in the presence of the Guardian of the Scales. Thou art my Ka

dweller in

side the heart of

ت

Anoint

Then

make a beetle

прод

fashioned [and] plated with gold, place [it] in

حة

a man. [It will] for him the Opening of the Mouth.

Some copies of the Chapter prefix to it the words

الله

, meaning that it is to be recited as a heka, i.e., as a magical utterance. The word occurs in Coptic under the form IK, which is by general consent translated “magic,"1 but this meaning does not explain the word fully. The Pyramid Texts show that heka, &L, is in the first instance a property of the gods and something that is inherent in their nature. It was transmitted to the dead who succeeded in reaching the abode of the gods, but, as we see from Chapter XXIV of the Book of the Dead, the heka which the gods had given to them could be stolen from them. Without ḥeka the dead could not live in heaven with the gods. Each day Rā used ḥeka to render impotent the schemes and wiles of the monster Apep, and similarly the beatified dead used the heka which Rā gave them to defeat the fiends and devils who attacked them. And as heka rendered powerless every hostile being, so it destroyed the sicknesses and diseases that were caused by devils, and its power destroyed the effect of poisons. In the text in the pyramid of Unas the king is said to have eaten all the gods, and by so doing to have gained possession of their heka and saa, i.e., knowledge.2 In a remarkable passage in the Teaching of Khati3 the king says that God created heka for the benefit of men: "He made for them heka to put to flight [untoward] happenings and [evil] visions by night and by day."4 Thus it is clear that men could obtain possession of heka, and that by means of it they acquired supernatural powers. Now, in one of the Rubrics to Chapter XXXB, the Chapter is said to have been "found" in Khemenu, or Hermopolis, the city of Thoth, and this god was, of course, the author of this heka. But Thoth was the heart or mind of Rā, therefore the source of this heka is Rā himself. When the deceased recited it he would be in the Hall of Judgment, looking 1 For examples see Spiegelberg, Kopt. Handwörterbuch, p. 229.

the knowledge of every god" (lines 519, 520).

* Golénischeff, Les Papyrus Hiératiques, Nos. 11154 et 1116B, St. Petersburg, 1913, lines 136, 137.

And see Gardiner's translation in the Jnl. of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. I, Part I, p. 34.

on when his heart was placed in the Great Scales to be weighed, and his soul was standing by his side. Apparently he had no fear about the evidence that his soul might give, but the heka that is put into his mouth proves that he was not sure that the testimony of his heart would be wholly in his favour. He was afraid that his heart might be hostile to him and gainsay him before the Assessors, and that it might in some way fail him when he who belonged to the Scales was dealing with it. He of the Scales" in the earliest times was the Ape of Thoth, and later was Anubis, who acted under the direction of the Ape. As a kind of excuse for addressing his heart, the deceased says, "Thou art my KA (i.e., my mental and spiritual nature), [and] Khnem, the strengthener and maintainer of my members " (i.e., body). In other words, he throws the responsibility for all his mental and physical doings upon his heart, and then goes on to tell it not to make his name to stink before the Shenit, or nobles of the kingdom of Osiris, and not to tell lies about him, or to utter calumnies before the Great God, the Lord of Åmentt. Now, Chapter XXXB has hitherto been translated as a prayer, and the deceased has been thereby represented as a humble suppliant who is entreating his heart to be kind and gracious to him, as if there was a possibility that it might be cruel and hostile to him, and thereby destroy his chance of entering the kingdom of Osiris. But as Chapter XXXв is a heka of divine origin, i.e., a "word of power," it seems to me that the deceased is not making supplication to his heart, but commanding it concerning the things that it must and must not do, and that in translating it we should use the imperative instead of the precative.

Of the green basalt heart scarab there are many varieties, and each typical variety has its own peculiar characteristics. The form most approved of by the Egyptians consisted of a scarab of fine hard basalt or green crystalline stone, set in a gold frame, with a loop at the top by which it was suspended from a wire or chain hanging round the neck. The folds of the wings of the beetle were indicated either by lines of gold painted on the back, or by pieces of gold inlaid therein. One of the oldest specimens of the heart scarab is B.M. 7876. This scarab is made of very hard green stone, polished, and where the head of the beetle should be is a human face, which suggests that the individuality of the deceased was supposed to be merged in that of the Beetle-god. The scarab is set in a plinth of gold on the base of which are stamped extracts from Chapters XXXв and LXIV of the Book of the Dead. On the edge of the plinth is cut the cartouche of Sebekemsaf

XIVth dynasty, about B.C. 2300.

988880

a king of the

The text of Chapter XXXB

has some interesting variants, but contains only a shortened form of

the prayer which was to be recited as hekau¦, i.e., a magical

formula of divine origin. The deceased says: "My heart of my mother, my heart of my mother. My heart of [my] becomings (transformations ?). Let no one stand up against me bearing testimony against me, let no one thrust himself against me to repulse me among the Tchatchau (i.e., the Two and Forty Assessors).” The text reads:

Sometimes the scarab is joined to a heart that is pierced for suspension, and the heart itself is inscribed with the signs, i.e., "life," and the symbols of Osiris and Isis. On the wings of the scarab is cut the prayer, Mayest thou go forth over the sky in threefold peace (or, offerings). Mayest thou sail hither and thither according to the dictates of thy heart. May the ferryman (or, ferry-boat) transport thee so that thou mayest look upon the lord of the gods. May he give thee thine eyes to see and thine ears [to hear]"

This scarab was made for

the lady Aui (B.M. 7925). The oldest heart scarabs contain nothing but the text of Chapter XXXв and the name of the deceased, e.g., B.M. 7923, which was made for the steward

台

scarab

5. Others have the text with a space for the name left blank (B.M. 7877). This was a trade purchased in the bazâr and not specially made for the deceased. Though the Rubric of Chapter XXXB orders that the heart scarab be set in a gold frame, very few examples in our museums have this setting; this is accounted for by the fact that the natives who found the scarabs stripped off the gold and melted it. A fine example in which the setting is preserved, and also the gold wire

by which it was suspended from the neck, is B.M. 24401; it was made for the royal scribe Rensenb

Some heart scarabs have no inscription on the base, which is filled with figures of the gods. Thus on B.M. 7930 is a figure of Osiris Khenti Amenti, "Lord of the Holy Land," ', with Isis on one side and Nephthys on the other. A space of two lines is left blank for an inscription. Others have this scene cut on the base, and figures of Rā and Osiris, and the moon and Utchats on the back,

(B.M. 15500, 15507, 35402). On B.M. 7931 we have a figure of the deceased standing with his hands raised in adoration before Osiris. On the back of some heart scarabs the Benu Bird of Heliopolis takes

the place of Ra. Thus on B.M. 7883 are cut the Boat of Rā

a figure of Osiris with, and the Benu

with F

and on B.M. 7878 we have the Benu Bird and the inscription "The

Divine Heart of Rā," www

18. This last-named 유

, and on its base is a

scarab was made for Ani, shortened form of Chapter XXXB. A few examples are known in which a human head takes the place of the head of the beetle, e.g., B.M. 7999. The text of the Heart Chapter is usually cut across the base of the scarab in horizontal lines, but in one instance the lines are cut perpendicularly (B.M. 33868). On this scarab the names of the father and mother of the deceased are recorded, which is unusual. B.M. 7917 shows that the heart scarab was sometimes made of material other than green basalt. This example is in white limestone, and was made for a SEM priest, who was also the high-priest (Ur-kherp-hem) of Ptaḥ relatives of such a high ecclesiastical official should have disregarded the direction of the Rubric of Chapter XXXB. The use of the heart scarab continued down to the Graeco-Roman Period, as we see from B.M. 7966. This example is made of a hard crystalline green stone, with an uninscribed polished base. On the back of it are cut four figures; the first is probably the deceased, the second is Anubis, who carries a palm branch, the third carries a sistrum, and the fourth holds a long staff in the right hand and a cornucopia in the left. This model is a very accurate representation of the scarabaeus sacer.

8. It is surprising to find that the

Examples of the heart scarab in glazed porcelain with parts of Chapter XXXB written on the base are not very common, but several good specimens are known, viz., the cobalt-coloured scarabs B.M. 34289, 7868 and 7869. The last-named was made for a