Red jasper heart amulet. To the Egyptians the heart was the most important organ of the body, the seat of intelligence and feeling. It was the heart which was weighed on the balance in the afterlife to judge whether or not a person should live again. Only two heart amulets are known which may predate the New Kingdom, but once established this amulet was so important that it appeared on every mummy. Red stones were usually used. See Carol Andrews 'Amulets of Ancient Egypt' 1994. British Museum Press. Gift from University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Four chapters of the Book of the Dead were concerned with not taking a man's heart away (27029A). Spell 26 is the 'Spell for giving the deceased heart to him in the realm of the dead'. Spell 29B is for a heart amulet of cornelian. Spell 30 of the 'Book of the Dead' is for the heart amulet, 'My heart of my mother, my heart of my mother, my breast that I had on earth, stand not against me as witness before the Lords of Offerings.....' (Translation Allen 1974). It calls upon the heart not to say bad things about the person when they are judged in the after life.
