Wilkinson, John Gardner: Topographie of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile, to the second cataracte and Wadi Samneh, with the Fyoom, Oases and eastern desert, from Sooez to Bertenice (London, 1835)

Chap. I.] JUDGMENT SCENE. 85

Isis. On the east side Physcon offers incense to
the statue of Khem, preceded by Anubis, and fol-
lowed by the ark of Sokari. On the opposite wall
is the judgment scene, frequently found on the
papyri of the Egyptians. Osiris^ seated on his
throne, awaits the arrival of those souls which are
ushered into Amenti. The four genii stand before
him on a lotus blossom, the female Cerberus sits
behind them, and Harpocrates on the crook of Osiris.
Thoth, the god of letters, arrives in the presence of
the king of Hades, bearing in his hand a tablet, on
which the actions of the deceased are noted down,
while Horus and Aroeris are employed in weighing
the good deeds* of the judged against the ostrich
feather, the symbol of Justice or Truth.f A cyno-
cephalus, the emblem of Thoth, is seated on the
top of the balance. At length arrives the deceased,
who advances between two figures of the goddess,^
and bears in his hand the symbol of Truth,§ indi-
cating his meritorious actions and his fitness for

* This M. Champollion supposes the heart. I still incline to
the construction I have put upon it—a type of the good actions of
the judged; and the same signs, frequently seen on this vase, are
added to the character signifying "good."

t I might add Perfection. The word Thmei (which, however,
I do not read in her hieroglyphics, though it is the Coptic for
" truth,") is closely related to tern, " to perfect."

| Alluding to her double capacity as goddess of Truth and
Justice.

§ Sometimes, instead of the ostrich feather, the deceased wears
the vase (which is placed in the other scale) ; it then has a similar
import.