R[=a]-user then brought them into the house, and the goddesses shut themselves in with the lady Rut-Tettet.  Isis took her place before her, and Nephthys behind her, whilst Heqet hastened the birth of the children; as each child was born Meskhenet stepped up to him and said, “A king who shall have dominion over the whole land,” and the god Khnemu bestowed health upon his limbs. [Footnote:  See Erman, Westcar Papyrus, Berlin, 1890, hieroglyphic transcript, plates 9 and 10.] Of these five gods, Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heqet, and Khnemu, the first three are present at the judgment of Ani; Khnemu is mentioned in Ani’s address to his heart (see below), and only Heqet is unrepresented.

As the weighing of his heart is about to take place Ani says, “My heart, my mother!  My heart, my mother!  My heart whereby I came into being!  May naught stand up to oppose me in the judgment; may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the sovereign princes; may there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of him that keepeth the Balance!  Thou art my ka, the dweller in my body; the god Khnemu who knitteth and strengtheneth my limbs.  Mayest thou come forth into the place of happiness whither we go.  May the princes of the court of Osiris, who order the circumstances of the lives of men, not cause my name to stink.”  Some papyri add, “Let it be satisfactory unto us, and let the listening be satisfactory unto us, and let there be joy of heart unto us at the weighing of words.  Let not that which is false be uttered against me before the great god, the lord of Amentet!  Verily how great shalt thou be when thou risest in triumph!”

The tongue of the balance having been examined by Anubis, and the ape having indicated to his associate Thoth that the beam is exactly straight, and that the heart, therefore, counterbalances the feather symbolic of Ma[=a]t (i.e._, right, truth, law, etc.), neither outweighing nor underweighing it, Thoth writes down the result, and then makes the following address to the gods:—­

“Hear ye this judgment.  The heart of Osiris hath in very truth been weighed, and his soul hath stood as a witness for him; it hath been found true by trial in the Great Balance.  There hath not been found any wickedness in him; he hath not wasted the offerings in the temples; he hath not done harm by his deeds; and he spread abroad no evil reports while he was upon earth.”

In answer to this report the company of the gods, who are styled “the great company of the gods,” reply, “That which cometh forth from thy mouth, O Thoth, who dwellest in Khemennu (Hermopolis), is confirmed.  Osiris, the scribe Ani, triumphant, is holy and righteous.  He hath not sinned, neither hath he done evil against us.  The Devourer [=A]m-mit shall not be allowed to prevail over him, and meat-offerings and entrance into the presence of the god Osiris shall be granted unto him, together with a homestead for ever in the Field of Peace, as unto the followers of Horus.” [Footnote:  These are a class of mythological beings, or demi-gods, who already in the Vth dynasty were supposed to recite prayers on behalf of the deceased, and to assist Horus and Set in performing funeral ceremonies.  See my Papyrus of Ani, p. cxxv.]