In Egyptian culture and mythology, the heart was perceived as the most important organ, the seat of intelligence that decided all feelings and actions, housing all the memories of a person. It was believed that the heart was weighed in the afterlife against a feather representing ma’at, an Egyptian concept of truth and justice, at the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. Should their heart weighed the same or less, they were worthy enough to proceed onto the afterlife, but if it weighed more, they were destroyed. These heart amulets would have been worn as protection for the beholder’s in death, used exclusively for mummies, to ensure a positive judgement. The amulet became so important that it was bestowed on every mummy until the end of the Pharaonic Period.
To discover more about the Egyptian ‘Weighing of the Heart’ ceremony, please visit our relevant blog post: The Egyptian Ceremony of the Weighing of the Heart.
