The Judgment of Hunefer before Osiris made in 1285 B.C.E is an excerpt from many of Egyptian’s “Books of the Dead”. The Book of the Dead were made for loved ones who were soon to pass on to the afterlife. Back then, many Egyptians believed that in order for one to enjoy the afterlife, they had to have lived a life with no misconducts. It was believed that upon passing, one would be faced with one final judgment test, with two tests presented in front of Osiris, the god of the underworld. The judgement test would be supervised by Anubis, the god of embalming and cemeteries, where questions about one’s life on earth, such as their behavior, life and soul, would be asked. Afterwards, Ma’at, the goddess of truth, order and wisdom, would weigh one’s
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Starting from the left you see Hunefer first arriving to his final judgement test to enter the afterlife. He is guided in by Anisbus who has the body of a man but the head of a jackal, here Anisbus is supervising the weighing of Hunefer’s heart being done by Ma’at. Ma’at places Hunefer’s heart in a scale next to a feather, symbolizing “the feather of Truth”. If his heart is lighter than the feather, then he passes the test and is able to present himself the Osiris. Next to Ma’at is Ammit, the “Eater of the Dead”, who is part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus, the three most terrifying and dangerous animals to the Egyptians. If Hunefer does not pass the test, he will be devoured by Ammit. Fortunately, Hunefer’s heart is lighter than the feather, and he is brought to Osiris by Horus, Osiris’ son, who has a head of an owl. Here Osiris is seen sitting on his throne, and behind him is goddess Nephthys and Isis to support Osiris’ left arm. And in front of him are Horus’s four sons, each of whom are entrusted with one of the dead’s vital organs. It is only hoped by Hunefer’s loved ones that this is how his final judgment test …show more content…
Every outline from the figures is very precise and detailed, you know where everything ends and begins. Perhaps this is due to the fact the artists really wanted to elaborate on figures bodily features, to be sure that every part of the body was shown. The use of the lines and the colors are kind of related in a way. Neither are over the top, but very simple. This painting is not an example of an extremely flamboyant piece of artwork, with its main colors consisting of white, black, and tan, mainly pastel colors. However, this can be seen as useful for this specific artwork. Upon first following the story of the painting, you see Hunefer in all white on the far left. And since there are multiple scenes being played out in this one painting, it can suggest that the use of the color white can represent the beginning of a scene, or the importance of the scene or the person; because it is also shown that Osiris is wearing white while sitting upon his throne. The colors black and tan are good colors for white to bounce of off in this painting, with it all seeming to flow together naturally. It can also be seen that the distributing of the colors seem to keep the same pattern, with almost every other color consisting of white, and the colors in between being black and tan. With this your eye does not seem to focus on one spot in particular, because the colors are well
Starting from the left you see Hunefer first arriving to his final judgement test to enter the afterlife. He is guided in by Anisbus who has the body of a man but the head of a jackal, here Anisbus is supervising the weighing of Hunefer’s heart being done by Ma’at. Ma’at places Hunefer’s heart in a scale next to a feather, symbolizing “the feather of Truth”. If his heart is lighter than the feather, then he passes the test and is able to present himself the Osiris. Next to Ma’at is Ammit, the “Eater of the Dead”, who is part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus, the three most terrifying and dangerous animals to the Egyptians. If Hunefer does not pass the test, he will be devoured by Ammit. Fortunately, Hunefer’s heart is lighter than the feather, and he is brought to Osiris by Horus, Osiris’ son, who has a head of an owl. Here Osiris is seen sitting on his throne, and behind him is goddess Nephthys and Isis to support Osiris’ left arm. And in front of him are Horus’s four sons, each of whom are entrusted with one of the dead’s vital organs. It is only hoped by Hunefer’s loved ones that this is how his final judgment test …show more content…
Every outline from the figures is very precise and detailed, you know where everything ends and begins. Perhaps this is due to the fact the artists really wanted to elaborate on figures bodily features, to be sure that every part of the body was shown. The use of the lines and the colors are kind of related in a way. Neither are over the top, but very simple. This painting is not an example of an extremely flamboyant piece of artwork, with its main colors consisting of white, black, and tan, mainly pastel colors. However, this can be seen as useful for this specific artwork. Upon first following the story of the painting, you see Hunefer in all white on the far left. And since there are multiple scenes being played out in this one painting, it can suggest that the use of the color white can represent the beginning of a scene, or the importance of the scene or the person; because it is also shown that Osiris is wearing white while sitting upon his throne. The colors black and tan are good colors for white to bounce of off in this painting, with it all seeming to flow together naturally. It can also be seen that the distributing of the colors seem to keep the same pattern, with almost every other color consisting of white, and the colors in between being black and tan. With this your eye does not seem to focus on one spot in particular, because the colors are well