Athena Review Image Archive ™
Tomb of Horemheb: Book of Gates, Judgment Scene relief (1909 photo)
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Relief in burial chamber from the Book of Gates (photo: Davis 1909)
This unfinished relief panel in the eastern half of the north wall of the burial chamber of Horemheb has been fully drawn in but not colored or modelled. Taken from the Book of Gates, it represents Hour 6 of the sun's nightly passage through the underworld. It shows nine persons ascending a stairway toward the scale of judgment, and is therefore known as the "Judgment scene."
It represents the judgement of the dead by Osiris, and is filled with symbolic elements as well as hieroglyphic text. Osiris is seen at left, sitting on a chair mounted on a platform at the top of a flight of nine steps. In front of him is a set of scales supported by a mummy, used for weighing the hearts of the dead. On each step are the nine deceased awaiting judgment. At far right is the jackel-headed Anubis, guardian of the dead. Under him floats a boat where an ape appears to be beating a pig with a stick. Above Osiris are four upturned gazelle heads.
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