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== History == |
== History == |
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[[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|The Weighing of the Heart as depicted on the [[Papyrus of Ani]]]] |
[[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|The Weighing of the Heart as depicted on the [[Papyrus of Ani]]]] |
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The significance of the heart scarab to the ancient Egyptians stems from the religious importance of the scarab beetle, ”[[Scarabaeus sacer]]”. 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.<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite journal |last=Liszka |first=Kate |date=2015 |title=Scarab Amulets in the Egyptian Collection of the Princeton University Art Museum |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26388759 |journal=Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University |volume=74 |pages=4–19 |issn=0032-843X |jstor=26388759}}</ref> The heart (”ib”) was important to ancient Egyptians as the seat of intelligence and the storehouse of memory. 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bard |first=Katheryn |title=Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Routledge |year=1999}}</ref> If the heart was lighter they |
The significance of the heart scarab to the ancient Egyptians stems from the religious importance of the scarab beetle, ”[[Scarabaeus sacer]]”. 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.<ref name=”:0″>{{Cite journal |last=Liszka |first=Kate |date=2015 |title=Scarab Amulets in the Egyptian Collection of the Princeton University Art Museum |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26388759 |journal=Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University |volume=74 |pages=4–19 |issn=0032-843X |jstor=26388759}}</ref> The heart (”ib”) was important to ancient Egyptians as the seat of intelligence and the storehouse of memory. 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bard |first=Katheryn |title=Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Routledge |year=1999}}</ref> If the heart was lighter they pass, if heavier they would be devoured by the demon [[Ammit]].<ref>Kathryn Demeritt, ”Ptah’s Travels: Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt”, 2005, p. 82</ref> The heart scarab secured safe passage in the afterlife and guaranteed that the heart did not testify against the person at the [[Weighing of the Heart]] ceremony.[[File:Egyptian – Heart Scarab of Bak-en-Djehuti – Walters 42380 – Back.jpg|thumb|Heart Scarab of Bak-en-Djehuti, grey-green greywacke]] |
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== Dating and evolution == |
== Dating and evolution == |
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Latest revision as of 01:27, 30 October 2025
Ancient Egyptian artifact
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 heart scarab is inscribed with Chapter 30 of the Book of the Dead. 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 significance of the heart scarab to the ancient Egyptians stems from the religious importance of the scarab beetle, Scarabaeus sacer. The scarab beetle in Ancient Egyptian religion 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.[2] The heart (ib) was important to ancient Egyptians as the seat of intelligence and the storehouse of memory. 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.[3] If the heart was lighter they would be allowed to pass, if heavier they would be devoured by the demon Ammit.[4] The heart scarab thus secured safe passage in the afterlife and guaranteed that the heart did not testify against the person at the Weighing of the Heart ceremony.
Dating and evolution
[edit]
The first known depictions of heart scarabs are found in the Sixteenth Dynasty or Seventeenth Dynasty circa 1690 B.C.,[5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[2] By the Third Intermediate Period, a new variation emerged. This new scarab was much smaller, at about two to four centimeters long.[2] 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.[2] Heart scarabs were also used in the design of pectorals, which were a rectangular chest ornament.[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]
- ^ Andrews, Carol (2007). “Amulets” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- ^ a b c d 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.
- ^ Bard, Katheryn (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge.
- ^ Kathryn Demeritt, Ptah’s Travels: Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt, 2005, p. 82
- ^ heart-scarab | British Museum
- ^ Killgrove, Kristina, Hatnefer’s heart scarab: An exquisite ancient Egyptian gold necklace inscribed with the Book of the Dead, Live Science, May 12, 2025
- ^ Sousa, R. (2007). “The Meaning of the Heart Amulets in Egyptian”. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 43: 59–70. JSTOR 27801606.
- ^ Bianchi, Robert (2001). “Scarabs” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Art. Oxford University Press.
- ^ Andrews, 1994. Amulets of Ancient Egypt, chapter 4: Scarabs for the living and funerary scarabs, pp 50–59, (p. 56).
- 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, ISBN 0-292-70464-X)
- 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, ISBNÂ 0-486-23615-3)
