Jake Lindy

Professor Liliya Krys-Burhoe

Art History 1
19 February 2015
I was assigned the Egyptian God Khepri for our Deity Assignment. Khepri
(also known as Khepera, Khepar, Khepra, and Chepri) means He who is coming into
being in Egyptian. Egyptions connected his name with kheper, which meant to
develop or come into being.
Khepri is associated with the Scarab Beetle, due to the fact that scarabs roll
dung balls across the ground and the people of Egypt saw this as a representation
of the powers that move the sun across the sky. Young dung beetles also lay eggs in
the dung ball, which hatch and emerge fully formed. Therefore, Khepri is known as
the God of Sunrise, the personification of dawn; and also represented creation and
rebirth. Due to the theme of regeneration, Khepri was also associated with Osiris,
god of the Underworld.
Due to his association with scarabs, Khepri was most commonly represented
as one. Although, in some paintings laid in tombs and funeral papyri he was
represented as a human male with a scarab for a head. The Scarab amulets worn by
Egyptions as jewelry and seals represent Khepri. The Ankh and Was Sceptre are also
representative of Khepri.
Khepri, along with Atom, are subordinate to a greater god, Ra. Khepri is
representative of the morning sun, Ra the mid-day sun, and Atom the evening sun.
Ra was one of, if not the most prominent figure in Egyption Deity. Khepri, however,

had no cult or group of people devoted to him directly. Khepri, Ra and Atom were all
worshipped at the Heliopolis, a center for the worship of the Sun God.

I found this historical image of Khepri on the Metropolitan Museum of Art website.
Titled Relief panel showing two baboons offering the wedjat eye to the sun god
Khepri, who holds the Underworld sign. It exemplifies Khepris association with
Orisis due to their involvement with the theme of regeneration.

I found this historical image of a representation of Khepri on The British Museum

website. Titled Steatite heart scarab amulet, it displays the strong connection that
Egyptians had with their belief in the gods as Khepri is represented as a scarab.

Works Cited
"Khepri, God of Egypt." Khepri ***. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.landofpyramids.org/khepri.htm>.
"Relief Panel Showing Two Baboons Offering the Wedjat Eye to the Sun God Khepri, Who Holds the
Underworld Sign | Macedonian-Ptolemaic Period." Relief Panel Showing Two Baboons Offering
the Wedjat Eye to the Sun God Khepri, Who Holds the Underworld Sign. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb.
2015. <http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/549700>.
"Steatite Heart Scarab Amulet." British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/s/steatite_heart_scarab_
amulet.aspx>.