Editing Kherty (section)

== Mythology ==
{{Ancient Egyptian religion}}
Kherty was a contradicting character: The pyramid texts reveal that he was worshipped at one side as a guide, who brought the deceased king safely to "the yonder site" by "being the ferryman". He also protected the deceased against various demons (named ''inmetjw'' in the texts) sent by [[Set (deity)|Seth]]. The deceased king was then brought to his destination by [[Ra]].<ref name=JGT/><ref name=GMD/> On the other site, however, Kherty was feared as death in persona, a god that "lives on the heart of men", making them stop pounding. The pyramid texts reveal that Kherty attacked the physical heart (''khat(jw)'') of the dying peoples, not the metaphysical, symbolic heart (''jb'') as the "seat of thoughts and feelings". For this reason, a lot of spells and prayers were addressed to Kherty in attempt to befriend and please him.<ref name=JGT/> Other prayers beg Ra to "take the deceased king away from Kherty". These prayers also mention [[Osiris]], the judge of the underworld. Thus, Kherty and Osiris were mythologically connected to each other.<ref name=GMD/>

Kherty is not mentioned in the famous [[Coffin Texts]] of [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom period]]. Instead, he is replaced by a god [[Aker (god)|Aker]], who is now the ferryman. In the prayers of the [[Book of the Dead]], Kherty is described as a guard who guides the celestial bark of Ra.<ref name=CLG/>