Ancient Egyptian Magic: Amulets and Symbolism in Clothing and Jewelry

The Egyptians used amulets for protection and often displayed and wore images of various gods and goddesses. During most of ancient Egypt's long history it was a pantheistic culture, worshiping many gods. Each of these deities had a specific image and characteristics, such as Isis with her wings, Bet with the head of a cat, Anubis the jackal-headed god and Ptah, who often sports an erect phallus.

Amulets and Symbolism

Children, women and men wore amulets in life and in death. Necklaces, rings, earrings, brooches, crowns, circlets, bracelets, wrist bands, arm bands and wide jeweled collars often displayed images of gods and goddesses. They used specific symbols, such as the scarab and the ankh, for protective purposes on jewelry, clothing and accessories.

  Pectoral with Three Scarabs Tomb of Tutankhamun by ddenison, via Flickr

Embalmers wrapped amulets in the wrappings for the dead, creating the distinctive mummies that continue to fascinate museum goers and students of Egyptology to this day. Among the more bizarre forms this fascination took was the practice of grinding up mummies for medicine in the Victorian era.

Scarab Amulets & Dancing Dung Beetles: Ancient Egyptian Fashion Weird Facts

Weird News: Scientists Have Fun With Dancing Dung Beetles

What a National Geographic news flash about scientists studying dancing dung beetles has to do with fashion may require some explanation. Bear with me. We're going to take a little trip into the background of the scarab. And yes, you guessed it, the scarab beetle is a representation of the dung beetle.

The dung beetle gets its name from its activity of rolling dung into a ball. It lays eggs in the dung ball, and the new dung beetles emerge out of the dung ball. The appearance of new life out of waste symbolized regeneration to ancient Egyptians. Think about it, this is a potent symbol for everlasting life, and it's  common sense. We still use manure -- animal feces -- for fertilizer. Plants die and new plants emerge through the manure. Baby beetles climb out of balls of feces... resurrection.

Dung beetles rolling off to a romantic spot... via Flickr, CC, by Heath.Windcliff