At least according to the papyrus shown below...which every tourist in Egypt totes back home. Along with such other essentials as cloying "homeopathic, miracle-working" perfume and a plastic Sphinx with a lightbulb in its head.
Disclaimer: I'm just a working atheist and not a theologian or Egyptologist. I did live in Alexandria, Egypt from 2005-09 and tried to learn as much as I could about the place.
So according to the ancient Egyptians, here's what happens when you go Tango-Uniform and head for the afterlife.
Starting in the upper left corner:
1. First you are greeted by the jackal-headed god Anubis. He invented embalming, which earned him a job promotion to bouncer in the nightclub of the recently croaked.
2. Anubis takes the Late You to a panel of 14 judges. These represent lesser Egytian deities, possibly the local gods of Egypt's 14 major cities. The ancient science is a little murky here.
If a majority of the judges raise their ankhs - congrats! You enter a happy afterlife. In the case of a tie or minority vote, as shown in the papyrus, you have to get over a rather major hurdle...
3. Anubis leads you to a scale. Your heart is weighed against a feather by Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice (since neither the American Way nor Superman had been invented yet). The ibis-headed god of wisdom, Thoth, records the outcome in his ledger. Which sounds suspiciously like a certain yarn about St. Peter and some Pearly Gates, but I digress. As usual.
If your heart outweighs the feather, it is heavy with evil deeds. In that case, you get to meet that charming little blue guy with the crocodile head and hippo body.
That's Ammut, who eats your evil heart and then the rest of you. Do not pass Go, do not collect an Afterlife.
But if the feather outweighs your heart, you've led a righteous life and you're in!
4. The guy holding the shepherd's crook and flail isn't the Pope, since he hadn't been invented yet either. That's Osiris, with his wife Isis and his sister Nepthys...welcoming you to the underworld! Hooray!
That hungry croco-hippo god, Ammut, is still hanging around in modern Egypt...sort of. When a modern Egyptian mom is trying to feed her baby, she'll hold the food to its mouth and say "mut-mut-mut!" Meaning, "Eat up!" A direct reference to Ammut.
At least that's what I was told by Actual Egyptians. Who amazingly enough, often know a lot about their own history - though American woo-woos often have to correct them about who REALLY built the Giza Pyramids. Do I need the sarcasm smiley?
Edit history
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
= new reply since forum marked as read