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![Why is there a scale with a hear - Early Humans and Begin - [Teachoo] - Concepts](https://cdn.teachoo.com/dfcdcc20-7671-49e1-98cc-4e6f508f049b/the-weighing-of-the-heart.jpg)
Beyond the textbook.
What was weighed against what?
Weighing of the heart
A test after death
1. The heart
Holds your deeds
Example:
Your deeds
2. The feather
Stands for truth
Example:
Truth
Justice
- The Egyptians believed that after death, a person's heart was weighed on a scale .
- On the other side was placed a feather , which stood for truth and justice .
- The heart was believed to hold a record of the person's deeds during life.
- If the heart was as light as the feather , the person had lived a good life and could pass into the afterlife .
- If the heart was heavier , weighed down by wrongdoing, the person was denied it.
What this tells us about early Egyptian beliefs:
- They believed in life after death .
- They believed a person would be judged on how they had lived.
- They believed in truth and justice as the standard of judgement.
- They believed the heart held a person's character , not the brain. That is why the heart was left in the body.
NCERT question · THINK ABOUT IT, page 85
Why do you think there is a scale with a heart on one side and a feather on the other (fig. 4.29)? What can this papyrus tell us about early Egyptian beliefs?
