Egyptian heart amulet from a museum collection
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Object number
AR2675
| Object: |
Egyptian heart amulet from a museum collection
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| Material: |
Stone.
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| Period: |
Late Period of Ancient Egypt. 26th to 31st dynasty, 664 BC to 332 BC. |
| Description: |
Amulet in the anatomical shape of a mammalian heart. Loop at the top.
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| Background: |
The heart amulet was supposed to ensure wellbeing in life and afterlife. The shape is the same as the F34 hieroglyph ("ib"), which can have the same function when used symbolically in pyramid texts. Heart amulets along with Horus eyes and Djed pillars were the most popular amulets of Ancient Egypt. Since the First Intermediate Period, heart representations have the additional function of influencing the weighing of the heart ceremony. The amulet should prevent the real heart of the deceased to speak against him. Dating such heart amulets is a subject of academic discussion. One can suspect that fear of the "tell-tale heart" increased in the Middle Kingdom or New Kingdom. And yet heart amulets are still rare during these periods. By the 21st dynasty heart amulets are often found in royal burials. But their popularity only peaked by the 26th dynasty and lasted until ptolemaic times. |
| Dimensions: |
21mm long, 14mm wide.
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| Condition: |
Outstanding condition. Small chip at one side, otherwise perfect. Including note of a previous owner reading "App. 1980.187 Mayer".
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| Provenance: |
Acquired by us in 2019 from G. Vandervort. Previously in US american private ownership. Acquired at Bourgeault-Horan Antiquarians & Associates, USA.
Previously with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (accession no. 1980.187), accessioned in 1980, a gift from the wife of Horace L. Mayer. The piece was possibly already on loan at the museum before 1980. It was acquired into the US american Horace L. Mayer collection before 1969. Horace L. Mayer and his wife (Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA) developed a love for Egyptian art and started collecting during their travels to Europe in the 1920ies. More than half of their objects came from the collection of Luigi Vassalli (1812 bis 1887). Since 1930 Mr. and Mrs. Mayer consulted the Egyptian department of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and began loaning objects so the museum could study them. The cooperation continued and until Mr. Mayer's death in 1968 more than 350 objects have been loaned or gifted to the museum. Mrs. Mayer stayed in contact with the museum and donated further artefacts from the collection of her husband until at least 1980. |
| References: |
Cf. Claudia Müller-Winkler, Die ägyptischen Objektamulette, no. 332. Cf. Petrie, Amulets, pl. I, no. 7p. |
| Literature: |
The Horace L. Mayer collection: A detailed description of the collection by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts if found in their Bulletin, Vol. LXX, no. 359 from 1972 on page 15 in the article “Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Acquisitions and Loans from the Horace L. Mayer Collection” by Dows Dunham. An early mention of the collection is found in „Ancient Egyptian Jewelry in the Horace L. Mayer Collection“ by Edward L. B. Terrace in American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 67, No. 3 (July 1963), p. 269-274. On Egyptian heart amulets: Claudia Müller-Winkler, Die ägyptischen Objektamulette, p. 212ff. |
| Authenticity: |
We unconditionally guarantee the authenticity of every artefact, all items are subject to our lifetime return policy on authenticity.
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