Description

 Amulet, in the shape of a heart, surmounted by a suspension loop.

The Heart

To the Egyptians, the heart was the most essential of organs, not because it pumped blood around the body (It is unclear whether they understood this function) but because they believed it was the seat of intelligence, the originator of all feelings and actions, the storehouse of memory, and, consequently, the source of an individual's identity. This is why it was the heart which was weighed in the balance of the underworld to determine if its owner was worthy to enter the Egyptian paradise or not.

Heart Amulets

Heart amulets, of New Kingdom date, are still relatively rare. Two of the earliest securely dated non-royal examples come from the burial of Akenaten's vizier Aper-el at Saqqara.
The heart amulet became one of the most important of all amulets and was set on every mummy until the end of the pharaonic period, often in numbers  and usually on the upper torso. They appear in a wide variety of materials, the most common of which is carnelian, basalt, hematite and glazed compositions. The heart depicted as amulet is usually identified as the bull's heart rather than the human type.
Four spells in the Book of the Dead ensured the heart's protection, and each was supposed to be inscribed on a heart-shaped amulet. Although most hearts amulets are uninscribed, their purpose was clearly the same.

• Carol Andrews, Amulets in Ancient Egypt (London: British Museum Press, 1994).
• Sue D'Auria et al., Mummies and Magic: The Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt (Boston, MA: Museum of Fine Arts, 1988).
• Renate Germer et al., Mummies: Life after Death in Ancient Egypt, Art and Design (New York, NY: Prestel, 1997).
• Mona Serry, ed., Bibliotheca Alexandrina: Antiquities Museum, introduction by Ismail Serageldin (Alexandria: Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Antiquities Museum, 2015): 48, 312.