As it was mentioned in the last article of July, ‘The Book of Going Forth by Day’ or as commonly known ‘The Book of the Dead’ is the most famous religious book from the time of the Pharaohs. The papyrus of Ani, now in the British museum, is the most complete and impressive version of this book. It is 25 meters long and contains many chapters. The most famous two chapters of this papyrus are “The Weighing of the Heart” and “The Negative Confessions”. In this article we summarize the chapter of “The Weighing of the Heart” as translated by Dr. Raymond Faulkner.
This chapter shows the God Anubis carrying a scale by which the heart of the deceased or the ancient Egyptian word ‘Eib’ or ‘the self’ is weighed against the feather of the Goddess Ma’at, the Goddess of universal order. Behind Anubis stands the God of documentation (or writing) Thoth, who is recording all the deeds and actions of the trial. Behind Thoth stands the monster Ammamet (half crocodile and half lion) waiting to devour the deceased if proved infidel. On the top of the scene stands the nine Gods (the Ennead) (Atun, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Osiris, Nephtys and Seth), who form a jury to give the final verdict. The scene starts with Ani introducing himself with these words:
“O my heart which I received from my mother! O my heart of my different ages! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal…Go forth to the happy place (Paradise) whereto we speed…Do not tell lies about me in the presence of the God.”
Then the God Thoth comments with the following statement:
“I have judged the heart of the deceased, and his soul stands as a witness for him. His deeds are righteous in the great balance, and no sin has been found in him. He did not diminish the offerings in the temples, he did not destroy what had been made, and he did not go about with deceitful speech while he was on earth.”
And finally, the jury represented by the Great Ennead (nine Gods) comment as follows:
“This utterance of yours is true. The vindicated Ani is straightforward, he has no sin, there is no accusation against him before us, Ammamet shall not be permitted to have power over him. Let there be given to him the offerings which are issued in the presence of Osiris, and may a grant of land be established in the Field of Offerings (Paradise) as for the Followers of Horus.”
