Although life of Egyptians contained numerous magical and religious activities, Egyptian collective archetypal consciousness was largely concerned with death. Death was viewed as the interruption of life, a hurdle that one must cross to reach eternity.
With the development of a highly sophisticated and complex society, the rulers of the early communities were buried in elaborate brickwork tombs that were intricately furnished. Over the centuries the belief that the body of an individual should be preserved after death was developed.
When the ruler dies, he will go to his father, the God of the Sun, Ra. This is the reason why pyramids were constructed – they represented an Ascent for the Pharaoh to the heavens.
After the burial rites and rituals have been successfully completed, the deceased would appear before the court in front of 42 divine proprietors, before many other gods and Osiris, who was considered the great Sun of the Underworld. He would confirm the purity of deceased soul and get him/her to "confess". The deceased would face 42 questions posed by the gods. 42 questions represent the 42 regions of Egypt. The questions asked would be: ”Have you ever denied food to anybody?”, “Have you ever deprived anybody of drinking water?”,Have you ever stolen anything from anybody ?”etc The answer to all 42 questions should be “NO”.
If necessary, the deceased would try to deceive the gods in order to achieve the goal and go to heaven. These legal proceedings were followed by the second part of the trial, where the heart of the deceased would be placed on one part of the scale, and the feather, an epitome of the goddess of truth and righteousness, on the other part of the scale. If equal, or if the heart ends up being lighter than the feather, the deceased would be declared absolved from sin. If the hearth is heavier then the feather a huge crocodile would devour the deceased.
