DescriptionHatnofer's heart scarab is an exceptionally fine example of this type of funerary equipment and is comparable to those made for contemporary royalty. It was certainly a royal gift. Every feature of the scarab beetle is carefully rendered. The exquisite chain is made of gold wire, plaited in a quadruple-link pattern. The scarab's base is engraved with a version of Book of the Dead (chapter 30A), in which the deceased addresses her own heart, exhorting it not to bear witness against Hatnefer's spirit (ka) in the final judgment in the afterlife. Hatnofer's name was inserted over an erased text, indicating that the scarab was not made for her.

 

Heart Scarab Text

 

The Mistress of the House, Hatnefer, says: "Heart of my mother, heart of my mother, heart of my (actual) being, do not rise up against me as a witness; do not contend against me in the court of judgment; do not make opposition against me in the presence of the keeper of the balance. You are my bodily ka, a Khnum who has invigorated my limbs. When you ascend to the perfection from which we have come, do not cause our names to stink to the entourage who create mankind in their proper stations, but rather may it go well with us and with the listener, so that the judge may rejoice. Do not devise lies against me in the presence of the god, for your reckoning is at hand."

 

For other objects from Hatnofer's burial see 36.3.1, 36.3.3–.6.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and MarkingsInscriptions: Chapter 30B, Book of the Dead

ProvenanceMuseum excavations, 1935-36. Acquired by the Museum in the division of finds, 1936.