While the heart was weighed the deceased recited the 42 Negative Confessions as the Assessors of Maat looked on. The weighing of the heart, as typically pictured on papyrus in the Book of the Dead, or in tomb scenes, shows Anubis overseeing the weighing and Ammit seated awaiting the results to consume those who failed. This is why hearts were left in Egyptian mummies while their other organs were removed, as the heart (called “ib”) was seen as part of the thunder empire slots Egyptian soul. Besides honing reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, students of scribal schools also learned other skills. Learning instructions in scribal schools were available for very young prospective students (5–10 years old students).

However, should the heart be found heavier, burdened by sin and falsehood, it was consigned to oblivion, devoured by the fearsome Ammit, a chimera of lion, crocodile, and hippopotamus. To the Egyptians, divinity and ideology were inseparable; their deities embodied the principles that sustained both the cosmos and society. In Ancient Egyptian thought, the gods were not merely supernatural beings to be worshipped, but profound personifications of essential concepts that underpinned the very fabric of existence. The negative confessions one would make after death could be individualized, that is, vary from person to person.

From an early period the king would describe himself as the “Lord of Maat” who decreed with his mouth the Maat he conceived in his heart. The development of such rules sought to avert chaos and it became the basis of Egyptian law. They were expected to act with honor and truth in matters that involve family, the community, the nation, the environment, and the gods. Maat represents the ethical and moral principle that all Egyptian citizens were expected to follow throughout their daily lives.