Collection Item

From:UC Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities

Name/TitleStone Scarab

About this objectThe 'heart-scarab' is an amulet that holds a spell to protect the heart and it's owner in the afterlife. In Egyptian mummification, the heart would be left whole in the chest, and was seen as the place memories resided. To enter the afterlife, the deceased had to go before Osiris and a panel of judges, who would question him on his sins and misdemeanours in life. This was followed by weighing the heart on a balance against the feather of Truth to ensure it was empty of wickedness.

This scarab is carved from a hard, fine-grained black stone (possibly diorite or schist) and has been well polished. There is a chip missing from the base, which has removed some of the inscription. The inscription on the base of the scarab is in hieroglyphics and is the text from the 30th chapter of the Book of the Dead. It reads:

Spell of Osiris, Royal Scribe and Overseer of Expeditions
Kaher, True of Voice; he says: 'My heart of my mother!
My heart of my mother! My heart of different Ages!
Do not rise up as a witness against me before the Keeper of the Balance;
do not oppose me in the Great Court, for you are the ka [which was within my body] the protector...

The rest of the inscription could possibly finish with 'who made my members hale', but this is unclear from the remnants of the hieroglyphs.

Date Madeca. 1500-1300 BC

PeriodEighteenth Dynasty (Egyptian)

Place MadeEgypt

Medium and MaterialsStone

Style and IconographyEgyptian (ancient)

Style and IconographyReligious art

Inscription and MarksThe base is inscribed with the text of the 30th chapter of the Book of the Dead. The inscription reads:
Spell of Osiris, Royal Scribe and Overseer of Expeditions
Kaher, True of Voice; he says: 'My heart of my mother!
My heart of my mother! My heart of different Ages!
Do not rise up as a witness against me before the Keeper of the Balance;
do not oppose me in the Great Court, for you are the ka [which was within my body] the protector...

TechniqueInscriptions

TechniqueCarving (processes)

MeasurementsLength 75mm; Width 55mm; Height 48mm

Subject and Association KeywordsAnimals in art

Subject and Association KeywordsArt and religion

Subject and Association KeywordsHieroglyphs

Subject and Association KeywordsWriting and art

Subject and Association KeywordsBirds in art

Named CollectionThe James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Credit LineDonated by Eleanor M. Grantham, 1971

Object TypeFunerary Objects

Object number118.71

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved