The meaning of the heart amulets in egyptian art

Abstract

Notwithstanding the fact that the heart amulet stands amongst the most important items of magical protection in Ancient Egypt, little attention has been dedicated to the study of its symbolism. Although the heart amulets may seems quite simple in shape, its real complexity became evident when we see the formal diversity of this object that in fact was shaped according to different types and styles of depiction. It is also true that the heart amulet was perhaps one of the most frequently depicted amulets in Egyptian Art, being a common iconographic feature in some well defined pictorial contexts where it appears as a distinctive attribute of gods or humans. Given the wide diversity of shapes and contexts in which the heart amulet is depicted, we cannot expect to find only one meaning attributed to it, nor that its meaning stayed unchangeable. In this study, our aim is to point out the main symbolic uses of the heart amulet through the analysis of its artistic rendering and also to suggest its variations throughout the Egyptian history.