The heart scarab is an oval

scarab artifact Scarabs are amulets and impression seals shaped according to the eponymous beetles, which were widely popular throughout ancient Egypt. They survive in large numbers today, and through their inscriptions and typology, these artifacts prove to be a ...

dating from

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

. Mostly an

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a perso ...

, it also was used as jewelry, a memorializing artifact, or a

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a corpse, body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by re ...

. The heart scarab was used by referring to Chapter 30 from the

Book of the Dead The ''Book of the Dead'' is the name given to an Ancient Egyptian funerary texts, ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC ...

and the

weighing of the heart Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs were centered around a variety of complex rituals that were influenced by many aspects of Egyptian culture. Religion was a major contributor, since it was an important social practice that bound all Egyptians to ...

, being balanced by

Maat Maat or Maʽat ( Egyptian: ''mꜣꜥt'' /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) comprised the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Maat was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and regul ...

, goddess of truth, justice, order, wisdom, and cosmic balance. The function of the heart scarab was to bind the heart to silence while it was being weighed in the underworld to ensure that the heart did not bear

false witness ''False Witness'', also known as ''The Diplomat'' internationally, is a two-part Australian television mini-series, produced by Screentime Australia, and broadcast simultaneously on the Australian subscription television channel UK.TV and BBC ...

against the deceased, or to act in its place if necessary. As in many religions, the individual had to show 'worthiness' to achieve the

afterlife The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their ...

. The heart was extremely important to ancient Egyptians as the seat of intelligence and the storehouse of memory. It was the only organ left in place during mummification. Heart scarab amulets were meant as substitutes for the heart should the deceased be deprived of the organ in the afterlife. For example, when a person died, a heart scarab was often placed on their heart and bound underneath the bandages of the mummy. This was to ensure that it could not be physically removed from their person.

The significance of the heart scarab to the ancient Egyptians also stems from the religious importance of the scarab beetle, ''

Scarabaeus sacer ''Scarabaeus sacer'', common name sacred scarab, is the type species of the genus ''Scarabaeus'' and the family Scarabaeidae. This dung beetle is native of southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and it was venerated in ancient Egypt. ...

''. The scarab beetle represented rebirth and creation. As the beetle larvae grow, they eat their way out of the balls of dung where they were laid by their mother and emerge. The Egyptians were unaware of this full reproductive cycle and saw this as the beetles apparently emerging from nothingness into new life, which aligns with their beliefs in an afterlife and rebirth.P8H:Aa11

The amulets are described in the Book of the Dead to be made (per Andrews, ''Amulets of Ancient Egypt'') of a stone: ''nmhf'', nemehef (not now identified); typically green stones, green jasper, serpentine, and basalt. Andrews continues to say they are in fact made from: green or dark-green materials, such as glazed steatite, schist, feldspar, hematite, and obsidian; also blue-glazed composition (

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white Ceramic glaze, pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an stannous oxide, oxide of tin to the Slip (c ...

), Egyptian blue, rock crystal, alabaster, or red jasper. Instead of the head of a scarab, heart scarabs had the head of a human and were often inscribed with chapter 30B of the Book of Going Forth by Day. Heart scarabs were also used in the design of pectorals, which were a rectangular chest ornament. An alternate heart amulet represents similar ideas, but is made in the form of the heart as used by the

Egyptian-language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world fo ...

hieroglyph. F34

Heart scarabs throughout Egyptian history

The first known depiction of the heart amulet is found in the Sixteenth Dynasty or Seventeenth Dynasty circa 1690 B.C., although it is known that the amulet was in use as early as the Eleventh Dynasty. Until the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty, the heart scarab had a strong connection to Theban royalty. The amulet then began appearing in the burials of other Egyptians. During the Twenty-first Dynasty, it stood as an important item of magical protection among the priesthood of Amun. After the Twenty-first Dynasty, the amulet is rarely depicted in human contexts and instead, is associated with specific divinities. Heart scarabs went through significant modifications in their design over the course of history. For example, during the New Kingdom, heart scarabs were large, typically between four and five centimeters long. Then, in the

Third Intermediate Period The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latt ...

, a new variation of the heart scarab emerged. This new scarab was much smaller, at about two to four centimeters long. Due to their smaller size, these heart scarabs were not engraved. Unlike other heart scarabs that were placed directly above a person's heart and wrapped into their bandages, these new variations of heart scarabs were placed inside the person's chest cavity, alongside their true heart.

Ancient Egyptian amulets

Besides the personal use of the amulet in life, the body was often provided with amulets in burial, with more amulets implying more protection. The most common funerary amulets were the heart scarab, Wadjet Eye, Djed Pillar amulet, Wadj amulet,

Tyet The tyet (), sometimes called the knot of Isis or girdle of Isis, is an ancient Egyptian symbol that came to be connected with the goddess Isis. Its hieroglyphic depiction is catalogued as V39 in Gardiner's sign list. History In many respects ...

amulet, and the Golden-vulture collar (for goddess

Mut Mut (; also transliterated as Maut and Mout) was a mother goddess worshipped in ancient Egypt. Her name means ''mother'' in the ancient Egyptian language. Mut had many different aspects and attributes that changed and evolved greatly over th ...

). Amulet use changed greatly over the millenniums of Ancient Egypt. The papyrus stem, M13 or Wadj amulet was made from 'green feldspar' as prescribed in Chapter 160, Chapter 159 from the

. The most common explanation for the amulet is that it provided 'eternal youth' to the deceased.

Gallery

Heart scarab, multiple types

File:WLA brooklynmuseum Heart Scarab late 9 to early 8th century BCE.jpg, Heart Scarab, inscribed with Chapter 30, Book of the Dead File:Amulet Paser Louvre E69.jpg,

Paser A PASER (an acronym from ''Particle Acceleration by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)'' is a device that accelerates a coherent beam of electrons. This process was demonstrated for the first time in 2006 at the Brookhaven National Lab by a team o ...

pylon pendant, with heart scarab motif File:Hatnofer's heart scarab.jpg, The '' Heart Scarab of Hatnefer'', on display at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

Heart amulet

File:Louvre_-_bijoux_de_Khaemouaset.jpg, Egyptian amulet examples:
Heart amulet, (row 6)

References

* Andrews, 1994. ''Amulets of Ancient Egypt,'' chapter 4: ''Scarabs for the living and funerary scarabs,'' pp 50–59, Andrews, Carol, c 1993, University of Texas Press, 518 amulets, 1, or multiples included in 12 necklaces; (softcover, ) * Budge, 1978, (1920). ''An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary,'' E.A.Wallace Budge, (Dover Publications), c 1978, (c 1920), Dover edition, c 1978; cliv-(154) and 1314 pp. (In two volumes) (softcover, {{ISBN, 0-486-23615-3)

External links

Heart scarab
Israel Museum

amulets:

Djed Pillar The ''djed'', also ''djt'' ( 𓊽, Coptic ''jōt'' "pillar", anglicized /dʒɛd/) is one of the more ancient and commonly found symbols in ancient Egyptian religion. It is a pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing stability. It ...

, Staircase amulet, Headrest amulet, Heart amulet, Foot amulet, Hand amulet
Heart amulet
amulet and explanation Ancient Egyptian culture Egyptian amulets Scarabs (artifacts)