The Egyptian Scarab Beetle God Khepri
Alternative
Names: CHEPRI, KHEPER, KHEPERA, KEHPERI
The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri, in the form
of a gigantic scarab, rolled the sun like a huge
ball through the sky, then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern
horizon. Each morning Khepri would renew the sun so that it could give
life to all the world.
As a deity closely associated with resurrection, Khepri was believed
to be swallowed by his mother, Nut each evening and passed through her
body to be reborn each morning. Khepri is also closely associated with
Ra and Atum. Later funerary texts combine Khepri with Atum into a ram-headed
beetle, a portrayal of the supreme god overseeing the cycle of life
and death.
Khepri is one of the oldest Egyptian gods, mentioned as far back
as the 5th Dynasty (ca 2494-2345 BC) in the Pyramid Texts.
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