Pectoral of Mutnefret

Dd mdw jn Wsjr nb nHH nTr aA HqA jmn.tjt Di=f (j)x.t nb.t nfr(.t) wab(.t) n kA=k Mwt-nfr.t

Words spoken by Osiris, Lord of Eternity, The Great God, Ruler of the East, may he give everything good and pure to your* soul (kA), Mutnefret







Dd mdw jn Wsjr nb.t-pr mwt-nfr.t mAa(.t) xrw Dd=f jb=j n mw.t=i HA.tj- n xpr.w=j {n}
m aHA r=i m mtr.w
m xzf r=i m DADA(.t)
m jr rqy=k r=i jr tA=k r=i m bAH jr.j-mxA.t
ntk kA=i jm.j X.t=i

Words spoken by Osiris Mistress of the House Mutnefret true of voice, he* says:
My heart of my mother, my heart of my form,
Do not stand against me as witness!
Do not oppose me in the (divine) tribunal!
Do not act in enmity against me in front of the keeper of the balance!
You are my soul (ka) which is in my body.





The pectoral is inscribed with an abbreviated version of a text that is often found on heart scarabs (see for example, 36.3.2) and in Book of the Dead papyri (designated as spell 30B). Though the owner of this pectoral is a woman, the pronouns in this text and in the inscription above are masculine in reference the male deity, Osiris. On this issue, see:





Cooney, Kathlyn M. 2010. Gender transformation in death: a case study of coffins from Ramesside period Egypt.　Near Eastern Archaeology 73 (4), 224-237




Niv Allon 2018

Macgregor Collection. Purchased by Lord Carnarvon at the Macgregor sale, Sotheby's London, 1922, Carnarvon Collection, acquired by the Museum from Lady Carnarvon, 1926.

Newberry, Percy E. and H. R. Hall 1922. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Ancient Egyptian Art. London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, p. 87 no. 22.

Hayes, William C. 1959. Scepter of Egypt II: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.). Cambridge, Mass.: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 420; p. 423, fig. 269.