.
The term ‘Hyksos’ can be traced back to the Egyptian expression ‘heka khasewet’, which means, “rulers of foreign lands”. The Hyksos of the fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling during the Second Intermediate Period, were thus of non-Egyptian origin, most likely Canaanite. The Hyksos Kingdom was centred in the lower Nile region and Middle Egypt. It was limited in size, never extending south into Upper Egypt, and it had Memphis as its capital. Hyksos scarabs often feature hieroglyphs with no specific translation, but are an amalgamation of apotropaic and culturally important signs. The papyrus plant motif, as seen here, represented renewal and life, but also symbolised the dominion of the Hyksos in Lower Egypt.
To find out more about Ancient Egyptian amulets please see our relevant blog post: Egyptian Amulets and their Meanings.
