The weighing of the heart of the Scribe Ani in the Great Scales in the Hall of Osiris.
[From the Papyrus of Ani. Brit. Mus., Pap., No. 10470.]
In great papyri of the Book of the Dead such as those of Nebseni, Nu, Ani, Hunefer, etc., the Last Judgment, or the "Great Reckoning," is made the most prominent scene in the whole work, and the vignette in which it is depicted is several feet long. The most complete form of it is given in the Papyrus of Ani, and may be thus described: At one end of the Hall of Maāti Osiris is seated on a throne within a shrine made in the form of a funerary coffer; behind him stand Isis and Nephthys. Along one side of the Hall are seated the gods Harmachis, Tem, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis and Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, Hu and Saa, who are to serve as the divine jury; these formed the "Great Company of the Gods" of Anu (Heliopolis). By these stands the Great Balance, and on its pillar sits the dog-headed ape Astes, or Astenu, the associate of Thoth. The pointer of the Balance is in the charge of Anpu. Behind Anpu are Thoth the scribe of the gods, and the monster Āmemit, with the head of a crocodile, the forepaws and shoulders of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus; the duty of the last-named was to eat up the hearts that were light in the balance. On the other side of the Balance Ani, accompanied by his wife, is seen standing with head bent low in adoration, and between him and the Balance stand the two goddesses who nurse and rear children, Meskhenet and Rennet, Ani's soul, in the form of a man-headed hawk, a portion of his body, and his luck Shai. Since the heart was considered to be the seat of all will, emotion, feeling, reason and intelligence, Ani's heart,
, is seen in one pan of the Balance, and in the other is the feather,
, symbolic of truth and righteousness. Whilst his heart was in the Balance Ani, repeating the words of Chapter XXXB* of the Book of the Dead, addressed it, saying, "My heart of my mother! My heart of my mother! My heart of my being! Make no stand against me when testifying, thrust me not back before the Tchatchaut (i.e., the overseers of Osiris), and make no failure in respect of me before the Master of the page 27 page 28Balance. Thou art my Ka, the dweller in my body, uniting (?) and strengthening my members. Thou shalt come forth to the happiness to which we advance. Make not my name to stink with the officers [of Osiris] who made men, utter no lie against me before the Great God, the Lord of Amentt."
Horus, Son of Isis, introducing the Scribe Ani to Osiris.