LESSON V: EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY

“Egyptian Tales and lore”

Background & Context

Egyptian mythology was the belief structure and underlying form of ancient Egyptian culture from
at least c. 4000 BCE (as evidenced by burial practices and tomb paintings) to 30 BCE with the death of
Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. Every aspect of life in ancient Egypt was
informed by the stories which related the creation of the world and the sustaining of that world by the
gods.
Egyptian religion influenced other cultures through transmission via trade and became especially
widespread after the opening of the Silk Road in 130 BCE as the Egyptian port city of Alexandria was an
important commercial center. The significance of Egyptian mythology to other cultures was in its
development of the concept of an eternal life after death, benevolent deities, and reincarnation. Both
Pythagoras and Plato of Greece were said to have been influenced by Egyptian beliefs in reincarnation
and Roman religious culture borrowed as extensively from Egypt as it did from other civilizations.
Human existence was understood by the Egyptians as only a small segment of an eternal journey
presided over and orchestrated by supernatural forces in the forms of the many deities which comprised
the Egyptian pantheon.
One’s earthly life was not, however, simply a prologue to something greater but was a part of the
entire journey. The Egyptian concept of an afterlife was a mirror-world of one’s life on earth (specifically,
one’s life in Egypt) and one needed to live that life well if one hoped to enjoy the rest of one’s eternal
journey.

The Creation of the World

 To the Egyptians, the journey began with the creation of the world and the universe out of
darkness and swirling chaos. Once there was nothing but endless dark water without form or purpose.
Existing within this void was Heka (god of magic) who awaited the moment of creation. Out of this
watery silence (Nu) rose the primordial hill, known as the ben-ben, upon which stood the great god Atum
(or, in some versions of the myth, Ptah). Atum looked upon the nothingness and recognized his aloneness
and so, through the agency of magic, he mated with his own shadow to give birth to two children, Shu
(god of air, whom Atum spat out) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture, whom Atum vomited out). Shu gave
to the early world the principles of life while Tefnut contributed the principles of order.

Leaving their father on the ben-ben, they set out to establish the world. In time, Atum became
concerned because his children were gone so long and so removed his eye and sent it in search of them.
While his eye was gone, Atum sat alone on the hill in the midst of chaos and contemplated eternity. Shu
and Tefnut returned with the eye of Atum (later associated with the Udjat eye, the Eye of Ra, or the All-
Seeing Eye) and their father, grateful for their safe return, shed tears of joy. These tears, dropping onto the
dark, fertile earth of the ben-ben, gave birth to men and women.

These early creatures had nowhere to live, however, and so Shu and Tefnut mated and gave birth
to Geb (the earth) and Nut (the sky). Geb and Nut, though brother and sister, fell deeply in love and were
inseparable. Atum found their behavior unacceptable and pushed Nut away from Geb, high up into the
heavens. The two lovers were forever able to see each other but were no longer able to touch. Nut was
already pregnant by Geb, however, and eventually gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Set, Nephthys, and Horus –
the five Egyptian gods most often recognized as the earliest or, at least, the most familiar representations
of older god-figures. Osiris showed himself a thoughtful and judicious god and was given rule of the
world by Atum who then went off to attend to his own affairs.

Osiris & Set

Osiris administrated the world efficiently, co-ruling with his sister-wife Isis, and decided where
the trees would best grow and the water flow most sweetly. He created the land of Egypt in perfection
with the Nile River providing for the needs of the people.
 In all things, he acted in accordance with the principle of ma’at (harmony) and honored his father
and siblings by keeping all things in harmonious balance. His brother Set became envious of the creation,
however, and also of Osiris’ power and glory. He had his brother’s exact measurements taken in secret
and then ordered an elaborate chest created precisely to those specifications. When the chest was
completed, Set threw a great banquet to which he invited Osiris and seventy-two others. At the end of the
party, he offered the great chest as a gift to the one who could best fit inside it. Osiris, of course, fit
perfectly and, once he was inside the coffin, Set slammed the lid on tight and threw it into the Nile River.
He then told everyone that Osiris was dead and assumed the rule of the world.

Isis refused to believe that her husband was dead and went searching for him, finally finding the
coffin inside a tree at Byblos. The people of the land were glad to help her retrieve the coffin from the tree
and, for this, Isis blessed them (as they later became the principal exporters of papyrus in Egypt, it is
thought this detail was added by a scribe to honor the city which was so important to the writer’s trade).
She brought the body back to Egypt and set about gathering the herbs and making the potions which
would bring Osiris back to life; leaving her sister Nephthys to guard over the place where she had hidden
the body.

During this time, Set began to worry that Isis might locate Osiris’ body and find a way to bring
him back to life, as she was very powerful and knowledgeable in these matters. Upon finding her gone, he
asked Nephthys where she was and, when the goddess answered, he knew she was lying. He was able to
get from her where Osiris’ body was hidden and went there, tearing the coffin open, and cutting the body
into forty-two pieces (though some sources claim only fourteen). He then flung the fragments of Osiris all
over the land of Egypt so that Isis would never be able to find them and, this accomplished, returned to his
palace to rule.

When Isis returned and found the coffin destroyed and the body gone, she fell to her knees in
despair and wept. Nephthys, feeling guilty for having betrayed her secret, told Isis what had happened and
offered to help her find the parts of Osiris. The two sisters then began searching the land for Osiris’ parts.
Wherever they found a body part, they would bury it on the spot and build a shrine to protect it from Set.
In this way, the forty-two provinces of Egypt were established by the two goddesses.

They finally assembled all of the body except for the penis, which had been eaten by a fish. Isis
then created a replacement part for the phallus and mated with her husband, becoming pregnant with her
son Horus. Osiris had been brought back to life successfully by Isis but, because he was incomplete, could
not rule the world as he had before. He instead descended to the underworld to become the righteous
judge and ruler of the land of the dead.

Horus (sometimes known as Horus the Younger to differentiate from Horus the brother of Osiris)
was raised in secret to protect him from Set and, having grown to manhood, challenged his uncle for the
rule of his father’s former kingdom. The battle raged for eighty years until Horus defeated Set and
banished him from Egypt to dwell in the arid deserts (though there are many variants of this story and, in
some, Horus and Set agree to divide the kingdom and, in others, Set is destroyed). Horus then ruled with
his mother Isis and aunt Nephthys as his counselors and harmony was again restored to the land.

https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Mythology/

Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

`Most Egyptian gods represented one principle aspect of the world: Ra was the sun god, for
example, and Nut was goddess of the sky. The characters of the gods were not clearly defined. Most were
generally benevolent but their favor could not be counted on. Some gods were spiteful and had to be
placated. The god Seth, who murdered his brother Osiris, embodied the malevolent and disordered aspects
of the world.

The physical form taken on by the various Egyptian gods was usually a combination of human and
animal, and many were associated with one or more animal species. And an animal could express a
deity’s mood. When a god was angry, she might be portrayed as a ferocious lioness; when gentle, a cat.
The convention was to depict the animal gods with a human body and an animal head. The opposite
convention was sometimes used for representations of a king, who might be portrayed with a human head
and a lion’s body, as in the case of the Sphinx. Sphinxes might also appear with other heads, particularly
those of rams or falcons.
Ptah
Ptah was a creator god, said to have made the world from the thoughts in his heart and his
words. He was depicted as a mummy with his hands protruding from the wrappings and holding a
staff. His head was shaven and he wore a scull cap. Ptah was associated with craftsmen, and the
High Priest of his temple at Memphis held the title Great Leader of Craftsmen.

Ra
The supreme sun god was represented as a man with the head of a hawk, crowned with a
solar disk and the sacred serpent. However, in the underworld through which he passes each night,
he is depicted as ram-headed.
Each day Ra traveled across the sky in the form of the sun, riding in his solar boat, and
each night he journeyed through the underworld where he defeated the allies of chaos. He was
reborn each morning in the form of the sunrise. His influence on the other gods was so strong that
he subsumed many of their identities. Thus Amun became Amun-Ra, Montu became Montu-Ra
and Horus became Ra-Horakhty. Pharoah Akenaten’s god, the Aten, was another form of Ra, the
solar disk.
The Egyptian kings claimed to be descended from Ra, and called themselves “The Son of
Ra.” His cult was very powerful during the period of the Old Kingdom,when Sun Temples were
built in his honor. His cult center was at Heliopolis, which nowadays is covered by the northern
suburbs of Cairo.

Shu
Shu was the husband of Tefnut and the father of Nut and Geb. He and his wife were the
first gods created by Atum. Shu was the god of the air and sunlight or, more precisely, dry air and
his wife represented moisture. He was normally depicted as a man wearing a headdress in the form
of a plume, which is also the hieroglyph for his name.

Tefnut
Tefnut was the wife of Shu and mother of Nut and Geb. She and her husband were the first
gods created by Atum. She was the goddess of moisture or damp, corrosive air, and was depicted
either as a lioness or as a woman with a lioness’s head.

Geb
 Geb was the father of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephythys, and was a god without a cult. As
an Earth god he was associated with fertility and it was believed that earthquakes were the
laughter of Geb. He is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts as imprisoning the buried dead within his
body.

Nut
Nut was the mother of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephythys, Nut is usually shown in human
form; her elongated body symbolizing the sky. Each limb represents a cardinal point as her body
stretches over the earth. Nut swallowed the setting sun (Ra) each evening and gave birth to him
each morning. She is often depicted on the ceilings of tombs, on the inside lid of coffins, and on
the ceilings of temples.
Osiris
Osiris was originally a vegetation god linked with the growth of crops. He was the
mythological first king of Egypt and one of the most important of the gods. It was thought that he
brought civilization to the race of mankind. He was murdered by his brother Seth, brought back to
life by his wife Isis, and went on to become the ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead.
He is usually depicted as a mummy holding the crook and flail of kingship. On his head he
wears the white crown of Upper Egypt flanked by two plumes of feathers. Sometimes he is shown
with the horns of a ram. His skin is depicted as blue, the color of the dead; black, the color of the
fertile earth; or green, representing resurrection.

Isis
A very important figure in the ancient world, Isis was the wife of Osiris and mother of
Horus. She was associated with funeral rites and said to have made the first mummy from the
dismembered parts of Osiris. As the enchantress who resurrected Osiris and gave birth to Horus,
she was also the giver of life, a healer and protector of kings.
Isis is represented with a throne on her head and sometimes shown breastfeeding the infant
Horus. In this manifestation she was known as “Mother of God.” To the Egyptians she represented
the ideal wife and mother; loving, devoted, and caring.

Nephythys
Daughter of Geb and Nut, sister of Isis, wife of Seth and mother of Anubis, Nephythys is
depicted as a woman with the hieroglyphs for a palace and ‘Neb’ (a basket) on her head. She is
thus known as “Lady of the Mansions” or “Palace.” Nephythys was disgusted by Seth’s murder of
 Osiris and helped her sister, Isis, against her husband, Seth. Together with Isis she was a protector
of the dead, and they are often shown together on coffin cases, with winged arms. She seems to
have had no temple or cult center of her own.

Seth
Seth was the son of Geb and Nut, and the evil brother of Osiris. He was the god of
darkness, chaos, and confusion, and is represented as a man with an unknown animal head, often
described as a Typhonian by the Greeks who associated him with the god Typhon. He is
sometimes depicted as a hippopotamus, a pig, or a donkey. Seth murdered his brother and usurped
the throne of Egypt and most of the other gods despised him.

Horus
Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis and the enemy of the wicked God Seth. He is depicted
as a hawk or as a man with the head of a hawk. Sometimes he is shown as a youth with a side
lock, seated on his mother’s lap. He was the god of the sky and the divine protector of kings.

Anubis
Protector of the Dead
Anubis is shown as a jackal-headed man, or as a jackal. His father was Seth and his mother
Nephythys. His cult center was Cynopolis, now known as El Kes. He was closely associated with
mummification and as protector of the dead. It was Anubis who conducted the deceased to the hall
of judgment.

Thoth
Thoth was the god of writing and knowledge, and was depicted as a man with the head of
an ibis holding a scribe’s pen and palette, or as a baboon. The Greeks associated him with Hermes
and ascribed to him the invention of all the sciences as well as the invention of writing. He is often
portrayed writing or making calculations.
Thoth stands apart from most of the other gods. He was as old as the oldest gods and often
acted as an intermediately between gods. He was associated with the moon, and is sometimes
shown wearing a moon disk and crescent headdress. One of his most important roles was to record
the deeds of the dead at the day of their judgment and is often seen doing this in the Book of the
Dead. His main temple was at Hermopolis in Middle Egypt.
Hathor
 Hathor was the daughter of Ra and the patron goddess of women, love, beauty, pleasure,
and music. She is depicted in three forms; as a cow, as a woman with the ears of a cow, and as a
woman wearing the headdress of a cow’s horns. In this last manifestation, she holds the solar disc
between her horns. She was the consort of Horus, and her name actually means “House of Horus.”
She had many temples the most famous of which is at Dendara.
There was a dark side to Hathor. It was believed that Ra sent her to punish the human race
for its wickedness, but Hathor wreaked such bloody havoc on earth that Ra was horrified and
determined to bring her back. He tricked her by preparing vast quantities of beer mixed with
mandrake and the blood of the slain. Murdering mankind was thirsty work, and when Hathor
drank the beer she became so intoxicated that she could not continue her slaughter.
Each year the goddess Hathor visited her husband the god Horus at Edfu temple to
celebrate the feast of the Divine Union

Ma’at
Ma’at was the goddess of truth and justice, embodying the essential harmony of the
universe. She was depicted as a seated woman wearing an ostrich feather, or sometimes just as the
feather itself. Her power regulated the seasons and the movement of the stars. Ma’at was the
patron of justice and the symbol of ancient Egyptian ethics, so the Vizier who was in charge of the
Law Courts went by the title Priest of Maat.
Ma’at was the ultimate judge in the afterlife, and the heart of the newly deceased was
weighed against her feather in the Hall of Two Truths. Ammut, devourer of the dead, ate those
who failed her test.

https://discoveringegypt.com/ancient-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses/
 Egyptian Mythical Creatures

In the Egyptian canon, it's often difficult to distinguish monsters and mythical creatures from the
gods themselves — for example, how do you classify the cat-headed goddess Bastet, or the jackal-headed
god Anubis? Still, there are some figures that don't quite rise to the level of actual deities, functioning
instead as either symbols of power — or ruthlessness — or figures to be invoked as warnings to
mischievous children. Below, you'll discover the eight most important monsters and mythical creatures of
ancient Egypt, ranging from the crocodile-headed chimera Ammit to the rearing cobra known as Uraeus.

Ammit - Devourer of the Dead

A mythological chimera composed of the head of a crocodile, the forelimbs of a lion, and
the hind limbs of a hippopotamus, Ammit was the personification of the man-eating predators so
feared by ancient Egyptians. According to legend, after a person died, the Egyptian god Anubis
weighed the deceased's heart on a scale against a single feather from Ma'at, the goddess of truth. If
the heart was found wanting, it would be devoured by Ammit, and the individual's soul would be
cast for eternity into fiery limbo. Like many other Egyptian monsters on this list, Ammit has been
linked (or even conflated) with various obscure deities, including Tarewet, the goddess of
conception and childbirth, and Bes, the protector of the hearth.

Apep - the Enemy of Light

The arch-enemy of Ma'at (the goddess of truth mentioned in the previous slide), Apep was
a giant mythological snake that stretched for 50 feet from head to tail (oddly enough, we now have
fossil evidence that some real-life snakes, like the allusively named Titanoboa of South America,
actually attained these gigantic sizes). According to legend, every morning the Egyptian sun god
Ra engaged in a heated battle with Apep, coiled just below the horizon, and could only shine his
light after vanquishing his foe. What's more, the subterranean movements of Apep were said to
cause earthquakes, and its violent encounters with Set, the god of the desert, spawned terrifying
thunderstorms.

Bennu - the Bird of Fire

The ancient source of the phoenix myth — at least according to some authorities — Bennu
the bird god was a familiar of Ra, as well as the animating spirit that powered creation (in one tale,
Bennu glides over the primordial waters of Nun, the father of the Egyptian gods). More important
 for later European history, Bennu was also associated with the theme of rebirth and wound up
immortalized by the Greek historian Herodotus as the phoenix, which he described in 500 B.C. as
a giant red and gold bird born anew every day, like the sun. Later details about the mythical
phoenix, such as its periodic destruction by fire, were added much later, but there is some
speculation that even the word "phoenix" is a distant corruption of "Bennu."

El Naddaha - the Siren of the Nile

A bit like a cross between the Little Mermaid. the Siren of Greek myth, and that creepy girl
from the "Ring" movies, El Naddaha has a relatively recent origin compared with the 5,000-year
span of Egyptian mythology. Just within the past century, apparently, stories began to circulate in
rural Egypt about a beautiful voice that calls, by name, to men walking the banks of the Nile.
Desperate to get a look at this enchanting creature, the bewitched victim veers closer and closer to
the water, until he falls (or is dragged) in and drowns. El Naddaha is often adduced as being a
classic genie, which (unlike the other entities on this list) would place her in the Muslim rather
than the classical Egyptian pantheon.

The Griffin - Beast of War

The ultimate origins of The Griffin are shrouded in mystery, but we do know that this
fearsome beast is mentioned in both ancient Iranian and ancient Egyptian texts. Yet another
chimera, like Ammit, the Griffin features the head, wings, and talons of an eagle grafted onto a
lion's body. Since both eagles and lions are hunters, it's clear that the Griffin served as a symbol of
war, and it also did double (and triple) duty as the "king" of all mythological monsters and the
staunch guardian of priceless treasures. On the premise that evolution applies every bit as much to
mythical creatures as it does to those made of flesh and blood, the Griffin must be one of the best-
adapted monsters in the Egyptian pantheon, still going strong in the public imagination after 5,000
years!

The Serpopard - Harbinger of Chaos

The Serpopard is an unusual example of a mythical creature for which no name has been
adduced from the historical records: all we know is that depictions of creatures with the body of a
leopard and the head of a snake adorn various Egyptian ornaments, and when it comes to their
presumed meaning, one classicist's guess is as good as another's. One theory is that Serpopards
represented the chaos and barbarism lurking beyond the borders of Egypt during the pre-dynastic
period (over 5,000 years ago), but since these chimeras also feature in Mesopotamian art from the
 same time span, in pairs with necks entwined, they may also have served as symbols of vitality or
masculinity.

The Sphinx - Teller of Riddles

Sphinxes aren't exclusively Egyptian — depictions of these human-headed, lion-bodied
beasts have been discovered as far afield as Turkey and Greece — but the Great Sphinx of Giza, in
Egypt, is by far the most famous member of the breed. There are two main differences between
Egyptian sphinxes and the Greek and Turkish variety: the former invariably have the head of a
man and are described as unaggressive and even-tempered, while the latter are often female and
have an unpleasant disposition. Other than that, though, all sphinxes serve pretty much the same
function: to zealously guard treasures (or repositories of wisdom) and not allow travelers to pass
unless they can solve a clever riddle.

Uraeus - the Cobra of the Gods

Not to be confused with the demon snake Apep, Uraeus is a rearing cobra symbolizing the
majesty of the Egyptian pharaohs. The origins of this figure hark back to Egyptian prehistory —
during the pre-dynastic period, Uraeus was associated with the now-obscure goddess Wadjet, who
presided over the fertility of the Nile Delta and lower Egypt. (Around the same time, a similar
function was performed in upper Egypt by the even more obscure goddess Nekhbet, often depicted
as a white vulture). When upper and lower Egypt were unified around 3,000 B.C., depictions of
both Uraeus and Nekhbet were diplomatically incorporated into the royal headdress, and were
known informally in the Pharaonic court as "the two ladies."

https://www.thoughtco.com/egyptian-monsters-4145424

~~~~~~~

The Book of the Dead

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a collection of spells which enable the soul of the deceased to
navigate the afterlife. The famous title was given the work by western scholars; the actual title would
translate as The Book of Coming Forth by Day or Spells for Going Forth by Day and a more apt
translation to English would be The Egyptian Book of Life. Although the work is often referred to as "the
Ancient Egyptian Bible" it is no such thing although the two works share the similarity of being ancient
compilations of texts written at different times eventually gathered together in book form. The Book of
the Dead was never codified and no two copies of the work are exactly the same. They were created
specifically for each individual who could afford to purchase one as a kind of manual to help them after
death.

The afterlife was considered to be a continuation of life on earth and, after one had passed through
various difficulties and judgment in the Hall of Truth, a paradise which was a perfect reflection of one's
life on earth. After the soul had been justified in the Hall of Truth it passed on to cross over Lily Lake to
rest in the Field of Reeds where one would find all that one had lost in life and could enjoy it eternally. In
order to reach that paradise, however, one needed to know where to go, how to address certain gods, what
to say at certain times, and how to comport one's self in the land of the dead; which is why one would find
an afterlife manual extremely useful.

The History

The Book of the Dead originated from concepts depicted in tomb paintings and inscriptions from
as early as the Third Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2670 - 2613 BCE). By the 12th Dynasty (1991 - 1802 BCE)
these spells, with accompanying illustrations, were written on papyrus and placed in tombs and graves
with the dead. Their purpose, as historian Margaret Bunson explains, "was to instruct the deceased on
how to overcome the dangers of the afterlife by enabling them to assume the form of serveral mythical
creatures and to give them the passwords necessary for admittance to certain stages of the underworld".
They also served, however, to provide the soul with fore-knowledge of what would be expected at every
stage. Having a Book of the Dead in one's tomb would be the equivalent of a student in the modern day
getting their hands on all the test answers they would ever need in every grade of school.

At some point prior to 1600 BCE the different spells had been divided in chapters and, by the time
of the New Kingdom (1570 - 1069 BCE), the book was extremely popular. Scribes who were experts in
spells would be consulted to fashion custom-made books for an individual or a family. Bunson notes,
"These spells and passwords were not part of a ritual but were fashioned for the deceased, to be recited in
the afterlife". If someone were sick, and feared they might die, they would go to a scribe and have them
write up a book of spells for the afterlife. The scribe would need to know what kind of life the person had
lived in order to surmise the type of journey they could expect after death; then the appropriate spells
would be written specifically for that individual.

Prior to the New Kingdom, The Book of the Dead was only available to the royalty and the elite.
The popularity of the Osiris Myth in the period of the New Kingdom made people believe the spells were
indispensible because Osiris featured so prominently in the soul's judgment in the afterlife. As more and
more people desired their own Book of the Dead, scribes obliged them and the book became just another
commodity produced for sale. In the same way that publishers in the present day offer Print on Demand
books or self-published works, the scribes offered different "packages" to clients to choose from. They
could have as few or as many spells in their books as they could afford. Bunson writes, "The individual
could decide the number of chapters to be included, the types of illustrations, and the quality of the
papyrus used. The individual was limited only by his or her financial resources".

From the New Kingdom through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323 - 30 BCE) The Book of the Dead
was produced this way. It continued to vary in form and size until c. 650 BCE when it was fixed at 190
uniform spells but, still, people could add or subtract what they wanted to from the text. A Book of the
Dead from the Ptolemaic Dynasty which belonged to a woman named Tentruty had the text of The
Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys attached to it which was never included as part of the Book of the
Dead. Other copies of the book continued to be produced with more or less spells depending on what the
buyer could afford. The one spell which every copy seems to have had, however, was Spell 125.

Spell 125

Spell 125 is the best known of all the texts of the Book of the Dead. People who are unacquainted
with the book, but who have even the slightest acquaintance with Egyptian mythology, know the spell
without even realizing it. Spell 125 describes the judging of the heart of the deceased by the god Osiris in
the Hall of Truth, one of the best known images from ancient Egypt, even though the god with his scales
is never actually described in the text. As it was vital that the soul pass the test of the weighing of the
heart in order to gain paradise, knowing what to say and how to act before Osiris, Thoth, Anubis, and the
Forty-Two Judges was considered the most important information the deceased could arrive with.

When a person died, they were guided by Anubis to the Hall of Truth (also known as The Hall of
Two Truths) where they would make the Negative Confession (also known as The Declaration of
Innocence). This was a list of 42 sins the person could honestly say they had never indulged in. Once the
Negative Confession was made, Osiris, Thoth, Anubis, and the Forty-Two Judges would confer and, if the
confession was accepted, the heart of the deceased was then weighed in the balance against the white
feather of Ma'at, the feather of truth. If the heart was found to be lighter than the feather, the soul passed
on toward paradise; if the heart was heavier, it was thrown onto the floor where it was devoured by the
monster goddess Ammut and the soul would cease to exist.

Spell 125 begins with an introduction to the reader (the soul): "What should be said when arriving
at this Hall of Justice, purging _____[person's name] of all the evil which he has done and beholding the
faces of the gods." The spell then begins very clearly telling the soul exactly what to say when meeting
Osiris:

“Hail to you, great god, Lord of Justice! I have come to you, my lord, that you may bring me so that I may
see your beauty for I know you and I know your name and I know the names of the forty-two gods of those who are
with you in this Hall of Justice, who live on those who cherish evil and who gulp down their blood on that day of
the reckoning of characters in the presence of Wennefer [another name for Osiris]. Behold the double son of the
Songstresses; Lord of Truth is your name. Behold, I have come to you, I have brought you truth, I have repelled
falsehood for you. I have not done falsehood against men, I have not impoverished my associates, I have done no
wrong in the Place of Truth, I have not learnt that which is not...”

After this prologue the soul then speaks the Negative Confession and is questioned by the gods
and the Forty-Two Judges. At this point certain very specific information was required in order to be
justified by the gods. One needed to know the different gods' names and what they were responsible for
but one also needed to know such details as the names of the doors in the room and the floor one needed
to walk across; one even needed to know the names of one's own feet. As the soul answered each deity
and object with the correct response, they would hear the reply, "You know us; pass by us" and could
continue. At one point, the soul must answer the floor about the soul's feet:

"I will not let you tread on me," says the floor of this Hall of Justice.

"Why not? I am pure."

"Because I do not know the names of your feet with which you would tread on me. Tell them to me."

"`Secret image of Ha' is the name of my right foot; `Flower of Hathor' is the name of my left foot."

"You know us; enter by us."

 The spell concludes with what the soul should be wearing when it meets judgment and how one
should recite the spell:

“The correct procedure in this Hall of Justice: One shall utter this spell pure and clean and clad in white
garments and sandals, painted with black eye-paint and annointed with myrrh. There shall be offered to him meat
and poultry, incense, bread, beer, and herbs when you have put this written procedure on a clean floor of ochre
overlaid with earth upon which no swine or small cattle have trodden.”

Following this, the scribe who wrote the spell congratulates himself on a job well done and assures
the reader that he, the scribe, will flourish as will his children for his part in providing the spell. He will
do well, he says, when he himself comes to judgment and will "be ushered in with the kings of Upper
Egypt and the kings of Lower Egypt and he shall be in the suite of Osiris. A matter a million times true."
For providing the spell, the scribe was considered part of the inner-workings of the afterlife and so was
assured of a favorable welcome in the underworld and passage on to paradise.

For the average person, even the king, the whole experience was much less certain. If one
answered all of these questions correctly, and had a heart lighter than the feather of truth, and if one
managed to be kind to the surly Divine Ferryman who would row the souls across Lily Lake, one would
find one's self in paradise. The Egyptian Field of Reeds (sometimes called the Field of Offerings) was
exactly what one had left behind in life. Once there, the soul was reunited with lost loved ones and even
beloved pets. The soul would live in an image of the home they had always known with the exact same
yard, same trees, same birds singing at evening or morning, and this would be enjoyed for eternity in the
presence of the gods.

https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Book_of_the_Dead/