Duat facts for kids

The Duat was the ancient Egyptian idea of the underworld. It was a mysterious and dangerous place that the Egyptian soul had to travel through after death. Ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god Ra also passed through the Duat every night. There, he would battle a giant snake named Apophis before rising again in the morning.

Egyptians wrote special texts, often called "funerary texts" or the Book of the Dead, to help guide the souls of the dead through the Duat. These texts were often placed in tombs with mummies.

One of the most famous events believed to happen in the Duat was the Weighing of the Heart. During this important judgment, the soul of the dead person, shown as their heart, was placed on a scale. On the other side of the scale was the feather of Ma'at, the goddess of truth and justice.

If the heart was lighter than or equal to Ma'at's feather, it meant the person had lived a good and truthful life. If the heart was heavier, it meant the person had done bad deeds. A fearsome creature named Ammut, who was part crocodile, part lion, and part hippopotamus, was believed to eat the hearts of those who failed the test. This meant their soul would not be able to reach the afterlife paradise.

The ancient Egyptian ideas about the Duat and the afterlife influenced how many other cultures thought about what happens after death.

Images for kids

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  A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead on papyrus. It shows the Weighing of the Heart in the Duat, with Anubis on the far right. The scales show the feather of Ma'at, and Ammit waits to devour hearts. Osiris is seen at the gateway to the paradise of Aaru.

See also

In Spanish: Duat para niños