Scarab with decoration and gold Steatite and gold Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 664 – 332 BC. 1,8 cm long. Provenance: Private collection, France. Acquired at various auction houses between the 1970s and 2010. Khepri is an ancient Egyptian deity associated with rebirth, the rising sun, and transformation. He is commonly depicted as a dung beetle or as a man with a beetle's head. This connection stems from the beetle's behavior, which rolls balls of dung where it lays its eggs, from which new offspring emerge. The Egyptians saw this cycle as a metaphor for rebirth and spontaneous creation. Khepri personifies the daily movement of the sun at dawn, pushing it across the sky just as the beetle pushes its sphere. His name comes from the Egyptian verb kheper, which means “to come into being” or “to become.” Beetle-shaped amulets were extremely popular and were worn as symbols of protection, regeneration, and good fortune. Many were placed over the hearts of the deceased during the mummification process, with magical inscriptions to ensure resurrection in the afterlife.