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Home > Magazines > Archaeology Odyssey > September/October 2000

Mummies

Emissaries of the golden age

By Zahi Hawass

We all know about mummies. According to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, the heart/soul of the deceased is placed on a scale and weighed against the feather worn by Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. If the scale tips one way or the other, a huge animal will devour the deceased. But if the scale is balanced, the god Horus will escort the deceased to Osiris and Isis, the gods who preside over the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians 040mummified their dead to prepare them for their final journeys. I remember the day, four years ago, when I learned of Egypt’s […]

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Footnotes

1.

See Zahi Hawass, “Who Really Built the Pyramids?” AO 02:02.

2.

See “The Oasis of Amun Siwa, Egypt,” Destinations, AO 03:01.