The Egyptian Scarab beetle was a symbol of rebirth, great power, guide and protection in the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri, the scarab-faced god who represented the rising or morning sun, renewed the sun every day by rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it again the next day creating an endless cycle of life and death. This beetle rolls dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs so that the larvae hatch and are immediately surrounded by food therefore seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of the idea of rebirth or regeneration.
The Egyptian Scarab beetle was a symbol of rebirth, great power, guide and protection in the afterlife. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri, the scarab-faced god who represented the rising or morning sun, renewed the sun every day by rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it again the next day creating an endless cycle of life and death. This beetle rolls dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs so that the larvae hatch and are immediately surrounded by food therefore seen as a symbol of this heavenly cycle and of the idea of rebirth or regeneration.