228 THE CURIOUS LORE OF PRECIOUS STONES
phoenix, an emblem of the resurrection, and bears inscribed the chapter of the heart.6
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.7
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, Ο heart of Osiris, dwelling in the West! Hail to you, gods of
the braided beard, august by your sceptre ! Speak well of the Osiris Ν
; 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 scarabœus 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
6 Birch, Catalogue of Egyptian Antiquities in Alnwick Castle, London, 1880, p. 224.
' Pierret, " Le livre des Morts," Paris, 1882, p. 138.
