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The Egyptians believed that when they died they would make a journey to
another world, called the Underworld, where they would start the Afterlife.
The Underworld was separate from this world. The sun travelled from the
east to the west. After the sun set in the West the Egyptians believed the
sun had gone to the Underworld and travelled under the world until it rose
in the east again. To start the afterlife the Egyptians believed they would
need many of the things they had used when they were alive. Their families
would put those things in their graves, such as food, jewellery and in some
cases furniture.
To get to the afterlife they Egyptians believed that they would have to pass
thought a dangerous place first. This place had poisonous snakes, fires,
monsters and boiling lakes. Getting past these dangerous places was
difficult so the Egyptians used spells, which were written down and left
near the coffin. If the spells worked, they got past the dangerous places
and reached the gates of Yaru, the Egyptian afterlife. Before passing
through the gate to the Underworld, they had to pass a test in the Hall of
Two Truths. This test involved the Weighing of the Heart. This was the
only organ left in the body after the mummification process. The Heart was
placed on one side of a scale and the Feather of Truth placed on the other
side. The Feather of Truth held the lies and sins of their past life.
Osiris, Anubis and Thoth, three great Gods, decided on the result of the
test. If the heart passed the test, then the dead person could enter the
gates of Yaru to the Underworld. But if the heart failed the test then a
monster called the devourer, which was part crocodile, part hippopotamus and
part lion, ate it.
The Weighing of the Heart
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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