When Egyptian embalmers wound a body in linen bandages, they did not merely protect it physically. Between one layer and the next they inserted small objects of stone, faience, gold or glass: amulets. Each had a precise meaning, a fixed position and often a Book of the Dead spell to be recited over it. Together they formed a system of protection that enveloped the deceased from head to foot.
A rite, not an ornament
The amulets were placed during the wrapping, which could last many days. The lector priest recited spells as the amulets were laid down, and the texts themselves often specify the material and the point on the body where they should go. An amulet was not a jewel: it was an object consecrated by the word, acting at a precise place.
The number varied greatly. Some modest mummies had few or none; others, like that of Tutankhamun, contained a great many, together with jewellery and ritual objects arranged among the bandages.
The main funerary amulets
Besides the djed pillar, the tyet knot and the heart scarab, the set included many other signs:
| Amulet | Typical position | Symbolic meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Papyrus-shaped wadj column | Neck or chest | Freshness, greenness, renewal |
| Headrest | Under or near the head | Raising the head, that is, rising from death |
| Broad gold collar | On the chest | Protection and freedom of movement |
| Gold vulture | On the neck or chest | Motherly protection of Isis and Mut |
| Two-finger amulet | Near the abdominal incision | A seal over the embalming cut |
| Plaque with udjat eye | Over the incision | Restored wholeness of the body |
| Set square and plumb-bob | Chest or abdomen | Balance, rectitude, stability |
| Human-headed ba | Chest | The bond between the bird-soul and the body |
Several Book of the Dead chapters concern these very objects: chapters 159 and 160 the green feldspar column, chapter 166 the headrest, chapters 157 and 158 the vulture and the collar. The accompanying vignettes often show the amulet itself.
The two-finger amulet
Among the most curious is the two-finger amulet, common in the Late Period. It shows the index and middle fingers side by side, usually in obsidian or dark stone. It was placed near the incision made in the left flank to remove the internal organs. Its function was symbolic: to represent the fingers of the embalmers or of a god, and to "seal" the ritual wound. It is one of the clearest examples of how the technical act of mummification was accompanied by a magical one.
Materials and colours
The choice of material was never indifferent. The Egyptians gave each stone and each colour a symbolic value:
- carnelian and red jasper: blood, life, the power of Isis;
- lapis lazuli: the night sky and the hair of the gods;
- green feldspar and turquoise: vegetation, youth, rebirth;
- gold: the incorruptible flesh of the gods and the light of the sun;
- obsidian and black stones: fertile earth and the protection of night;
- faience: light and brilliance, at an affordable cost.
When a text prescribes a material, substituting it could alter its meaning. This is why funerary papyri often specify the required stone precisely.
Lists of amulets
Some papyri and tombs contain actual lists of amulets. A Late Period papyrus, known as the MacGregor papyrus, sets out a long catalogue of them, naming each one. These lists show that the amuletic set was regarded as a complete system, almost a second armour for the deceased.
The logic of the set
Each amulet protected a function or a part of the body: the heart, the head, the throat, the breath, the ability to move. Taken together, they ensured that the deceased was whole, stable and able to be reborn. Studio Esoterico Cornelio sees in this system an exemplary expression of Egyptian thought: nothing was left to chance, and every point of the body became a place of meaning.
In short
- Amulets were inserted among the bandages during wrapping, with spells recited.
- Besides djed, tyet and heart scarab, the wadj column, headrest, collars and vultures were used.
- The two-finger amulet symbolically sealed the embalming incision.
- Every material and colour had a precise symbolic value, prescribed by the texts.
- Chapters 157-160 and 166 of the Book of the Dead concern specific funerary amulets.
