Thank you for visiting. This article is the third installment (the finale) in a series explaining the original texts of Egyptian mythology.
This time, we look in detail at the heart of Egyptian mythology — the afterlife and the “judgment of the dead” — based on the funerary text the “Book of the Dead.”
For an overview map of Egyptian mythology’s original texts as a whole, please see this summary article.
What Is the “Book of the Dead”?
The “Book of the Dead” is a spell collection on papyrus buried with the dead in Egypt from the New Kingdom onward. Its proper name is the “Book of Coming Forth by Day.”
This was not a story but a “guidebook and amulet” for the dead to journey the underworld (Duat) safely, pass its many gates, get through the final judgment, and gain eternal life. It consists of about 200 chapters (spells), and which spells to include differed by the deceased’s status and wealth.
The “Osiris myth” explained last time (Article 2) is the foundation of this view of the afterlife. Just as Osiris was revived after death to become king of the underworld, a person too, if they correctly pass the trials of death, can be revived — so it was believed.
An Anatomical Illustrated Guide to Story-Making MythsView on Amazon →
World Mythology for Beginners (illustrated)View on Amazon →
Egyptian Mythology’s Original Texts — Three Funerary Texts
To understand the Book of the Dead, let’s also grasp the original texts that are its “ancestors.” The three funerary texts of Egyptian mythology all aimed at “the resurrection of the dead,” but the place written and the intended persons changed with the ages.
The Pyramid Texts — the Oldest Religious Text Extant
Oldest are the “Pyramid Texts.” They began with their first carving on the inner walls of the burial chamber of the pyramid of Pharaoh “Unas” at the end of the Old Kingdom, and are taken to be the oldest religious text extant to humankind.
Their content centers on spells for the dead king’s soul to ascend to heaven and, uniting with the stars and the sun god Ra, gain eternal life as a companion of the gods. At this stage, the afterlife was promised only to the king alone.
The Coffin Texts — the “Democratization” of the Afterlife
In the Middle Kingdom, the spells came to be written from the pyramid wall onto the inside of nobles’ “coffins.” These are the “Coffin Texts.”
The greatest change is that not only the king but any noble who could pay could go to the afterlife — a so-called “democratization of the afterlife.” More concrete guides to the underworld journey were added, such as the “Book of Two Ways,” a map-like text showing how to proceed through the underworld.
The Book of the Dead — a Widely Spread Spell Collection
And from the New Kingdom onward, the spells were written on portable “papyrus” and spread widely, even to commoners. This is the “Book of the Dead.”
From the roughly 200 chapters (spells), the ones needed were chosen and copied according to the deceased’s status and wealth, and placed with the mummy. Famous are, besides chapter 125 (the “weighing of the heart”) described below, the spell for the figurines (shabti) that work for the dead in the afterlife, and the spell that addresses the heart, “O heart, do not testify against me.” The “Papyrus of Ani” and the “Papyrus of Hunefer,” famed for their beautiful illustrations, are known as the finest masterpieces of the Book of the Dead.
The Journey After Death — from Mummy to the Underworld
The Egyptians thought a human is made up of, besides the body, several spiritual elements. This distinctive idea of the “soul” is indispensable for understanding the Egyptian view of life and death.
| Element | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Ka | Life force, double. Remains after death and needs offerings (food) |
| Ba | One’s individuality and personality, represented as a human-headed bird. Flies outside the tomb by day, returns to the body by night |
| Akh | The “shining spirit” united with the stars, attained by the dead who pass judgment |
| Ren (name) | The name. As long as the name is remembered and spoken, the person keeps existing |
| Shut (shadow) | The shadow that follows a person was also part of one’s being |
Especially important are the Ka and Ba. Each night, the Ba that had been flying about returns to the body (or tomb) and joins the Ka, so the dead could keep living in the afterlife. That is exactly why the body had to be preserved without decay, as the foothold the soul returns to. This is the fundamental reason the body was made into a “mummy.” Carving the dead’s name in the tomb and continuing to offer offerings were likewise indispensable acts for survival after death.
Governing mummification is the jackal-headed god “Anubis.” He removed and preserved the organs, dried the body, and carefully preserved it with resin and bandages.
The soul of the dead, now a mummy, sets out on the underworld journey guided by Anubis. Along the way, many gates and dangers await, and the spells of the Book of the Dead give the dead the words to cross them safely.
The Judgment of the Dead — the “Weighing of the Heart”
The most important and most famous in the Book of the Dead is the scene of the judgment of the dead (the weighing of the heart) depicted in “chapter 125.” In the hall of Osiris, king of the underworld, the dead are judged for their deeds in life.
Its flow is as follows.
1. The Negative Confession
First, the dead declares before Osiris and the 42 gods in attendance that they have committed no sin. This is called the “negative confession,” denying 42 sins one by one as “not committed,” in forms like “I have not stolen,” “I have not killed,” “I have not lied.”
2. The Weighing of the Heart
Next, the heart of the judgment, the “weighing of the heart,” is performed. The Egyptians thought that all of one’s deeds in life (good and evil) are recorded in the heart.
The jackal god Anubis places the dead’s heart on one pan of the scale. And on the other pan is placed “a single feather” symbolizing the goddess of truth and justice, “Maat.”
3. The Record, and the Two Outcomes
Whether the scale balances is watched over by the wisdom god “Thoth,” who writes down the result. There is one of two outcomes.
- If the heart balances with the feather (= they led a righteous life), the dead is judged innocent and welcomed into the rich paradise ruled by Osiris, the “Field of Reeds (Aaru),” gaining eternal life.
- If the heart is heavy with sin and the scale tips, the terrible monster “Ammit,” a combination of crocodile, lion, and hippopotamus, waiting beside the scale, devours that heart in one bite.
The dead whose heart is devoured meets the “second death,” losing resurrection and the afterlife forever and being completely annihilated. For the Egyptians, this was the most fearsome fate.
The “Twelve Hours of Night” Circling with the Sun God
The Book of the Dead is not the only original text depicting the afterlife. On the walls of royal tombs were drawn more detailed underworld maps, called the “Amduat (Book of What Is in the Underworld)” and the “Book of Gates.”
What these depict is the “twelve hours of night,” the journey in which the sun god Ra sails the underworld (Duat) by boat during the night. The underworld is divided into 12 regions (hours), and Ra’s boat advances through them one hour at a time.
Along the way await the souls of the dead, the gods who help Ra, and the chaos serpent “Apophis” that blocks his path. Ra repels Apophis each night, and in the deepest hour of night, Ra, having once taken on a dead form, unites with Osiris to regain his power, and is reborn (resurrected) into the eastern sky at dawn.
The king’s (pharaoh’s) soul was believed to ride along in this boat of Ra, joining the eternal cycle of dying each night and reviving each morning with the sun god. This is why this “night journey” was drawn in royal tombs.
Life in the Paradise of the “Field of Reeds”
The paradise reached by those who safely pass the judgment of the dead is the “Field of Reeds (Aaru).” This means “the field overgrown with reeds.”
It was a rich world, full of the Nile’s bounty, idealizing the living Egypt itself. Wheat ripened taller than a person, and the dead, neither hungry nor thirsty, could reunite with family and spend peaceful days forever.
But even in this paradise, labor such as fieldwork was needed. So the wealthy placed many small figurines called “shabti” in their tombs. These are “substitute servants” who work in the owner’s place when commanded to labor in the afterlife. The Book of the Dead also contained a spell to make these shabti move.
The View of Life and Death That Egyptian Mythology Conveys
What this judgment of the dead shows is a clear ethics: “only those who lived righteously (according to Maat) can gain eternal life after death.”
In other words, the Egyptians, as symbolized by the pyramids and mummies, did not merely fear death; they grasped death as “the gateway to eternal life,” and for that, lived rightly from life and made careful preparations. The Book of the Dead was a reassuring signpost for that.
To Learn More
Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.
An Illustrated Introduction to the World’s 5 Great MythologiesView on Amazon →
An Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Myths and LegendsView on Amazon →
Conclusion
In this article, based on the funerary text the “Book of the Dead,” I explained the Egyptian afterlife and the “judgment of the dead” in detail. How was it?
The dead, now a mummy, journey the underworld guided by Anubis, make the “negative confession” in the hall of Osiris, and have their heart subjected to the “weighing of the heart” against the feather of the truth goddess Maat — I hope you have grasped the Egyptian view of life and death, in which only those who pass this judgment gain eternal life in paradise.
With this, the three-article series on Egyptian mythology’s original texts is complete. From the creation myth, through the Osiris myth, to the afterlife, I hope you have richly savored the world of Egyptian mythology, centered on “death and rebirth.”
For the big picture of Egyptian mythology’s original texts and links to the other articles, please see the summary article below.
For the strength of the gods of Egyptian mythology, please use this ranking article as a reference too.
I hope you’ll read the next article too.
📚 Series: The Original Texts of Egyptian Mythology (4/5)
