Ib (jb)

Heart — seat of moral character

Ib — the heart, considered the seat of intellect, will, and moral character; the source of speech, and the organ that will be weighed against the feather of Maʿat in the judgement hall of Osiris. It is the only internal organ retained inside the body during mummification (the brain was discarded; lungs, liver, stomach and intestines went into canopic jars; the heart stayed in place). Spell 30B of the Book of the Dead is addressed directly to the ib, asking it not to rise up against its owner at the weighing: 'O my heart of my mother, O my heart of my different forms — do not stand against me as a witness in the presence of the Lord of Things.'

Khat (ẖt)Ka (kꜣ)Ba (bꜣ)Akh (ꜣḫ)Ren (rn)Sheut (šwt)Ib (jb)Ib (jb)Sahu (sꜣḥ)Sekhem (sḫm)

Point 7 of 9 in Egyptian Nine-Part Soul

Cross-tradition overlaps

No overlapping points are registered for this point.

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Sources

Book of the Dead, Spell 30B (the heart-amulet spell) (primary_canonical)

“O my heart of my mother, O my heart of my different forms, do not stand against me as a witness, do not oppose me in the tribunal.”

Book of the Dead, Spell 125 (the negative confession and weighing of the heart) (primary_canonical)

Faulkner's Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, Spell 125, 'The spell for entering the Hall of the Two Truths,' contains the negative confession and the judgement before the tribunal; with Spell 30B it is the standard textual locus for the heart's exposure to weighing and testimony.

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