Mummy Beetles

It’s ironic, if that’s the right word for it, that the noble scarab beetle celebrated by the ancient Egyptians, which appears in their artwork and sacred symbols, their hieroglyphics and jewelry, is in actuality a dung beetle. It’s true. The ancient Egyptians thought that the scarab rolling a ball of dung along the ground was symbolic of the magical forces that moved the sun across the sky. The god Khepri, representing the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab or with a scarab for a head. (Unlike in the THE MUMMY films, scarabs are not carnivorous and don’t attack people, not even Brendan Fraser.)

A tomb has been opened in Saqqara, the necropolis of Memphis, containing mummified scarab beetles. This indicates the reverence in which these insects were held by the Egyptians. I knew that they made mummies out of cats sometimes, and falcons, and even crocodiles. But I’d never heard of mummified scarabs before. “The scarab [mummies are] something really unique. It is something really a bit rare,” said Mostafa Waziri, the secretary-general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. The scarabs were interred in their own decorated sarcophagi. They got bling.

I have to ask, though: how exactly does one go about mummifying an insect?

By TheCheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS, specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced, and directed (and occasionally acted in) over two dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and True Crime genres. He obtained a doctorate in Occult Studies from Miskatonic University and is an active paranormal investigator. Is frequently told he resembles Anton Lavey. And Ming the Merciless. Denn die totden reiten schnell!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: