The Met Store Necklaces*Egyptian Heart Scarab Pendant Necklace

Art jewelry inspired by The Met collection.

This timeless pendant necklace calls upon a remarkable gold-and-serpentinite heart scarab (ca. 1492–1473 B.C.) belonging to an Egyptian nebet per, or housemistress, by the name of Hatnefer. Heart scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt; a righteous heart was essential for transcendence to the afterlife, so the Egyptians used amulets such as this one in The Met collection to ensure favorable judgment. This extraordinary heart scarab dating to the New Kingdom bears a version of a chapter from the Book of the Dead engraved on the base, in which the deceased urges her heart not to bear witness against her during her final judgment. Hatnefer’s name, however, was inserted over an erased text, indicating that the amulet wasn’t originally…See More