“To the Egyptians, the heart was the most essential of organs, not because it pumped blood around the body --it is unclear that they understood this function--but because they believed it was the seat of intelligence, the originator of all feelings and actions, and the storehouse of memory. This is why it was the heart which was weighed in the balance in the underworld to ascertain whether its owner was worthy to enter the Egyptian paradise… Alone among the internal organs removed from the corpse during mummification, the heart was left in place within the body cavity; should it be accidentally removed, it was returned and stitched into place” (Andrews 1994:72).

Provenance: Collected by Gustave Jéquier (1868-1946).

Authentication: Gayle Gibson, Egyptologist: Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.