Different cultures have always expressed their way of seeing life...and death.What do you know about the afterlife in Ancient Egypt? Surely mummies, pyramids and fascinating ceremonial rituals come to your mind, but did you know that souls should fight to move on to the Hereafter? It was a horrible and dangerous journey, perhaps many more than when they were Come and discover more!
The merciless Beyond in Ancient Egypt
For the Egyptian faith as in most religions there is a paradise, and it was called Aaru, a abundant and full of life, where finally the souls could rest...but it was not so easy to arrive, since dying was not enough, and several difficult tests had to be overcome.
To reach Aaru, the soul had to go through the 12 lands of hell , known as Duat. This place was even "mapped" and showed a land divided by two roads , these were separated by a river of fire, however, the worst was not the river, but the creatures that lived in it. The land was no safer; It was full of demons and monsters willing to destroy any soul that passed by.The dead should avoid all these obstacles if they wanted to live in paradise, otherwise they would be condemned to oblivion.
Also that the task itself was quite titanic, there was another important factor; the souls had to cross the Duat before their bodies broke down, this was the reason why mummification was performed, to give them more time to reach their destination.To have strength and pass this test , the souls had to eat, that is why when a person died, made a statue of her and gaps were opened in her eyes and mouth, where she put a piece of meat, this guaranteed that the spirit had food and that it could see, if you were lucky and yours loved you, they would do this ritual for you and that would allow you to begin the journey through the Duat.
If you were the pharaoh you were lucky , since everyone would do their best to take care of your soul, but for that, your slaves, servants and every valuable person for you should die with you to accompany you, even your animals.One of the most extreme cases, it was that of Pharaoh Djer, who poisoned 569 people to accompany him on the other side.
To cross the Duat in the Hereafter in Ancient Egypt, souls had to go through 12 doors, each with a guardian that he had different tests to let or not enter souls and infinite cruel ways to destroy them if they failed.
Finally, when crossing the Duat, the soul met Osiris , the lord of the underworld, in front of whom he should swear that he had not violated the divine laws, and it was here that his heart was weighed on a scale; if he was innocent, he would enter paradise, if not, he would be thrown into the beast Ammitt, who would torture her and devouring it, throwing it into fire and oblivion.
As you realized, the Beyond in Ancient Egypt was quite cruel and complicated. It was not enough with all the tests imposed by the Duat, Without the final test, all the effort could be lost.
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