Egypt: The Gods of Ancient Egypt - Khephir (kheper, khepera, khepri)

Khephri

Other Names: Kheper, Khepera Patron of: the sun, creation, life, resurrection.

Appearance: A scarab-headed man, a scarab, and a man wearing a scarab as a crown.

Description: The word kheper means scarab, and as the animal was associated with life and rebirth, so was Khephri. The scarab lays its eggs in a ball of dung and rolls it to hide in a safe place. From this unlikely substance the Egyptians observed new life emerging. Similarly, they believed that Khephri, in the form of a gigantic scarab, rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky, then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern horizon. Each morning Khephri would renew the sun so that it could give life to all the world.

See also:

  • Khephir, God of the Sun, Creation, Life and Resurrection Jimmy Dunn writing as Mark Andrews