Two figures ·  Africa-Antiques, Egypt · ID: 3038733

Description

Osiris figure, bronze, holding hoes for work in the hereafter, min. dam., slight traces of corrosion, h: 5 cm; stone scarab, dam., missing parts, slight traces of abrasion, l: 2 cm;
ancient Egyptian scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt. According to ancient mythos, the sun (Ra) rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, which rolls dung into a ball for the purposes of eating and laying eggs (which would be later transformed into larva), the scarab was seen as an earthly symbol of this heavenly cycle. This came to be iconographic, and ideological symbols were incorporated into Ancient Egyptian society.