Egypt and Duat, the underworld

Osiris

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead.

Isis

Isis was Osiris’ wife.

Anubis

Anubis was the Egyptian god of mummies.Egyptian priests wore the mask of Anubis when they were preparing mummies. He looked like a human with the head of a jackal. He was the judge when you went to the afterlife, to see if you were worthy.

Bastet

Bastet was the Egyptian goddess of cats, dance and music. She took the form of a cat, or a woman with the head of a cat. Egyptians mummified cats. Cats were sacred and a person who killed a cat was put to death.

The Legend of Osiris, Isis, and Set

Set, Isis, Osiris, and two other gods were all brothers and sisters born from Ra, the sun god, and his wife Nut. Osiris married his sister Isis and became king of Egypt, but his brother Set was jealous. Set tricked Osiris into a lying down in a wooden chest, then nailing it shut and pouring molten lead over it and then floated it down the Nile River. Osiris died and Set ruled Egypt, not a good time. There must have been a drought. Isis hunted down the body of Osiris to Byblos, a city in Syria. Here she found the chest embedded in a tree. She brought the chest back to Egypt. Set found the chest with Osiris and he cut Osiris into 14 pieces and scattered them all over. Isis found all the pieces but one and then punished the fish in the Nile that ate that one.All the other pieces she buried where she found them and built temples to honor Osiris.Osiris became the god of the underworld, called Duat.

Mummies

Mummies were dead bodies wrapped in strips of linen. People made mummies because they thought the body needed to be preserved. When you died, you could take all your possessions with you if they were in your tomb. And you would need your body back, so your body was preserved so that you could use it in your afterlife.

Pyramids

Pyramids were triangle shaped buildings of sandstone. They were made to be dead kings’ and their families’ tombs. Egyptians filled them with the king’s possessions so that he could use them in the afterlife. They stopped making pyramids because robbers would come in and steal all the stuff. Instead they would carve tombs out of rock underground and hide the entrances.

The Afterlife, called Duat the underworld

Egyptians thought the afterlife was a real place. Anubis, the god of mummies, would judge you by weighing your heart against a feather. If it was heavier than the feather, a monster would eat your heart and you would not get to journey into the afterlife. If it was lighter, then it meant that you did good deeds and were worthy of going to the afterlife.