Character Catalog

A collection of illustrated magical and funerary spells placed in tombs to guide the deceased through the Duat. Ammit appears systematically in the vignette of Chapter 125, depicting the Weighing of the Heart.

An exceptional copy of the Book of the Dead, now held at the British Museum in London. It contains the most well-known and detailed depiction of the Weighing of the Heart, with Ammit crouching beside Anubis's scales.

Another masterpiece of the Book of the Dead (British Museum), created for a royal scribe under Ramesses II. The judgment scene is remarkable for its iconographic precision, showing Ammit waiting in front of the scales.

A royal funerary text describing the sun's nightly journey through the twelve hours of the underworld. It details the entities and dangers of the Duat, including devouring beings — the tradition to which Ammit belongs.

A royal funerary text complementing the Amduat, describing the twelve guarded gates of the Duat. It reinforces the concept of the judgment of the dead and the punishment awaiting impure souls, who are devoured by Ammit.

A corpus of funerary spells inscribed on the interior of wooden coffins, accessible to a broader elite. They represent the earliest evidence of the fear of judgment and devouring in the afterlife, foreshadowing the role of Ammit.

Ammit is depicted sitting before the scales, jaws open, awaiting the verdict. The scribe Ani recites his negative confessions before the forty-two divine judges in order to avoid being handed over to the Devourer.

The Judgment vignette shows Ammit crouching beside the scales of Anubis, part crocodile, part lion, part hippopotamus. Thoth records the outcome of the weighing on his tablets while Horus leads Hunefer before Osiris.

Ammit appears in the scene of the Hall of Osiris in her classic hybrid form. The text specifies that the soul of the deceased, if judged pure, will be permitted to join the solar barque of Ra, thus escaping devourment.

This royal funerary text describes the nightly journey of the sun through the twelve hours of the night across the underworld. It mentions the dangers that threaten impure souls, among them permanent destruction by the devouring entities of the Duat.

Funerary spells predating the Book of the Dead already describe the Hall of Judgment and the threat of devourment for guilty souls. These texts are the direct ancestors of the vignettes in which Ammit appears.

A mythological place in the Duat (Egyptian underworld) where the Weighing of the Heart takes place. This is where Ammit resides and carries out her role as the Devourer, under the authority of Osiris and the forty-two divine judges.

The religious and political capital of the New Kingdom, Thebes was the main center for producing the Book of the Dead papyri in which Ammit appears. The west bank of the Nile was home to necropolises and royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

The royal necropolis of the New Kingdom, carved into the limestone rock. The walls of tombs belonging to pharaohs such as Thutmose III and Ramesses II are decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead and the Amduat, including depictions of the tribunal of Osiris with Ammit.

A sacred city dedicated to Osiris, god of the dead and president of the tribunal before which Ammit awaits her verdict. The Temple of Seti I at Abydos contains depictions of the Osirian cult directly connected to the judgment of souls.

The ancient capital of Egypt and a major religious center dedicated to Ptah. Memphis is also associated with Sokar, the funerary god, and with numerous rites connected to the passage into the Duat where Ammit dwells.