Duat

Judgment scene from the Book of the Dead from the Papyrus of Hunefer. In the three scenes from the Book of the Dead (version from ~1275 BCE) the deceased Hunefer is taken into the judgment hall by the jackal-headed Anubis. The next scene is the weighing of his heart, with Ammit awaiting the result and Thoth recording. Next, the triumphant Hunefer, having passed the test, is presented by the falcon-headed Horus to Osiris, seated in his shrine with Isis, Nephthys and the four sons of Horus. (19th Dynasty, c. 1300 BCE)
A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead that is written on papyrus, showing the Weighing of the Heart in the Duat, where Anubis can be seen on the far right. The scales are shown with the feather balance, and Ammit awaits hearts that she must devour. The presence of Osiris at the gateway to the paradise of Aaru dates the papyrus to a late tradition of the myth.

The Duat (Ancient Egyptian: dwꜣt, Egyptological pronunciation "do-aht", Coptic: ⲧⲏ, also appearing as Tuat, Tuaut or Akert, Amenthes, Amenti, or Neter-khertet) is the underworld in ancient Egyptian mythology. It has been represented in hieroglyphs as a star-in-circle: 𓇽. The god Osiris was believed to be the lord of the underworld. He was the first mummy as depicted in the Osiris myth and he personified rebirth and life after death. The underworld was also the residence of various other gods along with Osiris.

The geography of the Duat is similar in outline to the world the Egyptians knew: There are realistic features like rivers, islands, fields, lakes, mounds and caverns, but there were also fantastic lakes of fire, walls of iron, and trees of turquoise. In the Book of Two Ways (a Coffin Text) there is even a map-like image of the Duat.[1]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Taylor-2001-DthAftrlf was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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