Faience scarab beetle

Faience   is a type of ceramic made from powdered quartz and limestone mixed with wood-ash or natron (a naturally occurring compound of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate). Pieces of faience were usually given a copper glaze to give this wonderful turquoise colour.

This object represents a real Egyptian beetle – the scarab beetle (Scarabaeus sacer). A kind of dung beetle, they collect animal poo and roll it into a ball. The ball is buried and eaten by the adult beetle or used to feed a newly hatched beetle larva.

As the ancient Egyptians saw scarab beetles emerge, seemingly spontaneously, from dung, they associated them with the process of creation and to the creator-god Khepri. Khepri was depicted with a scarab beetle face. Scarab beetles were also linked with the sun-god Ra as the sun was seen to be pushed through the sky as a scarab beetle rolls a ball of dung. From these associations scarab beetles were considered sacred.

Adult beetles are black with projections on their head and front legs that help them dig and form balls. They also look a bit like the sun’s rays.

Visual description: A small oval amulet carved in the shape of a scarab beetle. The round back is carved to show the different sections of the shell. There are holes at regular intervals around the side, showing where it would have originally been connected to a pair of wings, which are laid out on either side of the main body. The surfaces of the wings and body are mottled with shades of turquoise and brown.