The artwork titled “Weighing of the Heart” is part of the “Book of the Dead for the Singer of Amun, Nany,” created around 1050 BC during the 3rd Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. This symbolic and religious painting was crafted with paint on papyrus and currently resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY, United States.
The image depicts a scene from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, illustrating the ritual of the Weighing of the Heart, which was believed to determine the worthiness of the deceased’s soul in the afterlife. On the left, a figure is led by the hand of another towards the scales where a heart is being weighed against the feather of Maat, symbolizing truth and justice. A creature with the head of a crocodile, the forebody of a lion, and the rear of a hippopotamus, known as Ammit, sits by the scales waiting to devour the heart should it prove unworthy. The god Thoth, with the head of an ibis, records the results of the weighing. On the far right, the god Osiris, ruler of the underworld, sits enthroned, receiving the verdict while surrounded by figures representing various deities and symbols associated with death, protection, and the afterlife. Hieroglyphic inscriptions provide context and incantations related to the depicted ritual.
