Scarabaeus Sacer

It seems [the Ancient Egyptians] assumed that some gigantic celestial scarab kept the Earth revolving like the humble scarab made its ball of dung revolve. On the front of the sacred scarab the head is drawn out into a number of spines which to the Egyptians symbolised the sun's rays, giving an even greater significance to the beetle.
M. and R. Burton, Encyclopedia of Insects and Arachnids
Set like a jewel in dung,
sculpturing globes it will seal
in underground chambers—
nests, larders, for the unborn.
To the Egyptians once, an image
of what keeps life in motion:
a being with turquoise belly,
seraphim wingtips, beneath
a canopy of bronze and gold.
Its thoughts are blind,
iridescent, concern only
burial and rebirth.
A compact treasure-house,
transformer of the world's waste,
it fertilises earth with seeds
that will nurture amulets
indentured by sunrays
as they ascend into light;
their bodies, cat's-eyes
mined from honeycombed darkness.