Scarab Beetles
Scarab beetle pendants have featured in fine jewellery, art deco jewellery, modern jewellery, and antique jewellery. Mixologems sells scarab beetle pendants in the following semi-precious stones: amethyst, rose quartz, labradorite, citrine, smoky quartz and clear quartz. These scarab pendants are 18 carat and measure 18 x 13 mm. They are hand-carved semi-precious stones that have been created with care and love. They look great on their own or why not mix up a few together.
Scarabs are short-bodied beetles, many feature bright metallic colours, measuring between 1.5 and 160 mm. They have distinctive, clubbed antennae with plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odours.
Scarab, Latin scarabaeus, in ancient Egyptian religion, were an important symbol in the form of the dung beetle (Scarabaeus sacer), which lays its eggs in dung balls. This scarab beetle was linked with the divine manifestation of the early morning rising sun, Khepri, whose name was written with the scarab hieroglyph and who apparently rolled the disk of the morning sun over the eastern horizon as the sun rose.
Since the scarab hieroglyph, Kheper, refers to the ideas of existence, manifestation, development, growth, and effectiveness, the scarab beetle itself was a favourite form used for amulets in all periods of Egyptian history.
Scarabs of various materials, glazed steatite being most common, form an important class of Egyptian antiquities. They first appeared in the late Old Kingdom (c. 2575–c. 2130 BCE), when they evolved from the so-called button seals and scarabs remained a rarity until Middle Kingdom times (1938–c. 1630 BCE), when they were extremely fashionable. Some scarabs were used simply as ornaments, while others were purely used as amulets, such as the large basalt “heart scarabs” of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 BCE) and later times, which were placed in the bandages of mummies and were symbolically identified with the heart of those who had died. A winged scarab was sometimes placed on the breast of the mummy, and later a number of other scarabs were placed about the body.
The scarab represented the cycle of life and death and was seen as a form of protection. The extraordinary beetle has therefore been carved and molded into treasured accessories, pendants, charms and amulets throughout centuries.