Heart Amulet
Description
<p>The ancient Egyptians regarded the heart as the source of human intellect, memory, conscience, and passions. Believed to embody one's true character, the heart was weighed on the balance of the Court of the Underworld to ascertain if the owner was worthy of being reborn in the afterlife. Heart amulets were part of the amulet set of the deceased beginning in the New Kingdom. The meaning of such heart amulets may be that of a substitute for the real heart. Several spells from "The Book of the Dead" deal with the danger that could arise if the heart was taken away from a person, or damaged; it was thought that such a separation could destroy his/her existence in the afterlife.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/48.1657' rel='external'>Heart Amulet</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>
Cross-references (2)
- Walters-AccNum 48.1657 tier-2
- Walters-id 7479 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Walters Art Museum (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
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- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.