Editing Duat (section)

=== Mythological Significance ===

==== Housing of Souls/ Afterlife ====
{{Further|Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs|}}
In order to receive judgement the dead journeyed through the various parts of the Duat to be judged. If the deceased was successfully able to pass various challenges, then they would reach the ''Judgment of the dead''. In this ritual, the deceased's first task was to correctly address each of the forty-two [[Assessors of Maat]] by name, while reciting the sins they did not commit during their lifetime.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coogan |first1=Michael D. |title=A Reader of Ancient Near Eastern Texts: Sources for the Study of the Old Testament,"Negative Confessions" |date=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |pages=149–150}}</ref> After confirming that they were sinless, the heart of the deceased was weighed by [[Anubis]] against the feather of [[Maat]], which represents truth and justice. Any heart that is heavier than the feather failed the test, and was rejected and eaten by [[Ammit]], the devourer of souls, as these people were denied existence after death in the Duat. The souls that were lighter than the feather would pass this most important test, and would be allowed to travel to Aaru.

The ''Duat'' is not equivalent to the conceptions of [[Hell]] in the [[Abrahamic religions]], in which souls are condemned with fiery torment. The absolute punishment for the wicked, in ancient Egyptian thought, was the denial of an afterlife to the deceased, ceasing to exist in the intellectual form seen through the devouring of the heart by Ammit.<ref name="Pinch-1994-Magic" />

==== Journey of the Sun ====
[[File:Book of Gates Barque of Ra cropped.jpg|thumb|220x220px|''Af'' or ''Afu'' (commonly known as ''Afu-Ra''), the ram-headed form of Ra when traveling the ''Duat'' on the subterrestrial [[Nile]] (the 12 hours of night and the underworld) on the ''Mesektet'' barque along with [[Sia (god)|Sia]] (left and front of barque) and [[Heka (god)|Heka]] (right and behind of barque), surrounded by the protective coiled serpent deity [[Mehen]]]]Each night Ra travelled through the ''Duat'', bringing revivification to the dead as their main benefit. When in the underworld he was in his [[Ovis longipes palaeoaegyptiacus|ram]]-headed form Af. Ra travelled under the world upon his [[Atet]] barge from west to east; on the course of the underground journey, he was transformed from his aged [[Atum]] form into his young [[Khepri]] form – the new dawning sun. The role of the dead king, worshiped as a god, was also central to the mythology surrounding the concept of Duat, often depicted as being identical with Ra.<ref name="Weigal-2005-05-27-Guide" />

Along with the sun god the dead king travelled through the Duat, the Kingdom of Osiris, using the special knowledge he was supposed to possess, which was recorded in the [[Coffin Texts]], that served as a guide to the hereafter not just for the king but for all deceased. According to the ''[[Amduat]]'', the underworld consists of twelve regions signifying the twelve hours of the sun god's journey through it, battling [[Apep]] in order to bring order back to the earth in the morning; as his rays illuminated the Duat during the journey, they revived the dead who occupied the underworld and let them enjoy life after death during that hour of the night when they were in the presence of the sun god, after which they resumed their sleep, waiting for the god's return the following night.<ref name="Taylor-2001-DthAftrlf" />