Heart scarab

{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian artifact}} thumb|Heart scarab with the owner's name erased, 664–380 B.C.|333x333px 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.<ref name="Andrews">{{cite book |last1=Andrews |first1=Carol |title="Amulets" In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The heart scarab is usually inscribed with Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead.

== Religious significance == [[File:The Weighing of the Heart.svg|thumb|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.<ref name="Remler">{{cite book |author=Pat Remler |title=Egyptian Mythology A to Z |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-60413-926-6 |edition=3rd |pages=169–171 |chapter=Scarab beetle |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLUjtPDyu-IC&pg=PT185}}</ref> They accordingly held the beetle to be sacred,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Eggleton |first1=Paul |year=2020 |title=The State of the World's Insects |journal=Annual Review of Environment and Resources |volume=45 |pages=61–82 |doi=10.1146/annurev-environ-012420-050035 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and fabricated scarab amulets in various composition by the early Middle Kingdom until the end of the pharaonic period.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Museum |first=Egypt |date=2023-10-21 |title=Brooch of Ancient Egyptian Scarab in a Modern Winged Mount |url=https://egypt-museum.com/brooch-of-ancient-scarab-in-a-modern-winged-mount/ |access-date=2024-03-18 |website=Egypt Museum |language=en-US}}</ref><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><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wallas |first=Markus |title=Menschenköpfige Herzskarabäen im Kontext: Archäologie, Philologie und Kulturgeschichte |date=2023 |publisher=Golden House Publications |isbn=978-1-906137-77-9 |series=Internet-Beiträge zur Ägyptologie und Sudanarchäologie |location=Berlin}}</ref>

The heart scarab was created for use at the Weighing of the Heart ceremony to testify or vouch on behalf of the owner, should the original heart be unable. 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 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.<ref>Kathryn Demeritt, ''Ptah's Travels: Kingdoms of Ancient Egypt'', 2005, p. 82</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fadl |first=Ayman |title=Egyptian Heaven |url=http://www.aldokkan.com/religion/field.htm |access-date=2012-03-15 |work=Article |publisher=Aldokkan}}</ref>

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.<ref>Andrews, 1994. ''Amulets of Ancient Egypt,'' chapter 4: ''Scarabs for the living and funerary scarabs,'' pp 50–59, (p. 56).</ref>thumb|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.,<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/Y_EA7876 heart-scarab | British Museum]</ref> 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.<ref>Killgrove, Kristina, ''[https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/hatnefers-heart-scarab-an-exquisite-ancient-egyptian-gold-necklace-inscribed-with-the-book-of-the-dead Hatnefer's heart scarab: An exquisite ancient Egyptian gold necklace inscribed with the Book of the Dead]'', ''Live Science'', May 12, 2025 </ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sousa |first1=R. |title=The Meaning of the Heart Amulets in Egyptian |journal=Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt |date=2007 |volume=43 |pages=59–70 |jstor=27801606 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/27801606}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" /> By the Third Intermediate Period, a new variation emerged. This new scarab was much smaller, at about two to four centimeters long.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" /> Heart scarabs were also used in the design of pectorals, which were a rectangular chest ornament.<ref name="Bianchi">{{cite book |last1=Bianchi |first1=Robert |title="Scarabs" In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egyptian Art |date=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed"> 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 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 File:WLA brooklynmuseum Heart Scarab of the Divine Father Hori.jpg|Heart Scarab of the Divine Father Hori </gallery>{{Commons category|Heart scarabs}} == See also == *Egyptian hieroglyphs *Heart Scarab of Hatnefer *List of ancient Egyptian statuary with amulet necklaces *Papyrus stem amulet *Scarab (artifact) *Stair-single (hieroglyph)

== References == {{reflist}}  * 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, {{ISBN|0-486-23615-3}})

== External links == * [https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/08502/08247EDF71140AEB0BEC63E871FBB795803AE0F5.html Heart scarab], Israel Museum * [http://egyptologypage.tripod.com/religion.html Amulets of Egypt & history of Mummification, Egypt]; amulets: Djed Pillar, Staircase amulet, Headrest amulet, Heart amulet, Foot amulet, Hand amulet * [http://ethnology.wordpress.com/category/african-tribesculturescountries/ancient-egypt/ Heart amulet]{{Dead link|date=September 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}, amulet and explanation

Category:Culture of ancient Egypt Category:Egyptian amulets Category:Scarabs (artifacts)