Beliefs Regarding Death

Question 1

Osiris

Funerary Gods

Answer 1

Originally a fertility god of resurrection, but eventually became the ruler of the Duat and god of the dead.

Mummified man with white, cone-like headdress with feathers.

Question 2

Nut

Funerary Gods

Answer 2

Goddess of the sky, associated with rebirth for swallowing and birthing Ra each day.

Woman with the feathered wings of a bird.

Question 3

Hathor

Funerary Gods

Answer 3

Goddess of love and joy, and a fertility goddess associated with Ba, for which she is said to greet the souls of the dead and offer them refreshments.

Woman with a headdress of horns, a sun disk and the face of a cow.

Question 4

Anubis

Funerary Gods

Answer 4

God of embalming the dead and assisting the dead in gaining entry to the Duat.

Man with the head of a jackal.

Question 5

Isis

Funerary Gods

Answer 5

Protective goddess of powerful magic and wife of Osiris.

Woman with headdress in the shape of a throne and often wings.

Question 6

Nephthys

Funerary Gods

Answer 6

Protector goddess of the dead, more specifically the transitional nature of death, mourning and comforting the relatives of the deceased. And also wife of Seth.

Woman with a headdress showing her name in hieroglyphics (kinda like a ‘T’?)

Question 7

Seth

Funerary Gods

Answer 7

God of violence, war, deserts and storms, explaining why he trapped and mutilated his brother, Osiris.

Man with the head of an animal with a curved nose, square-tipped ears and forked tail.

Question 8

Horus

Funerary Gods

Answer 8

God of power and justice, representing the pharaoh for a time in ancient Egypt.

Man with a falcon head.

Question 9

Creation of Life

Answer 9

Ram-headed god, Khnum, formed every person’s body (khet) and lifeforce (ka) on his divine potter’s wheel, two inseparable concepts only split by death. These two had to be reunited in order to achieve an afterlife.

Question 10

The Negative Confession

Answer 10

A list of 42 sins that the soul of the deceased must swear they have never committed during the Weighing of the Heart in order to see if a sin weighs on the deceased’s heart. The list of sins varied for every individual during the Last Judgement.

E.g. “I am not a man of deceit.”

Question 11

The Weighing of the Heart

Answer 11

It was believed that the heart recorded all of the deeds of a person, so it could be weighed in the afterlife against the feather of Maat, who was the goddess of truth and justice, in the Hall of Truth during a trial by Osiris.

If the feather balanced, the deceased was worthy to enter Aaru. If it did not, the heart was thrown to be eaten by Ammit, the soul devourer, causing them to cease to exist.

This is sometimes referred to as the Last Judgement.

Question 12

Ba

Parts of the Soul

Answer 12

The soul (instincts and personality) that needed to be released from the body (khet) in the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. It is the aspect that could travel between earth and the Duat.

Appears as a human-headed bird.

Question 13

Ka

Parts of the Soul

Answer 13

The life force/vital essence of the deceased that descended into the afterlife.

Question 14

Khet

Answer 14

The physical body.

Question 15

Akh

Parts of the Soul

Answer 15

United Ba and Ka, forming an immortal ghost-like spirit to travel to the Duat.

Question 16

Aaru (Field of Reeds)

Answer 16

An exalted and glorified version of mortal life, here agriculture was plentiful, gods and humans lived in peace, and everything was in abundance.

The deceased were required to work but this could be avoided using Ushabti.

Question 17

Hall of Judgement/Truth

Answer 17

The location on the way into the Egyptian afterlife where the deceased was required to stand trial with Osiris and 42 divine judges in order to decide whether an individual should be allowed into Aaru.

The occurrences within the Hall of Judgement is sometimes referred to as the Last Judgement.