The Weighing of the Heart of Peteminis (Book of the Dead)

This ink-on-papyrus scene depicts the final judgment of the deceased in the Egyptian afterlife. On the left, a male figure with shaved head raises his arms in adoration before the goddess Maat, who wears her signature ostrich feather on her head. To the right, the jackal-headed god Anubis stands by a large balance scale, adjusting the weight, while the falcon-headed god Horus stands nearby, overseeing the measurement of the heart against the feather. The figures are rendered in a crisp, linear black-ink style typical of late-period funerary papyri, set against the tan, fibrous texture of the papyrus.

This scene represents the 'Psychostasia' or weighing of the heart, a pivotal trial described in the 'Book of the Dead' (specifically Spell 125), essential for the deceased to enter the afterlife field of reeds. It reflects the theological concern for moral justification before the gods in Ancient Egyptian funerary religion.