It signified to the Egyptians the descent under the earth, in the tomb, which was only a prologue to rebirth and the endlessness of life. Life and death were in a continual cycle. His heart is true, having gone forth from the balance, and he has not sinned against any god or any goddess. These imposing amulets were placed on the throat of the mummy, on the chest, or over the heart. Some were worn by the deceased on a chain or a cord, hung around the neck, or mounted in a gold setting as a pectoral.
Many heart scarabs bear a spell on the flat side.
It is a plaintive prayer to the heart of the deceased not to bear witness against the deceased when their actions are being judged before Osiris. You are my soul which is in my body, the god Khnum who makes my limbs sound. When you go forth to the Hereafter, my name shall not stink to the courtiers who create people on his behalf. The inscription was intended to keep anything evil from rising up against the deceased and prevent any hindrance before the divine court of judgment, so that no enemy would speak against the deceased in the presence of the guardians of the balance. The spell functioned to persuade the heart not to invent lies when the heart was weighed against the feather, the attribute of the goddess of truth, Maat, on the scales during the crucial period in the court of final judgment.