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The Vulture of

Isis.

This chapter was to be "said over a tet of gold, made of the heart of sycamore wood, which was to be placed on the neck of the mummy." The tet enabled the deceased to enter in through the gates of the underworld, and if this chapter were known by him, he would "rise up as a perfect soul in the underworld, he would not be repulsed at the gates there, and cakes would be given to him, and joints of meat from the altars of Rā."

III. The Vulture. According to the rubric of the 157th chapter of the Book of the Dead, a vulture of gold was to be placed on the neck of the mummy on the day of the funeral; it was supposed to carry with it the protection of "Mother" Isis. The chapter reads, "Isis has come, she has gone round about the towns, she has sought out the hidden places of Horus in his coming out from the swamp of papyrus reeds. His son has stood against evil, he has come into the divine boat, he has commanded the princes of the world, he has made a great fight, he makes mention of what he has done, he has caused himself to be feared and established terror of him. His mother, the mighty lady, makes his protection and brings (?) him to Horus." Amulets of the vulture inscribed with this chapter are very rare.

IV. The Collar usex. The rubric of the 158th chapter of the Book of the Dead orders a collar of gold to be laid upon the neck of the deceased on the day of the funeral. It was to be inscribed ::

lous bus Day 1:2 Y

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etc.

nuk

uā ȧm

I am

sefexi

maa-sen

Seb

one among the unbandaged ones [who] see Seb.

Amulet collars are found made of red jasper, carnélian,

rus sceptre

V. The “Papyrus Sceptre" uat'. This amulet is The papy. usually made of mother-of-emerald or of faïence like unto it of Thoth. in colour, and the hieroglyphic word which it represents,

uat', means "verdure, flourishing, greenness,” and the like; it was placed on the neck of the deceased, and indicated the eternal youth which it was hoped he would enjoy in the underworld. This amulet was sometimes inscribed with the 159th chapter of the Book of the Dead, where it is described as uat en nesem, "an uat' of mother-of

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emerald." The next chapter says that a rounded tablet, on which is a figure of the in relief, is to be placed on the neck of the deceased; it was supposed to be given to him by Thoth, and to protect his limbs.

VI. The Pillow

urs. This amulet is usually

made of hæmatite, and is generally uninscribed; it is a model of the large pillows of wood, alabaster and stone which are placed under the heads of mummies to "lift them up." When inscribed the text is a version of that of the 166th chapter of the Book of the Dead.

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1 See Birch, The Chapter of the Pillow, in Acg. Zeit., 1868, pp. 52-54.

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[as] has commanded to be done for thee Horus, the avenger of father his

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Verily slaughter Osiris maketh at the coming forth of the heads

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ab.

VII. The Heart J Amulets of the heart are made of carnelian, green jasper, basalt, lapis-lazuli, and many other kinds of hard stone. The heart was considered to be the source of all life and thought, and it was the part of the body that was specially taken care of in mummifying. It was embalmed and put in a jar by itself, and it could not be replaced in the body until it had undergone judgment by being weighed in the balance against , representing “ Law.” The heart was symbolised by the scarab, upon which the formulæ relating to the heart were inscribed; and sometimes a heart amulet was inscribed with one of the chapters of the heart on one side, and a scarab on the other (B.M. No. 8003).

of the

Sometimes the heart is human-headed, with the hands crossed over it (B.M. 15,598), and sometimes a figure of the soul, in the shape of a hawk with outstretched wings, is inlaid on one side of it (B.M. No. 8005). The chapters in the Book of the Dead which refer to the heart are the 26th, the "Chapter of giving to a person his heart in the underworld"; The the 27th, 28th, 29th A, “ Chapter of not allowing the heart of Chapter a person to be taken away from him in the underworld"; Heart. 29 B, "Chapter of a heart of carnelian;" 30 A, and 30 B, "Chapter of not allowing the heart of a person to be turned away from him in the underworld." The most important chapter of the heart, and that most commonly found, 29 B, is translated in that portion of this Catalogue which describes the green basalt heart in the Fitzwilliam Museum; for the text of the others see Naville, Das Todtenbuch, Bll. XXXVII.XLIII.; and for translations see Birch, On formulas relating to the heart, in Aeg. Zeit., 1866, pp. 69, 1867, pp. 16, 54; and Pierret, Le Livre des Morts, pp. 103-114. An interesting example of the heart amulet is described by Birch'; on one side are Net, "Neith" and the bennu bird, with the legend soul of Chepera," and on the other is the common chapter of the heart. The bennu bird or phoenix was an emblem of the resurrection.

Nuk ba xepera, “I am the

VIII. The Amulet of Life fanx. This object is found

in every material used by the Egyptians for making amulets, and formed a very common ornament for the living and the dead. Necklaces were frequently composed of pendants

made in forms of

"good luck," were added.

and, and sometimes neferu †††

IX. The "Symbolic Eye" or DID, ut'at.

This amulet was made of glazed faïence, wood, granite, hæmatite, carnelian, lapis-lazuli, gold, silver, and many other materials. Ut'ats are either right or left, and they are also made double or quadruple; they are sometimes made in

1 Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in Alnwick Castle, p. 224.

The

amulet of

hollow-work, and are sometimes ornamented with a number of others in relief. Some have on their obverse a head of Hathor (B.M. No. 7357) or a figure of Bes (B.M. No. 21,547) ; on their reverse they frequently have names of kings, private persons, or gods. They are sometimes made with wings, and

the utat. have an arm and hand holding "life,” projecting (B.M. No. 7378); and some have a ram and two lions on them in relief. The two ut'ats, right and left, represented the two eyes of the sun, the one symbolising the northern half of the sun's daily course, and the other the southern half; they also represented the sun and moon. On sepulchral boxes the ut'ats are often accompanied by neferu. The vignette of the 163rd chapter of the Book of the Dead contains two ut'ats, winged, with human legs, and the vignette of the 167th or "Chapter of bringing the ut'at," is ; the 140th chapter

Miscel

laneous

amulets.

was to be recited over an utʼat made of lapis-lazuli, and offerings were to be made to it. The word ut'a

]

means to

be in good health, safe, preserved and happy," and the popularity of this amulet in Egypt was probably due to the fact that those who wore it, whether living or dead, were supposed to be safe and happy under the protection of the eye of Rā.

X. The amulet Nefer x or "Good Luck," was commonly made of glazed faïence or of carnelian, and was much used by the Egyptians for necklaces.

XI. The amulet Sam↓

or

ր AA represented

"union"; sometimes it is made thus and then probably represents sam-ta, the union with the earth or "funeral."

XII. The amulet Chut represented the disk of the sun on the horizon, and was often made of jasper or hard stone.

XIII. The amulet Shen Q represented the orbit of the sun, and is made of lapis-lazuli and of carnelian. It is often found on sepulchral stelæ and boxes, but its exact use is unknown.

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