Heart Scarab

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Found with later intrusive burials in a Middle Kingdom tomb, this heart scarab was crudely inscribed with a portion of Spell 30 from the Book of the Dead, asking the heart not to bear witness against the deceased during the judgement before the god of the dead, Osiris. The lower part of the scarab is broken away so the name of the owner is missing. The scarab was pierced for stringing.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art