Heart scarab

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Heart scarab with the owner's name erased, 664-380 B.C. Heart Scarab, Owner's Name Erased MET 10.130.1648 EGDP019023.jpg
Heart scarab with the owner's name erased, 664–380 B.C.

The heart scarab is an oval scarab artifact dating from ancient Egypt. Mostly an amulet, it also was used as jewelry, a memorializing artifact, or a grave good. The function of the heart scarab according to Ancient Egyptian religion was to bind the heart to silence whilst it was being weighed in the underworld, to ensure that the heart did not bear false witness against the deceased, or to act in its place if necessary. [1] The heart scarab is usually inscribed with Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead.

Contents

Religious significance

The Weighing of the Heart as depicted on the Papyrus of Ani The Weighing of the Heart.svg
The Weighing of the Heart as depicted on the Papyrus of Ani

The significance of the heart scarab to the ancient Egyptians stems from the religious importance of the scarab beetle, Scarabaeus sacer . To the Ancient Egyptians, the scarab beetle represented Khepri, the early morning manifestation of the sun god Ra, from an analogy between the beetle's behaviour of rolling a ball of dung across the ground and Khepri's task of rolling the sun across the sky. [2] They accordingly held the species to be sacred, [3] and fabricated scarab amulets in various composition by the early Middle Kingdom (approx. 2000 BC), remaining popular for the rest of the pharaonic period and beyond. [4] [5] The heart scarab was used in a funerary context to secure safe passage at the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, should the original heart be lacking.

In the Duat, the Egyptian underworld, the hearts of the dead were weighed against a single feather from the headdress of the goddess Ma'at. [6] If the heart was lighter they will be allowed to start a long and perilous journey to Aaru, where they will exist in peace and pleasure for eternity. Conversely, hearts that are heavy with evil will tumble from the scale pan and fall into the crocodilian jaws of the goddess Ammit. Any souls that are subject to Ammit's "second death" are doomed to restlessness in the Duat. [7] [8]

Heart scarabs are described in the Book of the Dead to be made of a stone: nmhf, nemehef (not now identified); typically green stones, green jasper, serpentine, and basalt. [9]

Heart Scarab of Bak-en-Djehuti, grey-green greywacke Egyptian - Heart Scarab of Bak-en-Djehuti - Walters 42380 - Back.jpg
Heart Scarab of Bak-en-Djehuti, grey-green greywacke

Dating and evolution

The first known depictions of heart scarabs are found in the Sixteenth Dynasty or Seventeenth Dynasty circa 1690 B.C., [10] 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. [11] 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. [12]

Heart scarabs went through significant modifications in their design over the course of history. During the New Kingdom, heart scarabs were large, typically between four and five centimeters long. [5] By the Third Intermediate Period, a new variation emerged. This new scarab was much smaller, at about two to four centimeters long. [5] 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. [5] Heart scarabs were also used in the design of pectorals, which were a rectangular chest ornament. [13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Andrews, Carol (2007). "Amulets" In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
  2. ↑ Pat Remler (2010). "Scarab beetle". Egyptian Mythology A to Z (3rd ed.). Infobase Publishing. pp. 169–171. ISBN   978-1-60413-926-6.
  3. ↑ Eggleton, Paul (2020). "The State of the World's Insects". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 45: 61–82. doi: 10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-050035 .
  4. ↑ Museum, Egypt (2023-10-21). "Brooch of Ancient Egyptian Scarab in a Modern Winged Mount". Egypt Museum. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Liszka, Kate (2015). "Scarab Amulets in the Egyptian Collection of the Princeton University Art Museum". Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University. 74: 4–19. ISSN   0032-843X. JSTOR   26388759.
  6. ↑ Bard, Katheryn (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge.
  7. ↑ Kathryn Demeritt, Ptah's Travels: Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt, 2005, p. 82
  8. ↑ Fadl, Ayman. "Egyptian Heaven". Article. Aldokkan. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  9. ↑ Andrews, 1994. Amulets of Ancient Egypt, chapter 4: Scarabs for the living and funerary scarabs, pp 50–59, (p. 56).
  10. ↑ heart-scarab | British Museum
  11. ↑ Killgrove, Kristina, Hatnefer's heart scarab: An exquisite ancient Egyptian gold necklace inscribed with the Book of the Dead , Live Science, May 12, 2025
  12. ↑ Sousa, R. (2007). "The Meaning of the Heart Amulets in Egyptian". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 43: 59–70. JSTOR   27801606.
  13. ↑ Bianchi, Robert (2001). "Scarabs" In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Art. Oxford University Press.
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