Death and the Ancient Egyptian Afterlife

It may seem hard to believe today, but the highlight of existence for every ancient Egyptian was his death and burial.

An Egyptian's burial was an event for which everybody made preparations and saved their entire lives for. While still alive, Egyptians had their tombs designed, built and decorated to lavish standards. They also made sure that they had ordered their coffins well ahead of time and that that they bought the best of all the various items that they planned on taking with them to the Underworld. There was an entire branch of industry that revolved around death and the manufacture of tombs and their furnishings, and a huge part of the gross national product literally disappeared underground this way.

Even though the costs involved in Egyptian burials was exorbitant, most Egyptians felt that it was money well spent. This was an investment that seemed to make sense as it was the only way to ensure that they would enjoy a good afterlife. After all, the afterlife was entirely dependent upon the body being able to carry on and satisfy its normal needs and bodily functions such as eating and drinking. For the Egyptians who were unaware of these precautions, a true death in every sense awaited.

Once an Egyptian had died and was singing with the so-called choir invisible, the embalming process began and normally lasted for 70 days. Once this procedure was completed, the mummy was put inside its decorated coffin and a funeral procession would make its way to the necropolis, with musicians leading the way. The coffin was pulled on a sledge by oxen and was followed by family and close friends. Priests also walked beside the coffin while waving incense and were often accompanied by professional mourners with loose hair and bare breasts who made sure that their wailing could be heard for miles .

Slaves carried all of the articles that were meant to go inside the tombs, like furniture, clothes, jewelery, and cosmetics, if the Egyptian happened to be a female. They also brought along meat and vegetables for the death sacrifice.

Once the deceased had reached its destination, the mummy was taken out of the coffin in front of the tomb and stood up and held in front of everyone by an embalming priest who was wearing an Anubis mask. A lay priest then burned incense, while the lector priest read magic spells from a papyrus scroll. The magic "opening of the mouth" ritual was celebrated with all the tools of the coffin maker and embalmer, knife, an adze and a device that was shaped like a fish tail. The priests then opened the mummy's mouth, ears, eyes and nose so that the mummy regained control of their senses and could accept the food sacrifices that were offered.

After the opening of the mouth ritual was finished, the mummy was put back inside its coffin, ready and equipped for his journey to the underworld. Death sacrifices were then offered by ritualistically slaughtering oxen and then barbecuing them afterwards, with the feast being consumed by the family around the mummy's tomb.

With the death ceremonies being completed, the dead stayed behind as masters of their beautiful "House of Eternity." While the architecture of the tombs changed during the course of ancient Egypt, two elements always remained the same: the sarcophagus and the concealed chamber where it was hidden. In front of this was a room that was a place of worship which was only accessible from outside and contained a stone tablet on which the name of the dead person was recorded beside the offering table. A false door, which was a stone imitation of a real door, existed to serve as a link between this world and the underworld. This was only accessible to the deceased.

After the deceased makes his way through this false door, the judgment of the dead would begin. Once the deceased had passed through the door, a panel of judges would be found sitting inside the hall of complete justness where this world and the underworld both coincide. There are large scales here on which the heart of the deceased is weighed under the strict supervision of Anubis and Thoth. The Egyptians felt that the heart was the center of the personality and conscience and that it must be weighed to judge the deceased accurately. On the other side of the scales would lie a feather, which is the symbol of Maat, the goddess of justice. The deceased would pass the test if it was found that his heart was as light as the feather.

Ancient Egyptians were perhaps understandably afraid of this test, especially as right next to the scales stood the "Great Swallower," a giant monster that was part crocodile, part hippopotamus and part cat. This monster was poised and ready to devour those whose hearts were found to be too heavy.

There was a way out of this situation for a few fortunate Egyptians. Between the legs of many mummies lay papyrus scrolls wrapped in linen bandages. The scrolls contained spells and pictures and was a guide of sorts to the kingdom of the dead. The guide to the underworld was written by Thoth himself and named not only the dangers of the underworld, but also had a set of incantations written to tone them down. There were around 200 different pieces of magic which could help the owner if they were spoken at the correct time. For instance, when appearing before the court of the dead and the weighing ceremony, the 125th spell could be recited. It began, "I have not acted evilly towards anyone," and said things in a similar vein such as, "I have not stopped the flow of water at its seasons."

These comments didn't necessarily have to be true, and were generally only used in order to prevent the truth from coming out. Regardless, the text served as a magic spell through which the scales would stay in balance and the judges would pronounce the deceased in accord with the divine order. If the deceased was lucky enough to have this spell work, the monster would have to wait for another victim to devour while the deceased moved happily on, content in the knowledge that all of his hard work in planning for his death had paid off in the end.

Sources: The British Museum, the BBC, Wikipedia, National Geographic