Why Animals were so important to the Egyptians.............
Animals were reared mainly for food, whilst others were kept as pets.
Animals of all kinds were important to the Ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians understood the animals' characteristics and admired them, especially those that were dangerous or had powers human beings lacked. They believed animals were symbols, for example, the beetle - the Egyptians noticed how it buries itself and therefore used it as a symbol of survival.
Particular powers of each Egyptian god were symbolised by animals with similar characteristics.
Jackals
The Ancient Egyptians realised that these dogs are able to find the good part of old meat and eat that part and not die. They also ravaged the desert graves in ancient times. The jackal was used as a symbol in the judgement death scene - where a heart is weighed by
Anubis (the god with a jackal head) to tell the good and bad heart.
Cats
Cats were very important animals in Ancient Egypt, they were both pets and symbols of cat
gods such as Bast.
The domesticated cat was a symbol of grace and poise because of the way it hunts its prey.
Scarab Beetle
The most famous Ancient Egyptian insect is the Scarab Beetle. The Egyptian name for the scarab was Kheper.
The scarab beetle was the most important *amulet worn by ancient Egyptians. It was symbolically as sacred to the Egyptians as the cross is to Christians.
*An amulet was worn to protect the wearer against evil and was worn on a chain, cord, or strap.
The Egyptians believed that Scarabs were associated with the Egyptian god, Khepri. It was Khepri that pushed the sun across the sky, just like a Scarab bettle would roll a ball of dung. The scarab beetle became an ancient Egyptian symbol for rebirth, the ability to be reborn. Each day the sun disappeared, always to rise again and be reborn the following day.
The scarab beetle was also a symbol of rebirth after death. When the Egyptians mummified a body they would remove the heart and put a a stone carved like the beetle in its place.
PTO