Khepri | |
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Other Names |
Khepri, Khepera, Kheper, Khepra, Chepri |
First Appearance |
Egyptian Myth |
Created by |
Egyptian Myth |
Origin[]
Khepri is a scarab-faced god in ancient Egyptian religion who represents the rising or morning sun. By extension, he can also represent creation and the renewal of life.
Khepri was a solar deity and thus connected to the rising sun and the mythical creation of the world. The god and the scarab beetle represented creation and rebirth. There was no cult devoted to Khepri, as he was seen as a manifestation of the more promient solar deity Ra. The scarab god was however included in the creationist theory of Heliopolis and later Thebes. Often, Khepri and another solar deity, Atum, were seen as aspects of Ra: Khepri represented the morning sun, Ra was the midday sun, and Atum represented the evening sun.
As a deity, Khepri's four main functions were creator, protector, sun-god, and the god of resurrection. The central belief surrounding Khepri was the god's ability to renew life, in the same way he restored the sun's existence every morning. Mummified scarab beetles and scarab amulets have been found in pre-dynastic graves, suggesting that Khepri was respected early on in the history of Ancient Egypt.
Khepri was depicted as either a scarab holding aloft the sun disk or as a human male with a scarab for a head. The scarab amulets that the Egyptians used as jewelry and as seals allude to Khepri and the newborn sun. The beetle carvings became so common that excavators have found them throughout the Mediterranean.
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of Kherpi from before January 1, 1929 are in the public domain in the US.