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.

Khepri emerged from the waters of his parentage, thus making him a self created god. So even though some believe that he was offspring of his parents, the majority would believe that Khepri made himself. And that is what I presume as well. Khepri is also sibling to Ra and Atum, but he takes the form of the rising sun as an appearance of Ra with his sibling Atum being the setting sun. Therefore, Khepri is a creation god of the sun, alike Ra and Atum.

The appearance of Khepri is somewhat like the other Egyptian gods, but there are some distinct differences. He held an object with a cross and a loop called an ankh. It symbolized life or things that provided life, like the sun and/or water. Another held item was the Was Scepter. That was an icon of power and authority, therefore meaning that Khepri maintained power over some. Instead of a crown like pretty much all the other immortals wear, the scarab beetle, his mascot, is literally a crown for Khepri. He has blue and gold cuffs on his wrists, biceps, and shins. A jeweled gold and white garment winds around his hip area. He is usually depicted as a scarab beetle with horned antennae and the wings of a hawk. Compared to the other Egyptian gods, Khepri’s attire really does stand out.

Finally, I will explain about why Khepri’s relation to a scarab beetle was so vital to the Egyptian people.

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

Earth.

    In conclusion, I will say that Khepri is honestly a very interesting god to know about. To the people of Ancient Egypt, Khepri was truly an important, self made immortal that provided vital needs. I do hope that you found something fascinating about this strangely dressed insect immortal in my research paper. With that, I will finish this report on Khepri, god of scarab beetles.