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  1. Egyptian heart scarab / circa 1400 BC
  2. Isis suckling the infant Horus / circa 600 BC
  3. Imhotep / circa 600 BC
  4. Amon-Re / circa 650 BC
  5. Baboon of Thoth / circa AD 100

  • Egyptian heart scarab
      New Kingdom (18th Dynasty), circa 1400 BC
      Serpentine
      Length: 5.6 cm
    Egyptian heart scarab Egyptian heart scarab
    The majority of Egyptian scarabs are small (less than 1.5 cm in length) and amuletic in character. Larger specimens such as this, inscribed upon the base with a text taken from Chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead, were intended to prevent the heart (for the Egyptians the seat of all emotions and the source of all physical action, including speech) from testifying against its owner at the final judgement. The owner was a military officer (standard-bearer) called Kenro, in the wrappings of whose mummy the scarab will originally have been placed.



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