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Trilobites – Fossil Friday!

Trilobites have been my favorite fossils for as long as I can remember and they are probably my favorite because they look like scarabs 𓐍π“Šͺ𓂋𓂋𓆣π“ͺ! Everything always comes back to ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– for me! While trilobites and the dung beetle (the real animal that scarabs 𓆣𓆣𓆣 were inspired by) look similar to each other, they do not have many similarities besides that – they were never even on Earth at the same time! 

Trilobites
A plate of trilobites at the AMNH!

Trilobites first evolved during the Cambrian Period around 521 million years ago (mya) . They are classified as an arthropod which means that they have an exoskeleton, and that exoskeleton is what allowed them to fossilize so well. Trilobites lived at the bottom of seas and crawled around scavenging for food! There are over 20,000 different species of trilobites that have been discovered, and they were a very abundant species until they went extinct around 252 mya at the end of the Permian Period – right before the evolution of the dinosaurs. 

William the Hippo with the trilobites at the AMNH.

While trilobites have no religious significance in ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, the scarab 𓆣 does! The scarab 𓐍π“Šͺ𓂋𓂋𓆣 is the personification is the god π“ŠΉ Khepri 𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛. Khepri 𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛 was considered to be the god π“ŠΉ of the morning/rising sun 𓇳𓏺, and was usually depicted as a scarab 𓐍π“Šͺ𓂋𓂋𓆣, or as a human body with a scarab 𓆣 for a head 𓁢𓏺!

The god π“ŠΉ Khepri 𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛 symbolizes the β€œlife cycle” – birth π“„Ÿ, death 𓅓𓏏𓏱, and then rebirth π“„Ÿπ“Ώπ“…± in the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. This cycle was essential to Egyptian religious beliefs, as Egyptians π“†Žπ“π“€€π“π“ͺ spent their lives preparing for death 𓅓𓏏𓏱 and entering the Duat 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐.

The trilobite display at the AMNH.

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

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The End

If you don’t know, I am a middle and high school science teacher and I have been working at my current school for ten π“Ž† years now. Earlier this month was my last day at my school – I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I am making some transitions/changes in my life π“‹Ή and this is one of them! I’m so grateful for the time I spent at my school and all of the wonderful students I got to teach over the past ten π“Ž† years.Β 

End
William and I with a geode at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC.

William and I are standing with a geode π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™, which started forming approximately 135 million years ago! While the size of this geode π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ is awe-inspiring, when I was looking back on the pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦, to me geode π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™ looks like the Hubble Space Telescope images 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 of space. 

Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­ was the Egyptian goddess π“ŠΉπ“ of the night π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“„› sky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯 and the cosmos. Since my brain relates everything to ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, this reminded me of her and ancient Egyptian mythology surrounding Nut π“Œπ“π“‡―π“€­ and the cosmos. 

In Middle Egyptian, the words for β€œnight π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“„›β€ and β€œend π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“‚π“›β€ are very similar words which I find very fitting for today π“‡π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‡³. The night π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“„› is the end π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“‚π“› of the day and the end π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“‚π“› of Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 journey across the daytime sky π“Šͺ𓏏𓇯, but it is also the start of his 12 hour journey into the Duat 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. I’ve always loved the words in the Book of the Dead 𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓏲𓇳𓏺𓍼𓏺 and the Amduat 𓇋𓏢𓅓𓏭𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐 so I don’t see this change as an end π“ŽΌπ“‚‹π“Ž›π“‚π“› right now…

…I will end this with a quote from one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs which is so fitting for me today; β€œIt was the end of a decade, but the start of an age.” 

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

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Turtle Fossil

While ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š– is my first love, geology is my second! β€œGeology” in a very broad term that means the study of the Earth’s structure, makeup and history! Geology isn’t just the study of rocks π“‡‹π“ˆ–π“‚‹π“ˆ™π“¦ (that is petrology) but paleontology (the study of past life on Earth) falls into that category!Β I love when I am able to combine my love of geology with ancient Egypt! Read below

Turtle Fossil
William and I with the Turtle Fossil on display at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

William and I are standing with an extinct land tortoise called a β€œMegalochelys atlas” (it used to be referred to as the β€œGeochelone atlas”) and I always lovingly refer to this fossil as the β€œSmiling Turtle” because it looks like it is very happy! This big guy lived during the late Pliocene Epoch which was about two million years ago and is the largest land tortoise to ever exist!

In ancient Egypt π“†Žπ“…“π“π“Š–, turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ were seen as an ambiguous force because they were creatures of both land 𓇾 and water π“ˆ—. Turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ were also seen as the enemy of Ra 𓇳𓏺𓁛, and in chapter 162 of the Book of the Dead, it is stated that β€œMay Ra live, and may the turtle die.” The turtles π“ˆ™π“π“„Ώπ“†‰π“¦ that lived in the Nile π“‡‹π“π“‚‹π“…±π“ˆ—π“ˆ˜π“ˆ‡π“Ί were mostly nocturnal (and definitely not as large as this one), which is probably why they were considered to be Ra’s 𓇳𓏺𓁛 enemy.Β 

Turtle Fossil
The very large Turtle Fossil on display at the American Museum of Natural History

This is my personal photograph and original text. DO NOT repost. 

Follow me @ancientegyptblog on Instagram and TikTok to learn all about ancient Egypt, hieroglyphs, mythology, culture and more!