Neskhons' Heart Scarab & Ba-Bird

Beautiful detail inside Neskhons' sarcophagus.

Part of a large, ancient Egyptian sarcophagus acquired and sold by the Merrin Gallery, Neskhons' mummy was accompanied by the traditional amulet and falcon pendants. While dwarfed by the size of the sarcophagus and the elaborate decoration, these items hold great significance.

The amulet, called a "heart scarab", is a large, beetle-shaped object, usually of green stone or faience, that was placed over the heart of the deceased.

Its form is significant. Because the larvae of the scarab beetle emerged from a ball of dung in which they incubated, it appeared as magical regeneration to the ancient Egyptians. It also came to represent the reappearance, each dawn, of the Sun and became associated with the god, Khepri.

The two Ba-bird falcons with their wings spread and heart scarab were found on
Nekhons' mummy. The back view of the heart scarab reveals the inscription.

In rituals prescribed in "The Book of the Dead", the scarab was used in the "weighing of the heart ceremony", in which it was set upon a balance scale against a feather of truth, to determine the individual's fate in the afterlife. An inscription beseeches the heart scarab not to bear negative testimony.

Egyptian Amulets – Protection Through Ancient Gods

Faience lion and Taweret, goddess of fertility.

What is an amulet? It is a small token or talisman, a precious and portable expression of devotion and the hope for protection from disease, death, infertility, or a myriad of other calamities. "In ancient Egypt, such apotropaic [protective] devices could be fashioned from regular materials — such as stone, ivory, metal, glass, and clay — or faience," explains Samuel Merrin, owner of an antiquities gallery on Fifth Avenue.

Faience is a moldable, self-glazing glassy frit — a baked material composed of quartz, lime, copper, and an alkali. When it was first developed during the late Predynastic Period (ca. 3000 BC), faience was invariably blue-green in color. Later, other colors were achieved. But the original tonalities imbued the material with magical significance, making it much more precious than it's combined components. Egyptians believed that the color blue-green connoted vitality and eternal life.