Khepera is shown as a full scarab or a scarab-headed man. As a theophany
of the Sun God, the scarab beetle (Scarabeus sacer) is large,
golden, and winged.
It rolls balls of dung, sometimes for long distances, in order to
have a place in which to lay its eggs. The young beetles then spring
forth from the ball of dung, seemingly as if created from nothing.
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In this process, the ancients
saw a metaphor for the daily progress of the sun (rolling as a ball
across the sky every day), and for the mystery of creation and (self-created)
birth.
Khepera was often shown either within the Disk of the physical sun,
or rolling it, as it were, from the eastern mountains in the morning
and back into Tem's watchful embrace in the evening. Khepera is associated
with the life-giving powers of sunlight and with the act of sunrise
itself, forming a special triad with Ra the (noontime sun) and Tem (the
setting sun).
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