Scarab
The dung-beetle amulet of ancient Egypt, a sign of new life and the rising sun.
Also: scarab beetle, Khepri, heart scarab, dung beetle amulet
The scarab is the Egyptian image of the dung beetle, which rolls a ball of dung along the ground. The Egyptians saw it as a symbol of the sun rising, and the god Khepri, whose name is linked to the verb to come into being, was drawn with a beetle's head. Scarabs were carved from stone, faience and semi-precious gems, worn as rings and seals, and placed in graves from the Old Kingdom for about three thousand years. A heart scarab, laid on a mummy, was inscribed with a spell from the Book of the Dead asking that the heart not speak against its owner at the judgement. Scarabs spread to Phoenicia, Greece and Etruria, and are now collected and widely copied.