The scarab beetle was an exceedingly popular symbol in the art of Ancient Egypt, thought to represent the sun god, Ra. 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.
Falcon-headed figures such as the ones represented on this scarab are frequently found on Canaanite scarabs of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1700–1500 B.C., contemporary with the Second Intermediate Period in Egypt) and are usually depicted grasping a flower, a branch or a cobra. Even though these are of Canaanite manufacture, these scarabs show the falcon-headed figure paired with Egyptian signs and symbols and it is therefore very likely they represent the Egyptian god Horus.
To discover more about amulets in the Ancient Egyptian world, please visit our relevant post: Amulets in Ancient Egypt.
