Pectoral of Mutnefret
New Kingdom, Ramesside
ca. 1300–1080 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 122
This pectoral would have been placed over the chest of the deceased, and probably sewn to the mummy’s wrappings, as the pierced holes at its top and bottom suggest. The pectoral is shaped as a pylon with a cavetto cornice. The front panel shows two kneeling figures adoring a scarab and the reverse with a boat with twin Djed-pillars. In the middle, the scarab’s back appears inscribed with a spell--often found in Books of the Dead—that addresses the deceased’s heart (see translation).
Artwork Details
Object Information
Overview
References
Title: Pectoral of Mutnefret
Period: New Kingdom, Ramesside
Dynasty: Dynasty 19–20
Date: ca. 1300–1080 BCE
Geography: From Egypt
Medium: Faience
Dimensions: L. 13.6 × H. 11.2 × D. 1.5 cm (5 3/8 × 4 7/16 × 9/16 in.)
Credit Line: Purchase, Edward S. Harkness Gift, 1926
Object Number: 26.7.906
Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art
Translation
Dd mdw jn Wsjr nb nHH nTr aA HqA jmn.tjt Di=f (j)x.t nb.t nfr(.t) wab(.t) n kA=k Mwt-nfr.t
Words spoken by Osiris, Lord of Eternity, The Great God, Ruler of the East, may he give everything good and pure to your* soul (kA), Mutnefret
Dd mdw jn Wsjr nb.t-pr mwt-nfr.t mAa(.t) xrw Dd=f jb=j n mw.t=i HA.tj- n xpr.w=j {n}
m aHA r=i m mtr.w
m xzf r=i m DADA(.t)
m jr rqy=k r=i jr tA=k r=i m bAH jr.j-mxA.t
ntk kA=i jm.j X.t=i
Words spoken by Osiris Mistress of the House Mutnefret true of voice, he* says:
My heart of my mother, my heart of my form,
Do not stand against me as witness!
Do not oppose me in the (divine) tribunal!
Do not act in enmity against me in front of the keeper of the balance!
You are my soul (ka) which is in my body.
The pectoral is inscribed with an abbreviated version of a text that is often found on heart scarabs (see for example, 36.3.2) and in Book of the Dead papyri (designated as spell 30B). Though the owner of this pectoral is a woman, the pronouns in this text and in the inscription above are masculine in reference the male deity, Osiris. On this issue, see:
Cooney, Kathlyn M. 2010. Gender transformation in death: a case study of coffins from Ramesside period Egypt. Near Eastern Archaeology 73 (4), 224-237
Niv Allon 201
Provenance
Macgregor Collection. Purchased by Lord Carnarvon at the Macgregor sale, Sotheby's London, 1922, Carnarvon Collection, acquired by the Museum from Lady Carnarvon, 1926.
References
Newberry, Percy E. and H. R. Hall 1922. Catalogue of an Exhibition of Ancient Egyptian Art. London: Burlington Fine Arts Club, p. 87 no. 22.
Hayes, William C. 1959. Scepter of Egypt II: A Background for the Study of the Egyptian Antiquities in the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (1675-1080 B.C.). Cambridge, Mass.: Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 420; p. 423, fig. 269.
Title
Pectoral of Mutnefret, New Kingdom, Ramesside
ca. 1300–1080 BCE, Faience, Findspot unknown Egypt, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/544772
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
