Engraved Egyptian Amulets

The use of stones for the decoration of images of the gods, and in religious ceremonies, more especially in those connected with the burial of the dead, can be traced back to a remote antiquity. Indeed, we may regard this religious use of precious or peculiar stones as the natural development of the original idea of their talismanic virtue. If a certain supernatural essence manifested itself in the stone, what more fit object could be imagined for the decoration of statues of the gods, or to bear engraved texts from the sacred writings, and to be placed with the bodies of the dead as "passports" to ensure the safe entry of the souls of the departed into the better land?

While this employment of mineral substances for religious purposes is practically universal, the earliest recorded instances come from Egypt, and concern the Egyptian custom of engraving texts from a very ancient ritual composition, called the Book of the Dead, upon certain semi-precious stones which had been cut into various symbolical forms. This "Book of the Dead," composed of a number of distinct chapters, each complete in itself, describes the passage of the soul of the deceased through the realm of the dead (Amenti). Here the soul addresses the gods and other beings who receive it, and the prayers and invocations recited in the chapters are supposed to procure a safe passage and protection from all evil influences or impediments.

One of the most usual of the engraved amulets is the buckle or tie (thet). This was generally of red jasper, carnelian, or red porphyry, or else of red glass or faience or of sycamore wood. The wood was symbolical of the blood of Isis, and the amulets were sometimes engraved with the 156th chapter of the Book of the Dead; they were placed on the mummy's neck. The formula engraved reads:

"Chapter of the buckle of carnelian which is put on the neck of the deceased.

The blood of Isis, the virtue of Isis; the magic power of Isis, the magic power of the Eye are protecting this the Great one; they prevent any wrong being done to him.

This chapter is said on a buckle of carnelian dipped into the juice of ankhama, inlaid into the substance of the sycamore-wood and put on the neck of the deceased.

Whoever has this chapter read to him, the virtue of Isis protects him; Horus, the son of Isis, rejoices in seeing him, and no way is barred to him, unfailingly."

(Life Work of Sir Peter le Page Renouf, Paris, 1907, vol. iv., p. 342. In the vignette to chapter 93, to illustrate the protection afforded, a buckle with human hands seizes the arm of the deceased and prevents him from going toward the East, the inauspicious direction for departed souls, pl. xxv (Papyrus, Louvre iii, 93)).

Another amulet is the tet. The hieroglyph represents a mason's table and the word signifies "firmness, stability, preservation." These figures, made of faience, gold, carnelian, lapis-lazuli, and other materials, were placed on the neck of the mummy to afford protection. (Budge, "The Mummy," Cambridge, 1894).

The "papyrus scepter," uat, is usually cut from matrix-emerald or made of faience of similar hue. Uat means "verdure, flourishing, greenness"; placed on the neck of the mummy it was regarded as emblematic of the eternal youth it was hoped the deceased would enjoy in the realm of the dead. In the 159th chapter of the Book of the Dead, we read of an uat of matrix-emerald; it was believed to be the gift of Thoth, serving to protect the limbs of the deceased. (Budge, "The Mummy," Cambridge, 1894.)

The amulet representing the pillow, urs, was generally made of hematite. The 166th chapter of the Book of the Dead is sometimes engraved thereon. Dr. Budge renders this as follows:

"Rise up from non-existence, O prostrate one! They watch over thy head at the exalted horizon. Thou overthrowest thine enemies; thou triumphest over what they do against thee, as Horus, the avenger of his father, this Osiris (The deceased was identified with Osiris.) has commanded to be done for thee. Thou cuttest off the heads of thine enemies; never shall they carry off from thee thy head (?). Verily Osiris maketh slaughter at the coming forth of the heads of his enemies; may they never remove his head from him."

Of all these amulets, the type most frequently encountered has the shape of a heart, ab. These are found of carnelian, green jasper, basalt, lapis-lazuli, and other hard materials. The heart, regarded in ancient Egypt as the seat of life, was the object of especial care after death. Enclosed in a special receptacle it was buried with the mummy, and the belief was that only after it had been weighed in the balance of the underworld, against the symbol of law, could it regain its place in the body of the deceased. The heart was symbolically represented by the scarab. (Budge, "The Mummy," Cambridge, 1894.)