Scarabs

Scarab Essay

The Ancient Egyptians saw the scarabs as many different things. They never saw them as just plain beetles. To them they were amazing creatures that really affected their culture. They even wore them as jewelry and used it to protect them in the afterlife.

What are scarabs anyway? They are beetles who are in the family of the dung beetle and roll dung into balls. They do this to keep the babies warm and for food. The scarabs are insects. There are over 20,000 species of scarabs. Some of them, including Japanese beetles and June bugs, feed on plants and can hurt and devour the plants. How did scarabs affect Egyptian culture? They affected Egyptian culture a lot. The winged heart scarab keeps the heart from jumping up during the final judgment to see if the body will pass to the afterlife. They were sewn into mummy’s wrappings also as a lot of different amulets. The scarab was associated with the sun god. The god of the sun was known as Re. The scarabs were thought to roll the sun across the sky like they do dung. The scarab jewelry was often pictured on boats. There was a spell written on the back of the scarabs. The scarab beetles helped in the afterlife. It guaranteed safe passage to the afterlife. The spell to stop the heart from jumping during final judgment was inscribed on the amulet.

Egyptian culture is very interesting and full of tradition. They were strong believers in the afterlife and thought the scarab beetle could help. Egyptian culture was extremely important to them and allowed them to do everything that they did. The Egyptians lead the way in culture and architecture. Egypt was very important to the forward movement of civilizations.

bibliography:

James Putnam, //Mummy//, New York, Darling Kindersly 1993

Zahi Hawass,//Tutankhamun the Golden King and the Great Pharoa//, National Geographic, Washington D.C.

Martison Candace, Scarabs, 13 January 2012 [|www.worldbookonline.com/student/arcticle?id=ar494008st=scarab+beetle].