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The Judgement of the Dead by Osiris
The judgement of the dead in the presence of Osiris, from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, from Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, c. 1275 BCE.
The scene reads from left to right. To the left, Anubis brings Hunefer into the judgement area. Anubis is also shown supervising the judgement scales. Hunefer's heart, represented as a pot, is being weighed against a feather, the symbol of Ma'at, the established order of things, in this context meaning 'what is right'. The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the emotions, the intellect, and the character, and thus represented the good or bad aspects of a person's life. If the heart did not balance with the feather, then the dead person was condemned to non-existence, and consumption by the ferocious 'devourer', the strange beast shown here, which is part-crocodile, part-lion, and part-hippopotamus.
However, as a papyrus devoted to ensuring Hunefer's continued existence in the afterlife is not likely to depict this outcome, he is shown to the right, brought into the presence of Osiris by his son Horus, having become 'true of voice' or 'justified'. This was a standard epithet applied to dead individuals in their texts. Osiris is shown seated under a canopy, with his sisters Isis and Nephthys. At the top, Hunefer is shown adoring a row of deities who supervise the judgement.
The British Museum, London.
Questions & Answers
How long was ancient Egypt art produced?
- Ancient Egyptian art was created from the Predynastic Period (c. 6000 to c. 3150 BCE) through the Ptolemaic Period (323-30 BCE) and even into the era of Roman Egypt (30 BCE-646 CE).
What was the purpose of ancient Egyptian art?
- Ancient Egyptian art was primarily functional - it served a practical purpose - but it was still crafted to be aesthetically pleasing.
What types of art did the ancient Egyptians produce?
- The ancient Egyptians produced all kinds of art from statuary to jewelry to ceramics, paintings, drawings, figurines, everyday household items, clothing, dog collars, and ornamentation for tombs, temples, and monuments.
What is the most famous artwork from ancient Egypt?
- The most famous artwork from ancient Egypt is the Great Sphinx of Giza followed by the bust of Queen Nefertiti and the golden death mask of Tutankhamun.
