Egypt Afterlife Beliefs

Little is known what the Egyptians believed about the afterlife. Researchers, historians, and archaeologists have discovered more about it because the discovery of tombs and hieroglyphics have revealed the mystery of ancient Egyptian theology. The god Anubis, the parts of the soul, and the judgement process were the essential beliefs of what would happen in the afterlife in the eyes of the ancient Egyptian people. The afterlife in ancient Egypt is complex, therefore, souls needed a guide to lead them to the next life. Anubis, or Inpu, meaning “royal child”, was the guardian and protector of the dead. He was one of the main gods and in charge of guiding the soul to Osiris for the judgement process, overseeing it, and then leading the innocent to heaven, and the guilty to Ammut after the decision was made. While being mummified, they would put perfumes on the bodies and believed Anubis could smell it so he could find them in the afterlife.

Osiris was the god and chief judge of the underworld as well as vegetation, which made him the main deity to the Egyptians. He was also believed to symbolize eternal life, and if a soul was found innocent, they would join him in the afterlife. For this to be decided, there was a two-part judgement process. Step one was standing before 42 divine judges to plead your innocence. Step two is the weighing of the heart in which the person’s heart was weighed to a feather. If the heart was as light as the feather it meant that their soul was pure and deserved to join Osiris in paradise. If not, the heart was fed to Ammut, the devil, and the soul was punished to the underworld because he/she did not do good deeds in life. Anubis watched the process to make sure it was done correctly so the soul would not be falsely judged. Ma’at was a goddess who stood with Osiris and symbolized truth and