The Assessors of Maat were 42 minor ancient Egyptian deities of the Maat charged with judging the souls of the dead in the afterlife by joining the judgment of Osiris in the Weighing of the Heart.[1] [2]
Chapter 125[3] of the Book of the Dead lists names and provenances (either geographical or atmospheric) of the Assessors of Maat. A declaration of innocence corresponds to each deity: it is pronounced by the dead himself, to avoid being damned for specific "sins" that each of the 42 Judges is in charge of punishing.
The deceased was accompanied in the presence of Osiris by the psychopomp god Anubis – where he would have declared that he was guilty of none of the "42 sins" against justice and truth by reciting a text known as "Negative confessions".[4] The heart (ib / jb) of the deceased was then weighed on a two-plate scale: a plate for the heart, the other for the feather of Maat. Maat, in whose name the 42 judges who flanked Osiris acted, was the deification of truth, justice, rectitude, and order of the cosmos and was often symbolized by an ostrich feather (the hieroglyphic sign of her name).[5] [6] If the heart and the feather were equal, then the deities were convinced of the rectitude of the deceased, who could therefore access eternal life becoming mꜣꜥ-ḫrw (Egyptological pronunciation: Maa Kheru), which means "vindicated / justified", literally "true of voice" ("blessed" in a broad sense).[7] But, if the heart was heavier than Maat's feather, then a terrifying monster named ꜥmmt "the Devourer" ("Ammit") devoured it by destroying the soul of the deceased.[8] [9]
The psychostasia episode is remarkable not only for its symbolic and even dramatic vivacity, but also because it is one of the few parts of the Book of the Dead with moral connotations. The judgment by Osiris and by the other 42 judicial deities,[10] and the "Negative Confessions" themselves, depict the ethics and morality of the Egyptians. These 42 declarations of innocence were interpreted by some as possible historical precedents of the Ten Commandments:[11] but, while the Ten Commandments of Judeo-Christian ethics consist of norms attributed to a divine revelation, the "Negative confessions" seem rather as divine transpositions (each corresponding to one of the 42 judging deities) of daily morality.[12]
The American egyptologist Richard Herbert Wilkinson thus inventoried, in his The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003), the 42 Assessors of Maat:
| 1 | Usekh-nemmt"Far-Strider" | Heliopolis | falsehood | 22 | Maa-antuf"Demolisher" | Xois | Transgressing | |
| 2 | Hept-khet"Fire-Embracer" | Kheraha(Old Cairo?[13]) | Robbery | 23 | Her-uru"Disturber" | Weryt | Being hot-tempered | |
| 3 | Fenti"Nosey One" | Hermopolis | Stealing | 24 | Khemiu"Youth" | Heliopolitan nome | Unhearing of truth | |
| 4 | Am-khaibit"Swallower of Shades" | "The Cavern" | Murder | 25 | Shet-kheru"Foreteller" | Wenes | Making disturbance | |
| 5 | Neha-her"Dangerous One" | Rosetau(Giza Plateau[14]) | Stealing grain | 26 | Nebheru"You of the Altar" | "the secret place" | Violence | |
| 6 | Ruruti"Double Lion" | "The sky" | Purloined offerings | 27[15] | Kenemti"Face Behind Him" | "Cavern of wrong" | copulating with a boy | |
| 7 | Arfi-em-khet"Fiery Eyes" | Letopolis | Stealing Gods property | 28 | An-hetep-f"Hot-Foot" | "The dusk" | Transgression | |
| 8 | Neba"Flame" | "Came forth backwards" | Lying | 29 | Sera-kheru"You of the Darkness" | "The darkness" | Quarrelling | |
| 9 | Set-qesu"Bone Breaker" | Heracleopolis | Taking food | 30 | Neb-heru"Bringer of Your Offerings" | Sais | Unduly active | |
| 10 | Utu-nesert"Green of Flame" | Memphis | Cursing | 31 | Sekhriu"Owner of Faces" | Nedjefet (13th / 14th Upper Egyptian nome) | Impatience | |
| 11 | Qerrti"You of the Cavern" | "The West" | Adultery | 32 | Neb-abui"Accuser" | Wetjenet | damaging a god's image | |
| 12 | Hraf-haf"White of Teeth" | Faiyum | Causing tears | 33 | "Owner of Horns" | Asyut | Volubility of speech | |
| 13 | Hetch-abhu/Shezmu"House of Nature" | "The shambles" | Killing a sacred bull | 34 | Nefertem | Memphis | Wrongdoing | |
| 14 | Ta-retiu"Eater of Entrails" | "House of Thirty" | Stealing land | 35 | Temsep/Tem-Sepu | Busiris | Conjuration against the king | |
| 15 | Unem-snef"Lord of Truth" | Maaty | Eavesdropping | 36 | Ari-em-ab-f"You Who Acted Willfully" | Tjebu | Stopping water flow | |
| 16 | Unem-besek"Wanderer" | Bubastis | Complaints | 37 | Ahi"Water-Smiter" | "The abyss" | Being loud voiced | |
| 17 | Neb-Maat"Pale One" | Heliopolis | Being angry | 38 | Uatch-rekhit"Commander of Mankind" | "Your house" | Reviling God | |
| 18 | Tenemiu"Doubly Evil" | Andjet | Adultery | 39 | Nehebkau | The Harpoon Nome | Arrogance | |
| 19 | Sertiu"Wememty-Snake" | "Place of execution" | Adultery | 40 | Neheb-nefertBestower of Powers" | "The city" | Making distinctions For self | |
| 20 | Tutu"See Whom You Bring" | "House of Min" | Polluting the body | 41 | Hetch-abhu"Serpent With Raised Head" | "The cavern" | dishonest wealth | |
| 21 | Uamenti"Over the Old One" | Imau | Terrorizing | 42 | Neb-abui"Serpent Who Brings and Gives" | "The silent land" | Blasphemy |