Adapted with permission from "Artifacts of Ancient Civilizations" and "Egyptian Scarabs"
by Alex G. Malloy and Peter Sharrer, expanded and updated by Joseph Sermarini
Illustrations by Irene Fraley.
Along with the pyramids, sphinxes, and mummies, the scarabs are one of the most familiar objects representing Egypt. Scarabs have been collected for centuries and were particularly popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Popularity decreased during the Great Depression and they have never regained their status as a hobby collectible of the elite. The benefit of diminished popularity for collectors today is that very rare and interesting scarabs are far more affordable than might be expected for such important historical pieces.
The scarab illustrated above is imitative of the Scarabaeus venerabilis. Scarabaeus sacer is the Latin name for the dung beetle. Today most people do not have great appreciation for this insect, but this variety and several other members of the family Scarabaeidae, were sacred to the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians connected the beetles' habits of rolling balls of dung around their eggs with the concept of eternal life in the after-world. The meaning of Kheper or Scarab was "becoming, being, metamorphosing, generation, new life, virility, and resurrection." Representations of the beetle were an essential symbol in Egyptian art and a whole class of seals and amulets were made in its image.
These little amulets of beetle form often bear hieroglyphic designs on their base, including good luck wishes, the names gods, and the names of individuals both noble and common. The most obviously interesting scarabs are those with names of kings, of the royal family, and of officials. Pharaohs were worshiped as gods, and the names of the current pharaoh or a popular deceased pharaohs, such as Thothemes III, were used to bring good luck to the bearer.
Scarabs were manufactured in a wide variety of materials including steatite, faience, stone, glass, and bone, from the Old Kingdom through the Roman period. The most common material used was steatite. Scarabs are always to be understood to be steatite or schist unless otherwise described. Steatite is also known as soapstone, a medium for carving for thousands of years. Steatite also denotes a glassy ceramic material made from soapstone, used by ancient civilizations to make beads, amulets, seals and scarabs. To make the ceramic-like material, steatite was sometimes mixed with additives, it was either carved or molded into the desired shape, and was then heated to a temperature between 1000 and 1200 °C. At that temperature the surface of steatite will vitrify, fusing into the glassy substances enstatite and cristobalite. On the Mohs scale, the change increases hardness from 1 to between 5.5 and 6.5.
To the novice, all styles of scarabs probably look much alike; but to an accustomed eye the specialties of each dynasty, and even of separate reigns, are very clear. The distinction of the styles of scarabs is as much a special subject as the discrimination of the manner of painters, and as invisible to those who are unfamiliar with the study.
All the brown scarabs (which are a majority) were originally green glazed; while most of the white ones (excepting possibly some of Amenhotep III) were originally blue. There are also the white and grey ones without any glaze remaining, which were either blue or green. The evidences for these transformations are innumerable in the half-way stages, not only scarabs, but also ushabtis. Where the color has changed and the original can be still see, it is usually noted; as green gone brown or blue gone white, for example.
Heart scarabs functioned as a replacement of the heart organ of a mummy, and represented the person or spirit of the deceased individual. The earliest heart scarabs appeared during the second intermediate period (c. 1700 B.C.) and became relatively more common during the New Kingdom. If inscribed, heart scarabs, usually include text from chapter XXXb of the Book of the Dead...
My heart, my mother; my heart, my mother.
My heart whereby I come into being.
May there be nothing to withstand me at my judgement;
may there be no resistance against me by the Tchatcha;
may there be not parting of thee from me
in the presence of him who keeps the Scales!
Thou are my ka within my body, which knit and
strengthen my limbs. May thou come forth in
the place of happiness to which I advance.
May the Shenit, who make men to stand fast,
not cause my name to stink.
(revised translation based on Budge, E. A Wallis, The Egyptian Book of the Dead, page 309.)
Scarabs serve an extremely important role in the discovery of Egyptian history, much as coins serve in the discovery of Western history. The names of most known pharaohs have been found on scarabs. Although the most popular pharaohs' names were revived and used on commemorative scarabs hundreds of years after their death, most scarabs were made during the lifetime of the individuals named. Some pharaohs and officials are known to us only from scarabs and the dates of their reigns were determined only by the archaeological context of scarab finds and by the art and fabric of the scarabs that name them. Scarabs not only have identified the names and dated the reigns of the pharaohs, changes in the style and manufacture of scarabs serves as an index to changes in the civilization. Without the study of scarabs, a large part of our knowledge of ancient Egypt would have been lost.
The designs of each scarab is usually unique. Even for the most common pharaoh, exact duplicate hieroglyphics of his name and title are rare. The backs are equally varied, and seldom will a drawing of one scarab accurately represent a second specimen. This makes identification of scarabs challenging and requires comparisons with sets of type drawings.
The major criteria for pricing scarabs are: quality, condition, rarity, historical interest and size. Quality, perhaps even better called eye-appeal, is an overall appraisal of the beauty of the scarab and is often the most important price factor. Fine naturalistic style increases value. Beautiful glaze colors, vivid glass, and intense semi-precious stone hues increase value. Larger size increases value. Rarity increases value. Attractive, historically important (royal) or interesting hieroglyphics increase value.
Of the literature available on scarabs, the majority was published between the last quarter of the 19th century through the period just before the Second World War. As a general introduction, one could select from any of a number of works from this period, but W.M.F. Petrie's classic work Scarabs and Cylinders with Names, published in 1917, serves this purpose admirably and is included here, online in its entirety.
11th 2134 - 1991 BC
12th 1991 - 1803 BC
13th 1803 - 1649 BC
14th 1705 - 1690 BC
15th (Hyksos) 1674 - 1535 BC
16th (Hyksos) 1660 - 1600 BC
17th (Theban) 1650 - 1549 BC
18th 1549 - 1292 BC
19th 1292 - 1186 BC
20th 1186 - 1069 BC
21st 1069 - 945 BC
22nd 945 - 720 BC
23rd 837 - 728 BC
24th 732 - 720 BC
25th (Kushite-Ethiopian) 732 - 653 BC
26th 672 - 525 BC
27th (1st Persian) 525 - 404 BC
28th 404 - 398 BC
29th 398 - 380 BC
30th 380 - 343 BC
31st (2nd Persian) 343 - 332 BC
scaraboid
Historical Scarabs
Malloy Scarabs
Lahun II
Scarab Veneration
Scarabs and Cylinders
Religious Aspects of the |Scarab|
Varieties of Scarabs
Scarab Head Types
Dating Scarabs
Making of Scarabs
Old Kingdom Scarabs
Earliest Age of Scarabs
Middle Kingdom Scarabs
New Kingdom Scarabs
Late Period to Roman Period |Scarabs|
*Reference not held by Forum
Fraser, G. A Catalog of the Scarabs belonging George Fraser. (London, 1900).
