Weighing of the Souls
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Upon dying, all must appear before Osiris in the Hall of the Two Truths.
In the painting seen here, a man named Hunefer is led by Anubis, the jackal-headed god. Anubis checks the scales on which the weight of Hunefer’s heart is compared with that of the feather of Ma’at, which symbolizes truth.
Ammit—a monster with the head of a crocodile, the forelegs of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus—waits to devour the heart should it prove guilty.
The Egyptians protected themselves against this outcome by placing in their tombs a Negative Confession, a list of sins they had not committed. To the right, Thoth, with the head of an ibis, god of writing and knowledge, records the result.
Further to the right, Horus leads Hunefer before Osiris; Isis and Nephthys stand behind the throne. Above, Hunefer worships a group of gods, led by Ra-Horakhty, witness to the judgment of Osiris.