Heart Scarab- Egyptian ArtifactArtifact"Protector of the Heart"

The Heart's Testimony

The Egyptians discarded the brain during mummification. The heart they kept. It was the seat of memory and character, and it held the record of everything its owner had done. In the Hall of Two Truths, Anubis placed the heart on the great scale opposite the feather of Ma'at. If the heart outweighed the feather, burdened by wrongdoing, Ammit devoured it and the deceased ceased to exist.

The heart could testify. It could speak against its owner and confess what the dead person would not. The Heart Scarab was carved to prevent this. Made from green jasper or dark stone and shaped as a scarab beetle, it was placed on the mummy's chest over the heart. On its flat underside, priests inscribed Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead, addressed directly to the heart: "O my heart which I had from my mother, O my heart of my different ages! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance." The dead did not pray to a god. They pleaded with their own heart.

Green Stone

The Book of the Dead specified nemehef stone for the scarab. Green jasper was preferred. Royal scarabs were set in gold with detailed hieroglyphic inscriptions. Some bore a human face on the beetle's head, personalizing the amulet for its owner.