THE HEAVEN OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

Evening Post, Volume L, Issue 42, 17 August 1895, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE HEAVEN OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS.

» In the British Museum there is an ancient Egyptian picture representing the Judgment of the Soul. It ia so old — so very, very old—somewhere about 3000 b c. — say 5000 years ago. First there is the funeral procession. The mummified body was placed in a boat — you went across a river to reach the next world — at the head walked a priebtwith a book, reading the service appointed. Then came the mourners, the wife at the head of the mummy, the sister at the foot. Arrived at the other side, the soul, no longer a mummy, has to be weighed. There are many gods, who have their various functions. Thus one god receives the soul ; another bears him ; a whole row of gods watch the weighing of the soul ; if it is too light the soul must go to purgatory, there to perform expiatory labours ; but, mark you, a rich man is accompanied by the souls of his slaves ; it is not for him to go to purgatory ; his slaves must perform the work of expiation. It will be seen that corruption had already crept into the Egyptian Church. There is next a god who introduces the soul into Heaven, and tells him what to say when he gets inside. The amusement of the souls in Heaven ia to play chess or draughts, but that mußt not be taken literally. We may understand by the introduction of the draught-table that the curse of labour no longer exists in the Land of the Blessed, and that they may play and amuse themselves as much as they list. — Walter Besant in the Queen.