KHEPRI

I. Names

The earliest secure attested reference to Khepri’s name is in the Pyramid Texts of Unis from the late Fifth Dynasty (2353–2323 BCE).¹ The hieroglyphs usually involve the kheper scarab, plus the eye and the seated figure with the crook (𓆣𓂋𓇋𓀭). As is typical of Egyptian gods, his name can simply be represented with the scarab hieroglyph. His name relates to the Egyptian verb 'to become'(ḫpr)² and the word 'beetle' (ḫprr) which was also used as a name of the dawn sun.³

Sources: Allen, James P., trans. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. 2nd ed. Writings from the Ancient World 38. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2015, Pyramid Text 222;¹ Faulkner, Raymond O. A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Oxford: Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, 1962, 188, s.v. “ḫpr,” “come into being, become”;² Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Khepri.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Last revised by Alicja Zelazko.³

II. Khepri

The Pyramid Texts show many distinct concepts related to his role. Already Khepri is identified with Atum in aspect, and many of the passages reference his ascent as the sun tied to Atum over and over.⁸ He is said to mount the hill of the world.⁹ The Pharaoh is said to climb upon his wings, and the goddess Neith lands upon his brow.¹⁰ In the Coffin Texts, Khepri becomes associated with Ra and Horus,¹¹ his connection to the eastern horizon is enhanced. Many parts related to becoming are indirectly said to be references to him.¹²

Sources: Allen, James P., trans. The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts. Edited by Peter Der Manuelian. Writings from the Ancient World 23. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2005, Pyramid Text 222 / Unis Spell 155;⁸ Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Pyramid Text 600;⁹ Allen, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, Neith Spell 6 / Pepi I Spell 567;¹⁰ Faulkner, R. O., trans. The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts. Vol. 1, Spells 1–354. Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1973, Coffin Text 307;¹¹ Allen, Thomas George, ed. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Documents in the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. Oriental Institute Publications 82. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.¹²

III. Epithets

IV. Temples

No securely attested temples to Khepri existed. Khepri was often represented as a symbolic deity in the Book of Gates, and therefore he often functioned as an aspect of Atum, Ra or even Horus.¹⁹²⁰ He is represented strongly at Heliopolis with the other gods of the sun.²¹ At Edfu, especially at the Temple of Horus, and the Hellenistic Dendera temples, he appears in quite a few contexts.²²²³

The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the underworld after sunset, only to renew it again the next day. Often in artistic contexts, he was depicted with baboons hailing him into the sky, animals believed by the Egyptians to greet the morning sun with their calls.

Sources: Minas-Nerpel, Martina. Der Gott Chepri: Untersuchungen zu Schriftzeugnissen und ikonographischen Quellen vom Alten Reich bis in griechisch-römische Zeit. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 154. Leuven: Peeters, 2006;¹⁹ Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago. “A Khepri ‘My Scarab.’” January 27, 2015;²⁰ Mercer, Samuel A. B., trans. The Pyramid Texts. New York: Longmans, Green, 1952, Utterance 600, §§1652a–c;²¹ Gaber, Amr. “The Ten Dead Deities of the Temple of Dendera.” Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 142, no. 1 (2015): 27–40;²² Klotz, Dieter. “Two Curious Orthographies for Khepri.” Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne 3 (2010): 67–75;²³ Schweizer, Andreas. The Sungod’s Journey through the Netherworld: Reading the Ancient Egyptian Amduat. Edited by David Lorton. Foreword by Erik Hornung. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2010;²⁴ Metropolitan Museum of Art. “Relief Panel Showing Two Baboons Offering the Wedjat Eye to the Sun God Khepri, Who Holds the Underworld Sign.” The Met Collection;²⁵ Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago. “A Khepri ‘My Scarab.’” January 27, 2015.²⁶

Although this is scarcely noted in the historical record, as Khepri is only shown spearing Apep and engaging in combat to maintain the Solar barque in the Amduat, Khepri was known as one of Egypt's war gods as an aspect of Ra.²⁶ Aspects of his divine decrees concern the limits of war and the mental side of command. Conduct of soldiers in representing Egyptian civilization was a domain of his that was taken very seriously, as was physical combat to crush Isfet (Chaos). To this end, he was also associated with the principle of righteous destruction and endings. Khepri is often associated with Re, Nun, Khnum, and Shu. The shenu of Khnum, for instance, also shows the scarab of Khepri. In complex terms, Khepri is the masculine counterpart and yet the energetic opposite of Hecate.

Khepri's prominence in Egyptian religion began with the formalization of the Amduat rituals under Thutmose I when they became a major religious text in Egypt.²⁷He was invoked by the Pharaohs and often appeared in their names as a hopeful symbol of an auspicious reign:

V. Scarab Use

In a somewhat distinct context, Khepri was associated with death and rebirth. Funerary amulets and tomb walls, such as those in the Dendera and Edfu complexes, frequently display scarabs. This served as a metaphor for the desire of the deceased to incarnate again and was associated with the Opening of the Mouth in mortuary contexts ⁵. Funerary texts such as the Book of Gates (particularly the Twelfth Gate²⁸) and the Book of Caverns depict his role as the leader of the barque out of the underworld. At the sixth hour, the primordial and chaotic waters of Nun are reached, where Khepri lies dormant, guarded by a five-headed snake. When Re gives his Ba to Khepri, he is revived, and on the twelfth hour, Khepri pushes the sun to its vertex in the midday sky.

Some of these amulets had funerary meanings relating to protection:

The Presence and Significance of Khepri in Egyptian Religion and Art, Maria M. van Ryneveld⁵

From the late Old Kingdom (2705–2250 B.C.), scarab amulets became more popular than heart amulets. The Egyptian amulet was also inscribed with magical formulae, and "Hekau" (words of power) were uttered when placing these amulets on the deceased (Budge, 1988:25ff.). The heart amulet ("ib") was placed either on the throat or the heart of the mummy, where, according to the priests, the amulet would offer the greatest magical protection (Hobson, 1987:155).

Khepri was often associated with a blue or green color, represented in the mass-produced amulets and seals of Egypt. Most of these items were either made in such a way as to appear that color, glazed with blue-green markings, or, more luxuriously, crafted from rarer turquoise or lapis stones which were highly valued. This color was associated with the luminance of the Nile during the daytime. These sacred amulets became increasingly popular throughout the Mediterranean during the Classical period, often manufactured in Egypt and imported industrially into Southern Europe by the advent of the Roman Empire. These tokens of the decreased and living alike represented the self and the maintenance of the true self in the face of malefic and powerful influences. Blue was also associated with matters of commerce, protection, and inner peace. The scarab amulets also were inscribed with messages relating to the Weighing of the Heart:

Spell 30B, taken from Book of the Dead²⁹

... not to stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance.

One of the major symbols of the beetle God is in the large-scale scarab statues situated in temples, holy complexes and urban settings throughout Egypt, most famously the large scarab statue made out of granite present at Karnak, dedicated to the God by Amenhotep III.³⁰ Opposed to the funerary settings in which amulets are placed, these edifications with scarab symbols are largely interpreted as being symbols of good luck. The largest level of production of Khepri's symbols appeared to occur during the reign of Amenhotep, similar to his state sponsorship of Sekhmet's statuary.³¹

VI. Deeper Symbolism

The sacred animal of Khepri is the scarab beetle, hence frequently he is represented as a man with a scarab hovering above his head. In more exceptional circumstances like the above image ²⁷, he is represented as a scarab-headed man with six of the legs always visible. Many species, albeit not the black sacred species in Egypt, have a dulled golden hue, but all species appear metallic. The scarab determinedly rolls the refuse of other animals into a spherical ball, then lays its own eggs inside, with the newly born young devouring the ball and almost appearing miraculously out of nothing. The ancient Egyptians regarded this process as particularly fascinating and auspicious, signifying the mystical position of the God as self-manifesting and repeating, even without visible birth.

Khepri's name means "the self-manifested"⁵ and is related to the Egyptian verb to create. There are many codes to this terminology that extend into all aspects of his symbolism, but many of his most sacred functions relate to high level rituals, such as the Gates of Re. Hieroglyphs of his name show the opened-eye hieroglyph peering at the sacred scarab, with all illusions dispelled.

A major aspect of his is the solar triad he forms with Atum (Zeus Helios) and Ra (Apollo Helios) concerning the progression of the Sun, sometimes represented as Khepri, Ra-Horakhty (Re-Horus), and Amon Ra. This cult had a major hieratic presence in Karnak. Khepri always deals with the rise of the morning Sun, with Ra symbolizing the powerful Sun at noon and Atum at dusk. As the Sun ascends in the sky, it generates more and more power and perceptible light, allowing people to accomplish what they must do each day.

Khepri deals with the process of beginning and ending points for all beings. His extensive and powerful command reaches not only over natural lifespans and the living essence of beings but also in delineating the points of evolution for each and every individual, a very significant aspect of reality, which was even linguistically coded in the Egyptian language, as life stages such as childhood or old age were themselves called kheperu. In this, much of his symbolism falls under the aegis of Re, who represented similar matters of progression by category in mystery schools.

It should be remembered that the ball is not always rolled successfully by the scarab; sometimes it can escape their careful control, and a decamping ball that is large and fast enough rolling back onto the insect can cause serious harm and setbacks. The struggle to do this for such a small animal is fraught with danger and obstacles. Sisyphean themes of struggling against fate are a large part of the allegories he pertains to. Dung beetles are known to improve the environment and create viable soil structure. They accommodate plant growth and, by removing dung in large amounts, also protect the lives of vital livestock, something particularly important for the agrarian economy of the Nile. Modern scientific studies have shown that their efforts greatly improve the chances for plant life to grow and be sustained. This was yet another code for the beetle and why it was so highly esteemed by the Egyptians. Much like Hecate's functions, this element of something 'filthy' also concerned spiritual hygiene.

Curiously, Khepri was depicted rolling the ball with his front legs, rather than the back legs used by the actual scarab. Moving through life 'backwards' is tied to the symbolism of the evolution of the soul. The Sun is represented as the ball that Khepri, or the scarab, pushes itself. These kinds of symbolisms deal with the formation of the self, one's Sun, nto a coherent personality able to withstand the onslaught of others' wills or even resist decay due to the forces of time. The Egyptians knew that one's own Sun, once built, is inexhaustible and without limitations.

The scarab was also associated with the sign of Cancer and the very ancient Age of Cancer by the Ancient Egyptians³², rather than with the crab. This symbolism relates to protectiveness over the self and the determined nature of the insect.

VII. Geometric Symbolism

Occult matters of Khepri relate to the shape of the sphere, in a parallel to Khnum's association with the circle. For example, anything manipulated naturally between two hands can resemble a spherical object with enough motion and pressure. The globe is a sphere, albeit not a perfectly symmetrical one, representing the universality of his attributes and the hope of the Gods that all corners of the earth become a divinely sanctioned realm. The sphere can be viewed as a collection of orbits or circles oriented around a fixed axis that create a three-dimensional shape. Khepri serves as the governor of this process when it relates to the cycles of lifespans and the quests involved in each lifetime, all orienting around an inner core. Thus, it is shown that Khepri slightly differs from Khnum: while Khnum governs the source of life and resurrection, Khepri governs repeated and distinct creation.

Atoms also relate to this type of shape:

Shapes of the hemisphere are also representative of Khepri, as seen in the mounds created by beetles and termites. Occasionally, the pyramidal Benben Stone of Atum was equated with such a mound, with Khepri springing from it; both Gods were held to be self-creating and self-renewing, and both were tied th the mysterious Bennu bird. A similar symbol is the fatty hump of the camel, which the mobile animal can use for self-sustenance over long distances in punishing conditions.

The Tarot cards of Khepri, the Seven of Swords, the Sun and the Hierophant reversed, are read in Khepri and the Tarot.