Heart Amulet

Place CreatedEgypt, Africa

CultureEgyptian

PeriodLate Period

Date722-332 BCE

MediumWood, gilt

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions13/16 x 1/2 x 1/4 in. (2 x 1.2 x 0.7 cm)

Object number2018.010.1019

Label TextIn ancient Egypt, amulets of animals, deities, and symbols were placed on the mummy or inserted in the mummy bandages to aid and protect the deceased. Certain funerary amulets were associated with parts of the mummified body. The Isis knot, when placed on the throat, protected the body (from left to right). Multiple heart amulets were laid on the upper body. The Djed-pillar amulet stabilized the throat and lower torso. Scarabs promised resurrection and were placed on the throat, chest, and stomach. The “Two-Fingers” amulet, which represents Osiris’s index and middle fingers, was positioned over the evisceration incision on the body. Amulets depicting the god of air Shu and the deity Wepwawet, “the Opener of the Ways,” were positioned on the lower body. Amulets of female sphinxes and lion-headed goddesses brought the protective power and ferocity of big cats.
Exhibition HistoryLife and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 4 - August 6, 2023
Published ReferencesHotel des Ventes du Prado, Marseille, Monnaies - Archeologie Objets de Fouilles (31 Mars 1973), lot 132 (part).
Melinda K. Hartwig, ed., Life and The Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art from the Senusret Collection (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2023), catalogue entry 95.

ProvenancePurchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes du Prado, Marseille, France, March 31, 1973, lot 132 (part). Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

Status

Not on view

Collections