Weighing of the Heart

 

Egypt was unique among ancient cultures in it's religious focus on afterlife. While Christianity would also eventually make the afterlife central there are several differences in afterlife theory between the two. One of the more obvious differences is the relation of material wealth and social position to the attainment of the afterlife. In early Christianity material wealth was considered a hindrance, but in Egyptian religion it was just the opposite. This is made most apparent by the fact that early on in Egypt it was only the king, or the pharaoh, who went on to the afterlife. Later the privilege was extended to other officials, and then only eventually to the general populace. Also, the Egyptians conceived of somewhat of an obstacle course that had to be completed once one was dead. To survive the many hostile gods that the dead would encounter he would have to have knowledge of many magical names. These names had been learned, during life, from the priests, provided that he had had material means enough to have paid the priests for the training.

Like the Christians, Egyptians believed in a judgement of the dead. The Egyptian judgement was achieved by weighing the heart of the dead in a set of scales against the feather of truth. If the heart weighed evenly against the feather then the deceased was allowed to continue on into the afterlife. This occurred before Osiris, an important god who, among other roles, acted as the judge. Osiris was depicted as a mummy with a green face wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt. The scales were operated by Anubis, the jackal-headed god. The results were recorded by Thoth, the ibis-headed scribe. Also present was Ammitt, a crocodile-headed goddess who sat slobbering nearby, anxious for the unfortunate liar who wasn't going to pass the test, which she would gobble down. No blessings for that one.

The Egyptians had a complex concept of the soul, actually arriving at seven souls. The "ba" was a soul that was depicted as a human-headed bird. I have chosen to represent the ba who is undergoing this judgement as a pictograph on the wall.

 

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