The word Dead or Ded, means “firm,” “established.” This quality or condition was greatly desired by the ancient Egyptians for their dead. After death the heart was said to lead an independent existence, journeying alone through the Underworld (Duat) until it met the deceased in the Hall of Judgment presided over by the great God of the dead and King of the Underworld, Osiris.

Divine pardon at judgement in the underworld was always a central focus of the Ancient Egyptian religion and rituals. 

Symbols - Underworld Hall of Judgement

Osiris presides over the judgment of dead souls. In order to enter the kingdom of Osiris or God, the deceased had to undergo a sacred magical journey (aided by spells and amulets) to the hall of judgment where their heart was weighed against the feather of Ma’at (justice or balance).

To the Egyptians, the heart was the seat of life and the soul in which no resurrection of the dead were without heart. This theme had become a central doctrine formulated in their sacred mysteries where they would take their heart into the next world to be recovered by its owner.

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