Editing Book of the Dead (section)

===Judgment===
[[File:Ani_chap125.jpg|thumb|Papyrus of Ani: some of the 42 Judges of Maat are visible, seated and in small size.]]
[[File:The_judgement_of_the_dead_in_the_presence_of_Osiris.jpg|thumb|The Weighing of the Heart as depicted in the Papyrus of Hunefer (19th Dynasty, c. 1300 BC)]]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> This process allowed the dead to demonstrate that they knew each of the judges' names or Ren and established that they were pure, and free of sin.

If all the obstacles of the ''Duat'' could be negotiated, the deceased would be judged in the "[[Weighing of the Heart]]" ritual, depicted in Spell 125. The deceased was led by the god [[Anubis]] into the presence of Osiris. There, the dead person swore that he had not committed any sin from a [[Maat#42 Negative Confessions (Papyrus of Ani)|list of 42 sins]],<ref>Taylor 2010, p. 208</ref> reciting a text known as the "Negative Confession". Then the dead person's heart was weighed on a pair of scales, against the goddess [[Maat]], who embodied truth and justice. Maat was often represented by an ostrich feather, the hieroglyphic sign for her name.<ref>Taylor 2010, p.209</ref> At this point, there was a risk that the deceased's heart would bear witness, owning up to sins committed in life; Spell 30B guarded against this eventuality. If the scales balanced, this meant the deceased had led a good life. Anubis would take them to Osiris and they would find their place in the afterlife, becoming ''maa-kheru'', meaning "vindicated" or "true of voice".<ref>Taylor 2010, p.215</ref> If the heart was out of balance with Maat, then another fearsome beast called ''[[Ammit]]'', the Devourer, stood ready to eat it and put the dead person's afterlife to an early and rather unpleasant end.<ref name="Taylor 2010, p.212">Taylor 2010, p.212</ref>

This scene is remarkable not only for its vividness but as one of the few parts of the Book of the Dead with any explicit moral content. The judgment of the dead and the Negative Confession were a representation of the conventional moral code which governed Egyptian society. For every "I have not..." in the Negative Confession, it is possible to read an unexpressed "Thou shalt not".<ref name="Faulkner 1994, p.14">Faulkner 1994, p.14</ref> While the [[Ten Commandments]] of [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Christianity|Christian]] ethics are rules of conduct laid down by a perceived divine revelation, the Negative Confession is more a divine enforcement of everyday morality.<ref>Taylor 2010,p.204&ndash;5</ref>  Views differ among Egyptologists about how far the Negative Confession represents a moral absolute, with ethical purity being necessary for progress to the Afterlife. John Taylor points out the wording of Spells 30B and 125 suggests a pragmatic approach to morality; by preventing the heart from contradicting him with any inconvenient truths, it seems that the deceased could enter the afterlife even if their life had not been entirely pure.<ref name="Taylor 2010, p.212"/> Ogden Goelet says "without an exemplary and moral existence, there was no hope for a successful afterlife",<ref name="Faulkner 1994, p.14"/> while [[Geraldine Pinch]] suggests that the Negative Confession is essentially similar to the spells protecting from demons, and that the success of the Weighing of the Heart depended on the mystical knowledge of the true names of the judges rather than on the deceased's moral behavior.<ref>Pinch 1994, p.155</ref>