Symbols In Ancient Egyptian Religion

Throughout history, religion has been a topic that has remained in our society and cultures. Each religion in different cultures has developed their own sets of customs that have been practiced till this day. Cultures use different types of symbols that represent their beliefs. Some cultures use statues and pictures to express their beliefs in their homes. Others like to wear necklaces and bracelets that have different symbols like a cross, the Star of David, saints and other religious symbols. One of the many cultures is Egypt religion; they used scarabs to symbolize their own sun god to bring his own rebirth. They had different styles of scarabs that people would use and wear. As today, in the catholic religion people have different rosaries

The scarab beetle was used as a symbol of “the rising sun being pushed across the sky exemplifying the notion that the sun god can create his own means of rebirth.”(pg.1) Egyptians would cut a gem shape like a beetle and engraved names, dates, and have different geometric patterns. Ancient Egypt had different numbers of scarab; one of them is the heart scarab. It is a large amulet and its made out of green stone. The heart scarab was placed on the mummy to “control the consciousness and memory of the deceased.”(pg.2) Another scarab is the winged scarab. Similar to the heart scarab but it had wings and it would be placed on the heart of the mummy. The commemorative scarab is a two-sided stone where one side has the beetle and the other side is inscribed with a message from the royal family. It played different types of social roles, like “spreading knowledge of royal achievements, status, and wealth throughout elite society in Egypt and beyond, creating a kind of mobile and personalized propaganda network.” The last scarab was an amulet where the owner would be able to wear the object as a ring, necklace, or bracelet. It had personal names, kings’ name, or geometric designs. These types of scarabs were different but it had the same symbol which could have been the shape of a beetle or have an actual beetle