The Scarab: The Idol That Rolls in Dung

052

In 2018, a sensational discovery was made in a cemetery in Saqqara, Egypt, dating to the Fifth Dynasty (mid-third millennium B.C.E.). Archaeologists found two small stone coffins decorated with scarabs. One of them contained some 200 dried dung beetles, and the other held two mummified dung beetles—known as sacred scarabs—wrapped in linen.^a

Although dead beetles have been found in graves from Egypt as early as the First Dynasty, mummified dung beetles are unprecedented. Their find is also of great significance for understanding the scarab used as an ancient Egyptian ritual object and for interpreting the biblical text.

The Torah warns the Children of Israel, before they enter the land of Canaan, not to emulate the ways of gentile idolatry, especially that of the Egyptians and Canaanites, to which they were exposed. The Bible uses expressions of disgust and revulsion regarding idols:

Well you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that we passed through the midst of various other nations through which you passed; and you have seen the detestable things [shiqutzim ve’gilulim; שיקוצים וגלולים] and the fetishes [gilulim; גלולים] of wood and stone, silver and gold, that they keep.

Although the language of this passage from Deuteronomy 29:16-17 (NJPS) 053seems redundant (with gilulim repeated twice in the same verse), the biblical injunction relates not only to the phenomenon of idolatry in general but also to particular ritual objects used in idol worship in the lands of Canaan and Egypt.

The Hebrew word shiqutzim (שיקוצים) is usually applied to animals that are ritually unclean for eating purposes. Some of these had been used as sacrifices, as the prophet Isaiah mentions: “Those […] eating the flesh of the swine, the reptile, and the mouse, shall one and all come to an end—declares the Lord” (Isaiah 66:17).

The gentiles revered some of these unclean animals. For example, the Bible mentions idols of mice (1 Samuel 6:5-11), and archaeological excavations in Philistia have uncovered metal figurines in the shape of mice. These probably represent the rat and Psammomys (“sand rat”) and served as talismans against the damage these rodents cause.¹ The prophet Ezekiel also mentions images of these animals: “all detestable forms of creeping things and beasts and all the fetishes of the House of Israel” (Ezekiel 8:10). And the fifth-century B.C.E. Greek historian Herodotus mentions numerous unclean animals that were sacred to the Egyptians, such as snakes, crocodiles, cats, hippopotami, otters, and ibises (Herodotus, The Histories II.65–76). Idols were fashioned in the image of these animals, and these often emerge in archaeological excavations.

As for the term galal (Hebrew: גלל) in the Bible, one of its definitions refers to the feces of animals and people that take on a round, pill-like shape. This material was used for burning (see, e.g., 1 Kings 14:10; Zephaniah 1:17; Ezekiel 4:15), especially among the poor or during a shortage of trees for firewood. This phenomenon was common among the fellahin (peasants) in the land of Israel up until the modern era. It can still be seen in traditional societies, such as in Ethiopia and India. The dung is collected and formed into round loaves, which are dried and used for fuel.

Given the biblical references and the new archaeological discovery of dung beetles in Saqqara, I would like to propose a new interpretation of the Bible’s use of gilulim as a derogatory term for idols specifically referring to the Egyptian ritual object associated with animal feces, mostly the dung of sheep and cattle.

The sacred scarab (Scarabaeus sacer), also known as the Pharaoh’s scarab, was revered in Egypt from ancient times. This veneration was based on the behavior of the dung beetle, which collects animal droppings and forms them into a ball, into which it then lays eggs, rolling the ball with its hind legs and finally burying it in the ground. After the stage of the larva and pupa, mature beetles hatch and emerge from the dung ball. The Egyptians believed that this symbolized the creation of the world ex nihilo (“out of nothing”) by the sun god.

054

In the Egyptian language, the word for the dung beetle is kheperer, which is related to the verb kheper, meaning “come into being” or “occur.” Because the notion of emerging is also associated with the rising sun, the Egyptians called the morning aspect of their sun god Khopri or Khepri, who was believed to push the sun across the sky every day and through the other side of the world every night (“burying” it in the sands), thus symbolizing eternal renewal and regeneration.

The most common amulets from ancient Egypt have the form of a scarab. Their shape and size are similar to that of the dung beetle in nature. They also appear as seals, with symbols or personal names and titles engraved on their lower, flat side. The inscriptions often include images of animals (both real and mythological) that were sacred in Egypt, such as the sphinx, cobra, falcon, and crocodile, or the names of gods, such as Amun-Re. Scarabs are the most widespread and identified pagan symbol that accompanied Egyptian kings, priests, and officials, as well as the daily rituals of the masses.

Scarabs were designed to provide their owners with protection and fulfillment of their wishes, such as fertility, wealth, and the like. Some of them were put on a chain and hung down on the chest. Perhaps this practice was hinted at in Ezekiel 14:4: “turns his thoughts upon his fetishes” (NJPS). This is especially true of the “heart scarab,” a special amulet worn on the chest facing the heart and typically found with human mummies.

055

The average scarab is 0.5–2 inches in length, but much larger examples also exist, including the “heart scarabs.” Scarabs were made from a variety of materials, such as steatite, faience, and precious stones, such as carnelian, amethyst, lapis lazuli, malachite, turquoise, jasper, onyx, and other quartz stones. Some scarabs were even made of ivory, silver, and gold.

Scarabs became common beginning in the second millennium B.C.E. in Egypt, and their distribution extended to the entire Near East, including the land of Canaan. As a result, many scarabs have been found in Israel. In the Collections of the National Treasures of Israel, some 3,000 items have been cataloged (not necessarily registered), while the Kurt Stern Catalog, which was donated to the Israel Museum, is based on some 4,000 items.² Scarabs have been found at Gezer, Shechem, Hazor, Beth Shean, Beth Shemesh, Megiddo, Jerusalem, and many other sites. Although most of these objects came from Egypt, some were produced locally.

Gilulim appears some 50 times in the Hebrew Bible, indicating these were common ritual objects in Egyptian culture that affected the inhabitants of Canaan, including the Israelites, as the prophet Ezekiel observed: “They did not cast away the detestable things they were drawn to, nor did they give up the fetishes of Egypt” (Ezekiel 20:8).

The Torah, therefore, was directing its message using expressions and symbols familiar from Egyptian culture and Canaanite consciousness, which the people of Israel knew. The Bible, which promotes the pure monotheistic faith, scathingly ridicules loathsome statues of unclean animals, such as Egyptian idols rolling in dung—the gilulim.

The Hebrew Bible uses expressions of disgust to warn the Israelites against gentile idolatry. Is it possible that the rare biblical word gilulim (“idols”) refers specifically to the Egyptian sacred dung beetle, known as the scarab?