- Museum number
- EA29440
- Description
-
Glazed composition human-headed heart amulet: the pale blue inlaid heron on the purple blue upper surface is symbolic of the sun god and so has connotations of daily birth or renewal. The flat turquoise green underside bears in black the hieroglyphic text of Chapter 30B of the 'Book of the Dead', more often found on heart scarabs, which bound the heart to silence about its owner's misdeeds when it was weighed symbolically in the underworld. However, no owner is named. The separately inlaid red human face with striped wig can be considered to represent a personified heart.
- Production date
- 1375BC-1275BC (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 1.74 centimetres
-
Length: 5.82 centimetres
-
Width: 3.50 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Bibliography:
'Egyptian Treasures' [exhibition catalogue] (Shanghai, 1999), 136-137 No 39;
C. Andrews, 'Amulets of Ancient Egypt' (London 1994), fig.61.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1997 13 Oct-1998 5 Jan, India, New Delhi, National Museum, The Enduring Image
1998 9 Feb-3 May, India, Mumbai, Sir Caswasjee Jahangir Hall, The Enduring Image
2003 18 Oct-14 Dec, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 17 Jan-28 Mar, Kobe City Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 10 Apr-13 Jun, Fukuoka Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2004 26 Jun-29 Aug, Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2005 11 Apr-10 Jul, Seoul Arts Centre, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2005 25 Jul-8 Oct, Busan Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2005 27 Oct-2006 31 Jan, Haengso Museum, Keimyung University, Daegu, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2006 18 Mar-4 Jun, Beijing, Capital Museum, Treasures of the World's Cultures
2010 4th Nov-2011 6th March, Round Reading Room BM, Book of the Dead
2012 July - September, Tokyo, Mori museum, The Book of the Dead: Journey Through the Afterlife
2012, October - November, Fukuoka Museum of Art, The Book of the Dead
2013, May - September, Perth, Western Australian Museum, The Book of the Dead
- Condition
- good
- Associated titles
Inscription from: Book of the Dead (Chapter 30B)
- Acquisition date
- 1897
- Department
- Egypt and Sudan
- BM/Big number
- EA29440
- Registration number
- 1897,0511.156
