Taken from Spell 144 of the ‘Book of the Dead’, they were the keepers of the gates of the Underworld, menacing the enemies of order with their sharpened knives. “Egyptians were probably the first to be aware of the nobility inherent in the human form and to express it in art. One can sense the...
The ‘Book of the Dead’, Papyrus of Ani (sheet 3): Ani’s Judgment: the scene is the Hall of Judgment. The Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. Centrally placed is a balance, holding in its two pans Ani’s heart (on the left) and a feather (on the right) representing Maat, the divine personification of truth and order....
The deceased Kha and his wife Merit worship Osiris, Lord of the Underworld and Judge of the Dead, detail of a vignette from the Book of the Dead of Kha. The deceased needed all the help he or she could get on his or her long journey to the afterlife, a place full of evil...
“Written some 3,500 years ago, the Papyrus of Ani is the most complete, ornate, and best preserved example of Ancient Egyptian philosophical and religious thought. Presented here for the first time in its original form, with the hieroglyphic images matched to what has been acknowledged as the finest English translation of the test. The Egyptian...
Under a sacred sycamore, the Great Cat of Heliopolis, one of the forms taken by Re called Miw-aa or the great cat, slays the evil serpent Apep (or Apophis), god of the underworld and symbol of the forces of chaos. Section of vignette of chapter 17 of the book of the dead. Apep is sometimes...
Her-weben-khet also known as Herytubekhet or Heruben, the Chantress of Amun, was daughter of Isetemkheb D, wife of the High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem II, and granddaughter of the High Priest of Amun, Menkheperra. This papyrus is intended to be a part of her own abbreviated version of the Book of the Dead. It contains...
Tomb painting of Inherkhau worshiping the serpent god Sata, son of the earth and guardian of the underworld. Snakes were dominantly present in ancient Egyptian mythology. They played a double role, benevolent and malevolent. They could be evoked for curing, protecting and healing but at the very same time cursing and inflicting danger. Sata belonged...
Vignette from a papyrus depicting the Weighing the Heart of the deceased in a balance. The Two Maat in the Judgment Hall weigh the heart of the deceased against a statue of Maat. The goddess Maat was the symbol of the cosmic order and it was believed that there were two of them: One for...
