Description
This serpentine scarab has a flat underside with a vertically arranged inscription with the text from spell 30B of the "Book of the Dead." The back of the scarab has a detailed design with a polished surface and almost balanced proportions. The workmanship is good and the piece is carefully made.
This scarab functioned as an independent, user individualized funerary amulet with a renewal connotation and supportive function for the deceased in the Court of the Dead.
Provenance
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Translation] Recitation of Osiris: (the) head of beverages depot, Pa-en-Ptah: / Heart (that I received) from my mother, heart (that I received) from my mother, heart of my (different) ages, do not stand up against / me as witness; do not contradict me in the court; do nothing against me in front of the deities; / do not treat me with hostility in front of the Keeper of the Balance. You are my Ka (life-force), which is in my body; the creator, / who makes the limbs of my body whole; you may come out to the beautiful place, which is there prepared for me. Do not cause my name / to stink in the presence of the members of the court, who make people to resurrected (at) the beautiful place. Excellent is it for the posers; a pleasure is it / for the judge. Do not speak lies against me beside the great god. / See, you are elected to exist (as a justified one).
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters
