The Book of the DeadBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Religion
The Book of the Dead
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Book of the dead; Death; Egypt -- Religion; Future life
In great papyri of the Book of the Dead such as those of Nebseni,
Nu, Ani, Hunefer, etc., the Last Judgment, or the "Great Reckoning,"
is made the most prominent scene in the whole work, and the vignette
in which it is depicted is several feet long. The most complete form
of it is given in the Papyrus of Ani, and may be thus described:
At one end of the Hall of Maati Osiris is seated on a throne within
a shrine made in the form of a funerary coffer; behind him stand
Isis and Nephthys. Along one side of the Hall are seated the gods
Harmachis, Tem, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis and Nephthys, Horus,
Hathor, Hu and Saa, who are to serve as the divine jury; these formed
the "Great Company of the Gods" of Anu (Heliopolis). By these stands
the Great Balance, and on its pillar sits the dog-headed ape Astes,
or Astenu, the associate of Thoth. The pointer of the Balance is in
the charge of Anpu. Behind Anpu are Thoth the scribe of the gods,
and the monster Amemit, with the head of a crocodile, the forepaws
and shoulders of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus; the
duty of the last-named was to eat up the hearts that were light in
the balance. On the other side of the Balance Ani, accompanied by his
wife, is seen standing with head bent low in adoration, and between him
and the Balance stand the two goddesses who nurse and rear children,
Meskhenet and Rennet, Ani's soul, in the form of a man-headed hawk, a
portion of his body, and his luck Shai. Since the heart was considered
to be the seat of all will, emotion, feeling, reason and intelligence,
Ani's heart, is seen in one pan of the Balance, and in the other is
the feather, symbolic of truth and righteousness. Whilst his heart
was in the Balance Ani, repeating the words of Chapter XXXB* of the
Book of the Dead, addressed it, saying, "My heart of my mother! My
heart of my mother! My heart of my being! Make no stand against me
when testifying, thrust me not back before the Tchatchaut (i.e., the
overseers of Osiris), and make no failure in respect of me before
the Master of the Balance. Thou art my Ka, the dweller in my body,
uniting (?) and strengthening my members. Thou shalt come forth to
the happiness to which we advance. Make not my name to stink with
the officers [of Osiris] who made men, utter no lie against me before
the Great God, the Lord of Amentt."
Then Thoth, the Judge of Truth, of the Great Company of the Gods
who are in the presence of Osiris, saith to the gods, "Hearken ye to
this word: In very truth the heart of Osiris hath been weighed, and
his soul hath borne testimony concerning him; according to the Great
Balance his case is truth (i.e., just). No wickedness hath been found
in him. He did not filch offerings from the temples. He did not act
crookedly, and he did not vilify folk when he was on earth."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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