Cultural Connections: the Egyptians

The balance is also an important feature in the Egyptian cult concerning the afterlife; the deceased has to overcome certain obstacles, and one of them is standing in front of 42 judges while his heart is being weighed against the Feather of Ma’at by Thoth, who is accompanied by Anubis. Ma’at is actually a goddess who is a personification of the cosmic order, and her feather symbolizes truth and rectitude. The Egyptians believed that the heart was the place where the emotions, the intellect and the character of a person were located. Your heart was the mirror of your life, representing your good sides or bad sides.For more information, see Trustees of the British Museum (2012). “The Judgement of the Dead by Osiris.”, World History Encyclopedia. Carelli, F. (2011). “The Book of the Death: Weighing your Heart”]( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3960665/), London Journal of Primary Care 4(1): 86-87.

All the deeds a person has committed during his life are connected to the heart, and they cause the heart to have a certain weight.Pare, C. F. E. (1999). “Weights and Weighing in Bronze Age central Europe.”, Eliten in der Bronzezeit. Ergebnisse zweier kolloquien in Mains und Athen. Mainz: 476; Evans, A. (1925). “The Ring of Nestor: A Glimpse into the Minoan After-World and A Sepulchral Treasure of Gold Signet-Rings and Bead-Seals from Thisbê, Boeotia.”, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 45: 60. According to the Book of the Dead, these deeds have to be in exact balance with the Feather of Ma’at in order for the Judgement to come to a good result and for a successful continuation of the journey through the Netherworld to the afterlife (Fig. 9). If the heart outweighed the Feather of Ma’at, a person died a second death by being devoured by the beast Ammit, a monstrous creature that was a combination of Egypt’s most fearful animals: a crocodile, a lion and a hippopotamus. Trustees of the British Museum (2012). “The Judgement of the Dead by Osiris.”, World History Encyclopedia. ; Wallis Budge E.A. (1911). Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection Vol. 1. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.This second death meant that there would be no afterlife for you, but you would fade away into non-existence.Museum, Trustees of the British. “The Judgement of the Dead by Osiris.” World History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 26, 2012. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/504/the-judgement-of-the-dead-by-osiris/ ; Wallis Budge E.A. (1911). Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection Vol. 1. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Not a pleasant ending.

Unlike the balance in Greek culture, where it functions to determine one’s doomed fate during life, in Egypt the balance has a more ethical meaning to it; it is the judgement of the life the deceased led.In Egypt the balance is used to ‘compare’ someone’s life, someone’s soul against a certain standard, which is represented by Ma’at. Seidenberg, A. & Casey, J. (1980). “The ritual origin of the balance.”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences 23 (3): 223. The balance may be interpreted as an ‘indicator’ of a morally good and truthful person. Images of this particular part of the journey to the underworld after death are found in the Book of the Dead, and it was also very common to have this Judgement of the heart painted on the wall of the tomb of the deceased.Evans, A. (1925). “The Ring of Nestor: A Glimpse into the Minoan After-World and A Sepulchral Treasure of Gold Signet-Rings and Bead-Seals from Thisbê, Boeotia.”, The Journal of Hellenic Studies 45: 60.