Scorpion

The Scorpion in Ancient Egypt


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Serk// or //Selk//


 * Hieroglyphics:**



Two types of scorpions were found in ancient Egypt: the paler, more poisonous members of the family Buthridae, such as the Palestine Yellow Scorpion, and the darker, usually less harmful members of the family Scorpionidae. The harmless water scorpion was similar enough in look and behavior to the dangerous land scorpions that the Egyptians grouped them together. Scorpions were greatly feared and scorpion stings were one of the main hazards of everyday Egyptian life. The scorpion was one of the earliest hieroglyphic signs, and a Predynastic king took the name of "Scorpion." An ancient Egyptian proverb states: “I love the scorpion, yet I know its poisonous sting.”

From the Late Period onwards, images of scorpions were depicted on stela used to ward off, and provide healing powers against, scorpion stings and snake bites. The protective goddess Selket, who guarded the coffin of the deceased, was often pictured as a scorpion. Amulets of scorpions, made of bone, ivory, and glass, were buried with the dead. Statuettes of scorpions were often pierced, allowing them to be mounted on a stand or a stick. They were then pushed into the ground around sacred spaces for protection. Historically the scorpion was regarded as a symbol of motherhood in many areas, as female scorpions carry their young on their backs.

In myths, seven scorpions protected the goddess Isis throughout her pregnancy and the rearing of her son Horus. In the Temple of Isis, women would walk barefoot through scorpion s and cobras, protected by their belief in the power of Isis. It was claimed that scorpions respected Isis so much that they never stung the women who went to the temple of the goddess to pray, even though they walked with their feet bare or prostrated themselves on the ground. In ancient Egyptian art, scorpions were often pictured without their stings or claws, or pierced by knives, to magically render then harmless.

Other Animals of Ancient Egypt