Ancient Egypt, Third Intermediate to Late Dynastic Period, 21st to 31st Dynasty, ca. 1070 to 332 BCE. A hand-carved hematite amulet depicting a heart-and-windpipe known as "ib" exhibiting incredibly smooth surfaces and lustrous graphite-gray hues. The top is pierced for suspension on a thread, and could potentially be strung on and worn today as a pendant if one desired! Petite amulets like this example were perhaps sewn into the linings of mummy wrappings or placed atop the body prior to burial to preserve the body, heart, and soul of the deceased before venturing forth into the afterlife. Size: 0.5" W x 0.81" H (1.3 cm x 2.1 cm)

According to Carol Andrews, a curator in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum, "To the Egyptians the heart was the most essential of organs, not because it pumped blood around the body - it is unclear that they understood this function - but because they believed it was the seat of intelligence, the originator of all feelings and actions, and the storehouse of memory. This is why it was the heart which was weighed in the balance in the Underworld to ascertain whether its owner was worthy to enter the Egyptian paradise: only it retained the memory of its owner's deeds upon earth." (Andrews, Carol. "Amulets of Ancient Egypt." University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994, p. 72)

Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010

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#175508

Light abrasions commensurate with age, otherwise intact and excellent. Great surface smoothness and wonderful preservation to overall form.