The scorpion ideogram, one of the earliest known hieroglyphic signs, was depicted on wooden and ivory labels found in the late-Predynastic and Early Dynastic royal cemetery at Abydos and also among the cache of cult equipment in the Early Dynastic temple at Hierakonpolis. The goddess Serket was the principal divine personification of the scorpion and was usually depicted with a scorpion perched on her head. Her name (also rendered as Serqit, Serquit, Selket or Selkis) is an abbreviation of the phrase Serket-hetyt (or Serqit-hetu) meaning 'she who causes the throat to breathe'. She was one of the four protector goddesses of coffins and conopic jars, together with Isis, Neith and Nephthys - the four godesses were often represented on canopic chests. Isis was also said to have been protected from her enemies by seven scorpions. Another, less well-known deity, the god Shed and who is described as 'the saviour,' was linked with the scorpion and thought to give protection against its sting.

One of the pre-dynastic pharaoh kings of Upper Egypt (c.3150 BC), has been given the name Scorpion (also named Zekhen in some lists). He was identified from a ceremonial mace-head found at Hierakonpolis (modern-day Kom el-Ahmar, about 80 km south of El Aksur) which depicts a king wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt with the glyph of a scorpion next to his face. Though little is known of him, he appears to have been a warrior-king involved in the early struggles to unite Upper and Lower Egypt.

The scorpion hieroglyph was symbolic of the scorpion itself, and of the goddess Serket and the pre-dynastic king Scorpion. It was also used in hieroglyphic texts, for example, as a determinative to the word serk - meaning 'scorpion' and also 'to breathe' or 'to sniff the wind' - (a determinative symbol in hieroglyphic text, the scorpion symbol in this case, is not transliterated and merely indicates the meaning or context of the word represented by the preceding hieroglyphs).

From the Late Period (c.750 BC) onwards, images of scorpions were also depicted on so called 'cippi,' which were types of amulets or stele used to ward off, and provide healing powers against, scorpion stings and snake bites.