Scarabs featured prominently in Egyptian art and Egyptian mythology. The scarab was seen as a symbol of life and rebirth. Stone versions of the scarab were often placed in the tombs of the pharaohs as a symbol of their rebirth into the afterlife, and jewelry with the beetle was often found in tombs as well. A scarab amulet was worn over the heart as a replacement heart in the afterlife (as the real heart was removed in the mummification process). Living Egyptians also wore stone scarabs as a symbol of protection for this life and the next.