Early 20th century AD. A museum quality replica of a 'heart' scarab (original in the Louvre Museum, Paris) with ridged suspension loop, as placed within the bandages of a mummy; in black composition, the underside bearing nine rows of hieroglyphic text from chapter 30B of the Book of the Dead (known as the Chaper of the Heart"). 55 grams, 61 mm (2 1/2"). Property of a German gentleman; formerly in an old Bavarian collection. Chapter 30B of The Book of the Dead calls upon the heart of the deceased that when it comes to be weighed against the Feather of Truth (the goddess Maat) in the Hall of Judgement before the god of the dead, Osiris (the weighing is represented as the vignette to Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead), it must weigh equal with the feather. The prayer inscribed calls upon the heart, Oh heart of my Mother...' that thou shalt not speak up against me in the Hall of Judgement, i.e. the heart on the scales saying that the deceased is lying, he was not a good and truthful person. In the vignette the ibis-headed god Thoth, god of learning and writing, writes down the result - one of the best known representations of the weighing of the heart scene is that from the Book of the Dead of the royal scribe Ani, in the British Museum.

Very fine condition.