Scarab Mythology

Dung beetles, often referred to as 'Scarabs', have been noticed by mankind for a long time. In ancient Egypt the scarab (or dung beetle) was their most important religious symbol. The ancient Egyptians saw the daily rising and falling of the sun in the behavior of the scarab beetle Kheper aegyptiorum.

The general beliefs of the myth were based upon the behaviors of the beetle, which stand on their fore legs, rolling balls of dung with its back legs. Adult dung beetles push a ball of dung backwards toward a burrow. The Egyptians interpreted this behavior as the movement of the sun from east to west. The ancient sun god Khepri was viewed as a great scarab beetle rolling the sun across the sky; each day the sun would be reborn. The scarab beetle was used to symbolize rebirth after death.

For more information, see Gordon Ramel’s webpage at http://www.earthlife.net/insects/dung.html