Before I talk about Isis and Osiris, I want to talk a little about judgement. I find many parallels between the Egyptian beliefs and later Christian morality, among other things. There are many crossovers between cultures, and the more I look at it the more I see patterns and evolution throughout the world. The following is from a paper I wrote a few years back describing the judgement and the Egyptian afterlife.
During the New Kingdom, an evolution of images developed within the royal tombs. New compositions appear describing the realm of the dead ruled by Osiris and the journey of the sun god Ra. One scene known as ‘Imydwat’ (meaning “what is in the netherworld" in ancient Egyptian) was first displayed in the tomb of Hatshepsut from Dynasty 18. The sun god is portrayed with a ram-head on his boat along with several other deities on his nightly journey through the netherworld. Other examples from the New Kingdom are Ra’s boat being devoured by a large snake and then re-emerging again at dawn as a scarab beetle as well as the resurrection of Osiris, the reborn sun emerging from the waters of chaos, and other depictions of the netherworld (Theban Mapping Project 2003: 2). The underworld was often depicted as a treacherous place, filled with demons and dangers to be overcome. The deceased was expected to traverse this landscape with the help of spells included in the Book of the Dead which became more widely accessible during the New Kingdom.
Unique to the New Kingdom royal tombs was the depiction of the judgement after death or ‘negative confession’. Because the completed process did not appear prior to the New Kingdom (specifically the Book of the Dead Spell 125 where the dead person claims their innocence before the gods), one could assume that the ideas involving the judgement after death were not fully developed until that time, although pyramid and coffin texts may have alluded to an earlier concept. (Stadler 2008: 1)
The judgement after death had several variations throughout time and location, but the essence remained the same. A typical example shows the dead person brought to the hall of judgement by Anubis and a scale with the feather of Maat on one side and the deceased heart on the other. Nearby would be a part lion, crocodile, hippo creature who would devour the deadif their heart was heavier than the feather. Also Thoth, who recorded the proceedings, and Osiris acting as chief judge. An additional 42 judges represented the 42 negative confessions where the deceased would deny doing wrong hood. (Stadler 2008: 2)
Kings were expected to assist the sun god in overcoming chaos and defending Maat during their life as well as after their death. The depictions of the sun god’s journey in the tombs along with the judgement scene are meant to guide the king or pharaoh after death as well as reinforce the king’s roles in defending order. The Hall of Judgement, with its negative confessions, exemplify qualities the king was expected to embody in order to join the gods in the afterlife. Punishment for false statements by the dead person was embodied by the frightening devourer of souls. These depictions aided in conveying moral standards.
The tomb decorations show us that the king’s afterlife was meant to be lived in service of Maat and upholding order alongside the gods. The King was believed to embody Horus in life, and Osiris after death completing the cycle of death and rebirth. The King was to join the gods and uphold order and truth as they are displayed on the tomb walls as well as mirrored in nature.
Works Cited
Stadler, Martin. (2008). Judgment after Death (Negative Confession). UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1). UCLA: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. nelc_uee_7905. Retrieved from: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/07s1t6kj
Funerary Compositions: New Kingdom Books of the Netherworld. (2003). Theban Mapping Project. pp 1-2. 5/17/2016. www.
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/articles/article_5.1.html