The
scarab, for the Egyptians a type of the rising sun and hence of the
renewal of life after death, was copied by the Phoenicians from the
Egyptian types and modified in various ways to suit the religious
fancies of the various lands to which they bore the products of their
art. Much of the original significance of this symbol must have been
lost; probably in many cases little was left but a vague idea that an
amulet of this form would bring good luck to the wearer and guard from
harm.
Funeral
scarabs were often made of jasper, amethyst, lapis-lazuli, ruby, or
carnelian, with the names of gods, kings, priests, officials, or
private persons engraved on the base; occasionally monograms or floral
devices were engraved. Sometimes the base of the scarab was
heart-shaped and at others the scarab was combined with the "utat," or
eye of Horus, and also with the frog, typifying revivification. Set in
rings they were placed on the fingers of the dead, or else, wrapped in
linen bandages, they rested on the heart of the deceased, a type of the
sun which rose each day to renewed life. They were symbols of the
resurrection of the body.2
