The Scarab God - Khepri

Apr 17, 2019

4 min read

Updated: Oct 25

I thought it might be fun to take a little time to introduce you to one of the key characters in both my historical fantasy books Genesis and House of Scarabs; the scarab-headed god, Khepri. He, after whom the entire series is named.

My Memories

Khepri might not be the most beautiful of the ancient Egyptian gods, or even one of the most important but, to me, he's one of the cutest. Mind you, my favourite animal is a hippo so beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder.

I first became aware of Khepri back in 1990 when I took my first visit to Egypt. I'd saved up for an eternity to visit the country of my dreams and a gulf-war was not going to stop me going. In fact my visit was magical. Tourism had dried up so we had most of the temples and sites to ourselves and a gaggle of the tour guides vying for our attention... it was bliss.

I remember walking through Karnak my mouth hanging open in wonder and awe. No amount of books or photos had prepared me for the majesty of the towering columns and the intricacy of the hieroglyphs. I walked though a side entrance and there was the sacred lake with a stunted pillar topped with a huge scarab beetle.

I had three tour guides with me because my fellow boat companions had come down with food poisoning, as a vegetarian I was the only one to escape its ravages. They weaved such stories about that scarab - convincing me that if I walked around the pillar in a certain direction, a prescribed number of times, I would find true love and fertility. As a 21 year old the story tickled me so I did as they suggested... I now wonder if the true love I found was Egypt, and the fertility was the wealth of friends and happiness I would discovery within her glorious boundaries.

It was those stories and that amazing trip that developed the cult of Khepri within my heart and why I love the little fellow so much. When you see those tiny beetles rolling the huge ball of dung you have to admire their voracity and sheer determination.

Khepri - The God

Khepri was the god of creation and rebirth. He was responsible for rolling the sun across the sky each day and dropping it over the horizon each evening, only to carry it back up into the sky again at dawn. Therefore he was part of the mythology of creation.

There was no cult of Khepri because as a solar deity he largely fell under the auspices of Ra. However he is depicted in most temples as either a scarab beetle or a man with a scarab beetle for a head. The ancient Egyptians often wore bracelets or carried amulets of a beetle. As part of the mummification process the body cavity often had amulets of Khepri placed inside them to help them make a successful passage to the after life.

The ancient Egyptians referred to the Book of the Dead for all mortuary related things. In the book it stated that a dead person's heart would be weighed against a feather by Anubis. If the heart was heavier they would be denied access to the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that to pass this test they must have a scarab beetle with their body so that Khepri could support their bid for eternal bliss. Many of the amulets were inscribed with spells from the Book of the Dead

So when writing about resurrection and rebirth it was not just a matter of my fondness for the god but also a historical necessity that I depict him within the series. From there the title House of Scarabs was born, with Khepri as the key god supported by the strength and might of Sobek (the crocodile god) and the protective powers and intelligence of Bastet (the cat god).

Places of Worship

Unlike most of the gods there are no temples dedicated to Khepri, or at least none that I could locate. However in the reign of Amenhotep III he created the pillar at Karnak Temple and a number of plaques that were spread from one end of the kingdom to the other.

An Interesting Fact: I'd written Genesis and House of Scarabs and included references to both the pillar and the plaques. When it came to deciding which pharaoh would be featured in the next book I decided upon Amenhotep III and when I started researching him I realised that he was the creator of the pillars and plaques. I hadn't known that previously... as with so many elements of these books I feel my hand was guided by an unknown force when writing about these items.

Khepri in Egyptian Mythology Fantasy Fiction

The ancient Egyptian god Khepri also plays a central role in House of Scarabs, a fast-paced supernatural fantasy adventure series by me, Hazel Longuet.

Inspired by Egyptian mythology and ancient history, the series imagines what might happen if Khepri, Bastet and Sobek had survived for 3,500 years, their divine essence hidden within ordinary humans.

Combining ancient Egyptian gods, archaeological mysteries, secret societies and modern-day adventure, House of Scarabs is ideal for readers who enjoy the supernatural thrills of The Mummy and the action-packed discoveries of Indiana Jones.