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. These scarab beetle amulets were made in various forms, such as heart scarabs, commemorative scarabs, and scarab amulets, thus catering to different functions. Scarab amulets were believed to have magical rejuvenating properties, used by both the living and the dead.
The Egyptian god Hapy (or Hapi) was the personification of the annual flooding of the river Nile. He was both a god of Upper and Lower Egypt and was depicted slightly differently in each region. Within Upper Egypt he was frequently depicted with the areas respective heraldic plant; the papyrus. Whilst in Lower Egypt, Hapy was often crowned with the heraldic lotus plant. He was associated with a number of gods and goddesses, including Nun, Osiris and Ra. Hapy was sometimes thought of as the father of the sun god, Ra, who rose up from the waters of Nun on the day of creation, and thus would be the father of all life forms.
To find out more about Ancient Egyptian amulets please see our relevant blog post: Egyptian Amulets and their Meanings.
