Book of Vindicationsays, “For you, a ladder to
the heavens shall be assembled and Nut [Heaven
personified] shall extend her hand to you.”
Also, in thePyramid Texts, it says, “I place the
stairway. I set up the ladder and those in Amenta
[paradise, heaven, place of afterlife] take hold up
my hand...[and lift me up into the heavens].” Or
again the text says, the divine spirits in heaven,
“Take hold of the hand of this vindicated one and
carry him to heaven that he may not die among
men and women.” Finally, a fourth way that a risen
person ascends is through flying up into the heav-
ens. Thus, the Pyramid Textssay, “Lo, the flier
flies, O’ men and women [of earth]. I [rise] and fly
away from you.”
JudgmentThe third and most essential concept in the theol-
ogy of afterlife or immortality is the notion of
judgment. It is one of Kemet’s and ancient Africa’s
most important contributions to the development
of the moral and spiritual thought of humankind
because it introduced and led to the concepts
of personal responsibility, free will, determinism,
reward, and punishment in the next life for every-
one. It also determined the afterlife possibilities of
the wealthy, powerful, and the ordinary person,
thus offering a kind of moral restraint on those
who otherwise might be less inclined.
Central to the idea of judgment is the aspira-
tion for immortality through living a righteous or
Maatian life. The concept of Maat is polysemic,
but includes such meanings as truth, justice, right-
eousness, and order; essentially, it means rightness
in the realm of the Divine, natural, and social. It
thus requires right relations with God or the
Divine, nature, and other humans. This inclusive
requirement is found in the Declarations of
Innocence by Pharaoh Unas in hisPyramid Text,
in which he states that he “wished to be judged by
what he has done” and that he has done Maat (the
good, the right) and has not done isfet (the evil
and wrong). He concludes saying that no divinity,
man, woman, beast, or bird accuses him, reflect-
ing his concern for being justified before the
Divine, nature, and humanity.
The Book of the Dead, chapter 125, provides
a clear and elaborate picture of the process of
judgment and justification. The time of judgment
is called “the Day of Assessing Characters” and
the “Day of Great Reckoning.” This reflects
focus on character as a means of living and judg-
ing a Maatian life. It involves first coming into
the Hall of Maat, declaring that one brings Maat
and has done away with evil. Second, one
declares oneself innocent of 36 and 42 offenses
against the Divine, nature, and humans before
42 judges. These include declaring one has not
mistreated people, lied, killed, ordered killing,
injured others, blasphemed, stolen, turned a blind
eye to injustice, had illicit sex, harmed the vulner-
able, misused nature, slandered or cheated,
coveted, or caused strife. These are called the
Declarations of Innocence, but were mistakenly
called the Negative Confessions due to the phras-
ing, which begins, “I have not ....” They are not
confessions of wrong, but rather declarations of
innocence. For example, “I have not done isfet to
people” is the first Declaration of Innocence
required. In a word, one confesses wrong, but
declares innocence.
After declaring innocence, one’s heart is
weighed in the Divine Balance of Ra, God, which
measures righteousness. A person’s heart is
weighed against the feather of Maat; if one’s
good deeds outweigh one’s bad deeds, one
receives eternal life; if not, one is consumed into
nonexistence by a being called Ammut (literally
consumer of the dead). In theHusia, in theBook
of Merikara, it says, “A person endures after
death and his deeds are set beside him as a por-
tion. As for one who reaches them [the judges]
without having done evil, he will exist there as a
divine power, striding forth freely like the lords
of eternity.” It reminds its readers that “one day
is a donation to eternity, and [even] one hour is
a contribution to the future.”Acceptance
The fourth phase of the process of vindication for
eternal life is being declared mAa xrw—maa
kheru, that is, true of voice, innocent, vindicated,
and victorious. If one is vindicated, the Djehuti,
the divinity of justice, law, and reckoning, records
and announces the verdict, saying, “Hear this
word of truth. I have judged the heart of Osiris
[X]. His soul stands as witness for him. His con-
duct is righteous according to the Great Scales.Afterlife 15