The Ceremony of the Dead

The ceremony that took place, bringing the newly deceased Pharaoh to Duat was more complex than might seem.

It took collaboration between many gods and former Pharaoh's to complete the proceedure.

And throughout the years, there has been a number of different interpretations carved as heiroglyphic figures by humans.

But in the end, this is how it truly happened.

In some versions, Duat is explained as a boring, and repetitive, hell. 

But that's far from true. 

Duat was to Egyptians what Heaven is to Christians.

Something to truly desire.

But unlike Heaven, it took more than a good heart to get into Duat.

Duat was not an alternative reality, or a different dimension. 

Duat was, and still is, a physical locations in the middle of the Saharan dunes.

It's hidden from mankind using powerful magic.

But those who make it past the Hall of Two Truths will be personally escorted there.

Before Kebechet shared the secrets of Mumification to mankind, Anubis personally took care of the process. 

As mankind learned on her own, Anubis was replaced by a high status priest, chosen by Anubis himself to represent him.

The Process.

First, the body was displayed for mourning for one day. After that, it was taken to the tent of purification, the Ibu.

Once there, Anubis would smear the body in a magic liquid that would clean everything. 
This was later replaced palm-wine and Nile water.

Anubis then cut the left side of the body and removes most of the internal organs, except for the heart.
As the heart would be removed later in the process.
He then covered the organs in natron, that would remove the moisture.

Then, using a hook pushed through the nose, the brain is scrambled, and carefully removed.

Then, the body was filled, and covered, by natron. This to dry every part of it, to prevent it from decomposing prematurely.

The body was revived by Anubis and then taken to a special carriage of stone.

Now began the journey to Duat. Which would take twenty days and twenty nights.

However, was the deseased not worthy, it would be returned to its grave, dead.

If the person was not worthy, the body was washed and oiled, to remain intact for as long as possible.

The internal organs were wrapped in linen and returned to the body, and it was sealed in a sarcophagus.

The Road to Duat.

Getting to Duat was a challenged. First, the deseased would be escorted by Anubis through the desert.

And once there, they would enter the Hall of Two Truths, where the 42 founding Pharaoh's would sit and judge.

In the center of the room you would see the Scale of Maat.

This Scale would determine if you were a good or bad person.

If you had done many evils towards the people of Egypt, your soul would be eaten by the demoness Ammit.

If you were judged a good person, you would have to cite fortytwo negative confessions.

This is where Anubis' powers of compulsion came in. 

If Anubis detected a lie, he would compell the person to speak truth. 

This is also where other gods became involved. Key members of the Nine Ennead would help with the process.

Toth would write everything down, and bring the information to Osiris, who would keep a record of everyone in Duat.

Maat presented a feather from her wings for each deseased who entered, which would be used to judge their goodness.

Horus would escoort the worthy to stand in front of Osiris.

Anubis would also keep Ammit in place, and make sure she would only feast on the unworthy.

The fortytwo judges would judge the 42 negative confessions, and say how they would judge.

Anubis and Toth would then look through everything, and keeping the 42 judges' judgment in mind.

When a descission was made, Anubis would pass the judgment. using only one word.

Either "Worthy" or "Unworthy".

Was it the first, Ammit would return to her hiding, and the deseased would be shown to Osiris.

Was it the latter, Anubis would allow Ammit to step forth, and devour the person's soul.

Although commonly referred to as "the realm of the dead", no dead souls ended up in Duat.

After the embalming, Anubis would summon the person's soul from the Underworld, where all souls of mortal beasts ended up.

The soul would be brought back to the body and he would be allowed to stay, if he was deemed worthy in the Hall of Two Truths. 

If not, the soul would be consumed by Ammit, which was, perhaps, an even worse fate than an eternity in the Underworld.

As Ammit was a demon, the souls she consumed, ended up in Hell - the realm of the fallen angel, Lucifer.

Duat itself was a beautiful place. A large, lush, Oasis filled with green. A large, green, desert city.

Plenty of food, and no disputes. Truly a paradise. 

Duat existed long before Anubis was born, and so - he doesn't know exactly how it came to be.

The only one who knew was Geb - warden of the earth - and he would not share.

Anubis father, Setesh, believed it was called Eden - the place where apes first became men. The cradle of life.

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