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Egypt 79
The Set and Osiris story underlay Egyptian
convictions about what awaited them after death.
The moral of the story seemed to be that evil
deeds would eventually be repaid and that good
would triumph. With Osiris as ruler of the underworld,
certainly he would not allow evildoers to
pass by him unscathed. Indeed, all funeral preparations
became centered on the fateful meeting
with Osiris. Unlike nearly all other ancient
cultures with rulers of the dead, Osiris was a
benign, moral figure. Also unlike most other
ancient cultures, Egypt believed in an ethically
based judgment after death. Egypt thus represents
a major shift in afterlife concepts, and the whole
idea of afterlife judgment may well have been
pioneered by the Egyptians.
Just to reach the hall where Osiris sat in judgment
was a task wherein the newly dead faced
many perils. The deceased could mistakenly take
routes that culminated in fiery dead ends where
sinister demons lay in wait. Obviously, people were
very concerned that they be able to conduct themselves
successfully on this journey, so over time
guidebooks were put together so people would
know what was expected of them, what were the
relevant mythologies, how to say the right prayers,
magical formulas, and so on. In the beginning, this
information was placed on the walls of the burial
chamber, and scholars have called these sources
The Pyramid Texts. Sometimes the information
was placed on the wooden sarcophagi, and these
sources are called The Coffin Texts. By the time of
the New Kingdom, when many more parts of the
populace had reason to hope for immortality, it
was customary to put the information on a roll of
papyrus and place the roll in the tomb. These form
the basis for The Book of Going Forth by Day (or
The Book of the Dead). However it was transmitted,
the information was considered invaluable for
a successful crossing into the afterlife.
The afterlife was experienced in various ways
by the various parts of one’s self. The tomb was the
natural location of the khaibit, a shadowy, skeletal
figure. The akh was experienced as a ghost or as an
illuminated spirit, and could live either among
humans, usually in the vicinity of the tomb, or in
the next world. Relatives tended to address their
concerns to the akh. The ka was the guardian spirit
or life force and looked exactly like the person.
This spiritual double tended to hover around the
tomb. The ka was the part of the person that dwelt
in statues of the person and was the aspect to
which mortuary offerings were generally made.
The ba was the breath or soul, the principle
animating the person, both physically and psychically,
which was pictured as a human-headed bird.
The ba was able to perform all bodily functions,
but shared with the akh the ability to exist as well
among the gods.
How much of the following process the
pharaoh had to undergo is unclear. The theology
was that he entered the divine realm, that is, the
circuit of the sun god, by right. They did not have
to answer to anyone and did not have to visit
Osiris in the underworld. Even so, the pharaohs
sometimes gave evidence of anxiety about the
journey. In general, the newly dead, in the form of
their ba and ka, traveled in the boat of Re, the sun
god, as he made his way across the sky. In the West,
as Re reached the underworld with his load of new
arrivals, the deceased disembarked and proceeded
through seven gates, each with a gatekeeper,
watcher, and herald. At each gate, and at several
other instances, one would have to consult the
Book of the Dead in order to recite the names and
formulas that would allow further progress. In the
tomb of a powerful official from the Old Kingdom
is inscribed the boast: “I am an effective spirit who
knows his magic spells” (As quoted in Murnane
1992, 41).
Finally, with the ka clad in white, Anubis would
provide escort to the Hall of Justice. In the court
proceedings, Thoth, an ibis-headed god of
wisdom, acts as prosecutor, and Osiris sits on the
judge’s throne, flanked by Isis and Nephthys.
Forty-two divine figures sit as jurors. Again using
the Book of the Dead and as much eloquence as
they can muster, the deceased make an accounting
of their lives. In particular, the dead needed to be
able to recite a ritual confession of innocence,
which might include such lines as the following:
Hail to thee, great god, lord of Truth....
I have committed no sin against people....
I allowed no one to hunger.
I caused no one to weep.