During the mummification process, amulets of various kinds were either placed on the body or wrapped in mummy casings to protect the deceased from the dangers of the underworld. In the centre of these arrangements of amulets was usually the "heart scarab", which contained a special talisman relating to the "court of the dead", a pectoral with a central scarab, or a winged scarab made of Egyptian ceramics (glazed porcelain-like material).
Quartzite and traces of gold leaf. The New Kingdom, Eighteenth Dynasty, c. 1550-1292 BC. Now in the Walters Museum of Art, Baltimore.
