Details

LOT 0013

Egyptian Green Schist Heart Scarab

LATE PERIOD, 664-332 BC

5 3/4" (490 grams total, 14.5cm including stand).

A green schist heart scarab with detailed carapace, the suture of the elytra indicated by three lines and the division of the pronotum from the elytra by double line, humeral callosities indicated on the elytra by concentric triangles, the fan-shaped clypeus with four lobes; the underside inscribed with ten lines of hieroglyphic text, an abbreviated variant of Spell 30B from the Book of the Dead, translating to:
1) 'Osiris is strong'
2) my heart of my mother, my heart of my mother, my heart
3) of my transformations. Do not stand against me as witness
4) Do not oppose me before the tribunal
5) of Osiris. Do not make your opposition against me in the presence of the keeper of the balance
6) of the balance. You are my ka which is in my body
7) Khnum makes my limbs sound.
8) (When you go forth) to the Perfect Place which is prepared for us, do not make
9) my name stink to the courtiers.
10) You have determined that I am (one justified);
the name of the owner 'Wsir-nḫt' (Osiris is strong) has been added in the first register, possibly in a different hand, mounted on a custom-made display stand.

Provenance

From the private collection of G.M., Germany, 1997; previously with Bonhams, London, 10 June 1997, lot 161; formerly with Christie’s, New York, 7 December 1995, lot 150; before that in the private collection of Mr Henry Purnie, Pompano Beach, Florida, USA; accompanied by copies of the relevant Bonhams and Christie's catalogue pages, an academic report by Egyptologist Dr Alberto Pollastrini and by an archaeological expertise by Dr Raffaele D’Amato; this lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by AIAD certificate number no.10703-175408.

Literature

See Ranke, H., Die Ägyptischen Personennamen, Band I, Glückstadt: Augustin, 1935; Teeter, E., Scarabs, Scaraboids, Seals, and Seal Impressions from Medinet Habu, OIP 118, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2003; Munro, I., Das Totenbuch des Bak-su (pKM 1970.37/pBrocklehurst) aus der Zeit Amenophis'II. Handschriften des Altaegyptischen Totenbuches 2, Wiesbaden, 1995; Taylor, J. H., Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife, British Museum Press, London, 2010, p.234.

CONDITION