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Symbolism
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THE
SCARAB "KHEPER"
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The Egyptian
scarab named Kheper (or Khepri) is one of the most sacred
symbols. It was associated to the development, we often find
it in cartouches of painted tomb flanked with the names of
pharaohs symbolizing "one who becomes" or "one who is reborn
by himself". Kheper was an important
deity often depicted holding the solar disk on the head or
as a man from head of scarab whose name means "the evolving".
This is because the symbolism of rebirth originates from the
natural behavior of scarab stercorary be wrapped its eggs
in a ball of dung from which leave the new born, as if they
were generated by themselves, and therefore also the soul
of the pharaoh reborn as a phoenix itself.
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The scarab contains
solar symbols ascending and descending (the path of the Sun, from
sunrise to sunset), which show through the open wings, but also
lunar symbols the 28 hours as gestation of eggs that are associated
to 28 days cycle of the moon. For this reason mummies was put on
a scarab between bandages (gold and silver for the dualism Sun-Moon)
to symbolize the experience of life that the deceased should not
be missed to transform into. It is also one of the most frequently
used hieroglyphs and, in fact, to write the terms "birth, transform,
come into existence, evolve or become." Today is considered a powerful
lucky.
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(Left) The God
Kheper, unlike other Egyptian Neteru not present a human or
animal face, but his face is the insect body. The result is
rather strange and funny at the same time. This is a very
important deity, and therefore its representation was inevitable:
it is often seen in tombs real. Beautiful examples of sacred
beetles were found in the inviolate tomb of Tutankhamen, as
the chest depicted in opening. |
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