eaven forty-two terrible judges were waiting for the dead man;
these, under presidency of Osiris, examined his earthly life. Only when
the heart of the departed, weighed in the scales of justice, appeared
equal to the goddess of truth, when the god Dutes, who writes on his
tablets the deeds of the dead, considered it just, only then did Horus
take the soul by the hand and lead it before the throne of Osiris.

So that the dead might be able to justify himself before the court it
was necessary to wrap the mummy in a papyrus on which was written a
general confession. While they were winding him in this document the
priest spoke clearly and with emphasis, so that the dead might not
forget:

"Lords of truth, I bring thee truth itself. I have not done evil to any
man treacherously. I have not made any one near me unfortunate. I have
not permitted myself any lewdness or abusive word in the house of
veracity. I have had no intimacy with evil. I have committed nothing
bad. As a superior I have not commanded my subordinates to work beyond
their strength. No one through my fault has become afraid, poor,
suffering, or unhappy. I have done nothing of any kind which the gods
would despise. I have not tormented a slave. I have not killed him with
hunger. I have not forced tears from him. I have not slain. I have not
commanded to kill a slave treacherously. I have not lied, I have not
plundered the property of temples. I have not decreased incomes devoted
to the gods. I have not taken away the bread or the bandages of
mummies. I have not committed sin with the priest of my district. I
have not taken from him or decreased his property. I have not used
false weights. I have not snatched away an infant from the breast of
its nurse. I have never committed anything bestial. I have not caught
in nets birds devoted to the gods. I have not hindered the inundation
of water. I have not turned away the course of canals. I have not
quenched fire at a time that was improper, I have not stolen from the
gods offerings which they had chosen. I am pure I am pure I am pure."
["Book of the Dead." This is one of the loftiest documents left us by
antiquity.]

When the departed was able, thanks to the Book of the Dead to help
himself in the region of eternity, and above all when he knew how to
justify himself before the court of the forty-two gods, the priests
furnished him still further with an introduction to this book, and
explained to him orally its