Scarab Jewelry
The Religious and the Decorative
With Egyptian jewelry, the scarab is a symbol of protection, vitality and good luck - stemming from the belief that the beetle itself is a symbol of regeneration and rebirth[3]. The jewelry has been made from many different materials, spanning the gamut from enamels on plain stone to clay, soapstone, green basalt, glass, and many other materials[3]. With the coloration of the enamels, the most common colors of the scarab jewelry that ensued were red, blue and green[3]. The colors were even stemmed from symbolism - meaning the sun, the river Nile, and new life, respectively[3]. Some scarabs were - and still are - even made from brightly colored semi-precious gemstones such as Lapis Lazuli, turquoise and carnelian[3]. The Heart Scarab The Heart Scarab is a particular scarab that was emphasized in ancient Egyptian cultures. Generally it was carved out of a range of green and dark colored materials, the large amulet being wrapped in the bandages of the deceased and laid over their heart[3,7]. On the amulet, there is a flat side that lays against the heart of the deceased, and that is inscribed with chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead[7]. As seen below, the inscription deals with the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, in which the deceased swears that he or she did not commit any offenses to any of the divine judges, and their heart is weighed against the feather of Truth and Justice (known as Maat[8].) If the heart and the feather balanced, the deceased was granted a place in the afterlife, but if it didn't, the "gobbler" devoured the heart before the deceased was sent to a place not unlike limbo[8]. The inscription, roughly translated, reads as follows: "O my heart that I received from my mother, my heart that I have had since birth, my heart that was with me through all the stages of my life, do not stand up against me as a witness! Do not oppose me at the tribunal! Do not tip the scales against me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance! You are my ka of my body, you are the creator god Khnum who makes my limbs sound. Go forth to the Hereafter..."[7] In Modern Times Any more, there is not as much significance placed on the scarab. It is seen now more as what it truly is - a dung beetle. There are some that still hold onto the scarab being a good luck charm, but in modern cultures there is not the emphasis that the ancient Egyptians put on it. It is seen more as a simple ornament than a luck and vitality charm. |