圣甲虫指环 - 美国大都会艺术博物馆展品查阅

品名（中）	圣甲虫指环
品名（英）	Scarab Finger Ring
入馆年号	1910年，10.130.910
策展部门	埃及艺术（Egyptian Art）
创作者
创作年份	公元前 1981
创作地区	来自于: 埃及（From: Egypt）
分类
尺寸	直径 3 厘米 (1 3/16 in)
介绍（中）	金龟子（kheper）甲虫是古埃及最受欢迎的护身符之一，因为这种昆虫是太阳神Re的象征。这种联想源于埃及人对金龟子生命周期的误解。一只成年甲虫在一团粪便中产卵，然后将粪便埋在地下。当年轻的甲虫孵化时，观察者很容易看到这一过程的唯一部分是从粪球中完全发育出来的甲虫，这似乎是一个神奇的事件。因此，埃及语中金龟子的意思是"产生"。金龟子用后腿将超大的球体沿着地面推向洞穴，用新鲜的粪便形成食物球。埃及人将这一过程等同于太阳在天空中的日常循环，认为一只巨大的圣甲虫每天都会将太阳从东方地平线移动到西方，使护身符成为重生的有力象征。最早的圣甲虫护身符出现在第一中期（约公元前2124年）。在中新王国时期，它们经常被用作印章和护身符（约公元后2030年至1070年）。圣甲虫在晚期（约公元前四712年至公元前332年）仍然是常见的护身符，在希腊和罗马时代（约公元前后332年至公元后364年）仍在使用。
介绍（英）	The scarab (kheper) beetle was one of the most popular amulets in ancient Egypt because the insect was a symbol of the sun god Re. This association evolved from the Egyptians' misunderstanding of the scarab's life cycle. An adult beetle lays its eggs inside a ball of dung, which is then buried underground. When the young beetles hatch, the only portion of this process easily visible to an observer is the beetle emerging fully developed from a dung ball, a seemingly magical event. Thus, the Egyptian word for scarab translates as "to come into being." The scarab forms food balls out of fresh dung using its back legs to push the oversized spheres along the ground toward its burrow. The Egyptians equated this process with the sun's daily cycle across the sky, believing that a giant scarab moved the sun from the eastern horizon to the west each day, making the amulet a potent symbol of rebirth. The earliest scarab amulets appeared in the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2124 B.C.). During the Middle and New Kingdoms, they often were used as seals as well as amulets (ca. 2030–1070 B.C.). Scarabs remained common amulets in the Late Period (ca. 712–332 B.C.), and were still in use in Greek and Roman times (332 B.C.–364 A.D.).