BYU ScholarsArchive

Article Title

Facsimile 3: Judgment Scene of Presentation Scene?

Authors

Stephen O. Smoot
John Gee
Kerry Muhlestein
John S. Thompson

Keywords

Book of Abraham, Book of the Dead, Osiris, Hall of Two Truths, ancient Egypt

Abstract

Facsimile 3 of the Book of Abraham has been identified in the past as “a constantly recurring scene in Egyptian literature, best known from the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead. It represents the judgment of the dead before the throne of Osiris.” Based on comparable iconography from other Egyptian funerary texts, this understanding of Facsimile 3 has been prevalent among Egyptologists. “The formal judgment of the dead contained in BD spell 125 . . . involves the deceased supplicant making a ‘negative confession’ asserting his or her faultless behavior on earth in the presence of forty-two gods assembled in the Hall of the Two Truths, while the heart is weighted against the feather of Maat.” This judgment scene very frequently is depicted as transpiring before the presence of the god Osiris, who is often shown sitting on a throne accompanied by his sisters/wives Isis and Nephthys.

Recommended Citation

Smoot, Stephen O.; Gee, John; Muhlestein, Kerry; and Thompson, John S. (2022) "Facsimile 3: Judgment Scene of Presentation Scene?," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 61: Iss. 4, Article 48.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol61/iss4/48