THE SHRINE OF
KHEPRA


Khepri was the one of the class of Egyptian gods associated with a particular animal. Khepri was the sacred scarab. The scarab is a type of dung beetle common throughout Egypt. The word Kheper means "scarab" in Egyptian and Khepri was also known as Khepera. The scarab's habit of laying eggs in animal dung as well as the bodies of dead scarabs was noticed by the Egyptians. The subsequent hatching of the eggs from this seemingly unpromising material lead to the Egyptians associating the scarab with renewal, rebirth and resurrection. The scarab's habit of rolling up dung into spheres and pushing it across the ground was also noted by the Ancient Egyptians. Khepri was often associated with the Sun and was conceived as a gigantic scarab rolling the Sun before him across the sky. The renewal and rebirth associated with the scarab also came into play here. Khepri renewed the Sun each day before rolling it above the horizon and carried it safely through the other world after sunset to renew it the next day. Khepri was variously represented as a scarab, a man with the face of a scarab and a man whose head was surmounted by a scarab. Khephra (Keper) The creator-god, according to early Heliopolitan cosmology; considered a form of Ra. The Egyptian root "kheper" signifies several things, according to context, most notably the verb "to create" or "to transform", and also the word for "scarab beetle". The scarab, or dung beetle, was considered symbolic of the sun since it rolled a ball of dung in which it laid its eggs around with it - this was considered symbolic of the sun god propelling the sphere of the sun through the sky. In later Heliopolitan belief, which named the sun variously according to the time of the day, Khephra was the nighttime form of the sun. In one Egyptian creation myth, the sun god Ra takes the form of Khepri, the scarab god who was usually credited as the great creative force of the universe. Khepri tells us,"Heaven and earth did not exist. And the things of the earth did not yet exist. I raised them out of Nu, from their stagnant state. I have made things out of that which I have already made, and they came from my mouth." It seems that Khepri is telling us that in the beginning there is nothing. He made the watery abyss known as Nu, from which he later draws the materials needed for the creation of everything. He goes on to say, "I found no place to stand. I cast a spell with my own heart to lay a foundation in Maat. I made everything . I was alone. I had not yet breathed the god Shu, and I had not yet spit up the goddess Tefnut. I worked alone." We learn that by the use of magic Khepri creates land with its foundation in Maat (law, order, and stability). We also learn that from this foundation many things came into being. At this point in time Khepri is alone. The sun, which was called the eye of Nu, was hidden by the children of Nu. It was a long time before these two deities, Shu and Tefnut were raised out of the watery chaos of their father, Nu. They brought with them their fathers eye, the sun. Khepri then wept profusely, and from his tears sprang men and women. The gods then made another eye, which probably represents the moon. After this Khepri created plants and herbs, animals, reptiles and crawling things. In the mean time Shu and Tefnut gave birth to Geb and Nut, who in turn gave birth to Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys.