Egyptian Texts and Precious Stones

The following extract from the Book of the Dead treats of the formula to be recited over a funeral scarab cut from a hard stone, perhaps the lapis-lazuli. Egyptian tradition assigned this chapter to the reign of Semti, the fifth king of the 1st Dynasty, about 4400 B.C. (Pierret, "Le livre des Morts," Paris, 1882.)

"Chapter of not allowing a man's heart to oppose him in the divine regions of the nether world.

My heart which came from my mother, my heart necessary for my existence on earth, do not rise up against me, do not testify as an adversary against me among the divine chiefs in regard to what I have done before the gods; do not separate from me before the great lord of Amenti. Hail to thee, O heart of Osiris, dwelling in the West! Hail to you, gods of the braided beard, august by your sceptre! Speak well of the Osiris N; make him prosper by Nehbka. I am reunited with the earth, I am not dead in Amenti. There I am a pure spirit for eternity.

To be said over a scarabaeus fashioned from a hard stone, coated with gold, and placed on the heart of the man after he has been anointed with oil. The following words should be said over him as a magic charm: 'My heart which came from my mother, my heart is necessary for me in my transformations.'

Take your aliments, pass around the turquoise basin, and go to him who is in his temple and from whom the gods proceed."

The most ancient inscription of this especially favorite text is on the plinth of a scarab in the British Museum bearing the cartouche of Sebak-em-saf, a king of the XIV Dynasty, 2300 B.C. It is made from an exceptionally fine piece of green jasper, the body and head of the beetle being carefully carved out of the stone, while the legs are of gold, carved in relief. The scarab is inserted into a gold base of tabloid form, and was found at Kurna (Thebes) by Mr. Salt. As green jasper was believed to possess altogether exceptional virtues as an amulet, this particular scarab was probably regarded as especially sacred.

It appears to have been the rule to engrave certain special chapters of the Book of the Dead, among those referring to the heart, upon particular stones. Thus, for instance, the 26th chapter was engraved on lapis-lazuli, the 27th upon feldspar, the 30th upon serpentine, and the 29th upon carnelian. ("Life Work of Sir Peter le Page Renouf," Paris, 1907, vol. iv, note.) This may perhaps have been originally due to some association of the god principally invoked in the text with the precious substance upon which the text was engraved.

The form of an eye, fashioned out of lapis-lazuli and ornamented with gold, constituted an amulet of great power; it was inscribed with the 140th chapter of the Book of the Dead. On the last day of the month Mechir, an offering "of all things good and holy" was to be made before this symbolic eye, for on that day the supreme god Ra was believed to place such an image upon his head. Sometimes these eyes were made of jasper, and could then be laid upon any of the limbs of a mummy. (Ibid., Paris, 1907.)