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Sacred Art & Iconography

Book of the Dead of Ani, Sheet 33: The Tribunal of the Gods

Ancient Egyptian Art

A painted vignette on sheet 33 of the Papyrus of Ani, the Book of the Dead written and illustrated for the scribe Ani around 1250 BC, in the reign of Ramesses II, and held today by the British Museum under object number EA 10470. The scene sits at the top of the plate that opens the declaration of innocence and the weighing of the heart, showing twelve gods seated on thrones before a table of offerings, formally assembled to witness Ani's judgment: Ra-Horakhty, Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception. Egyptologists read the group as the Heliopolitan Ennead with two additions and two omissions, Set left out as the murderer of Osiris and Osiris himself absent because he appears enthroned as judge on the plate immediately following.

Facts
Physical Form
MediumSourced to the subject's own account
Ink and pigment on papyrus 1
Custody
Current LocationSourced to the subject's own account
British Museum, London, object number EA 10470,3 (sheet 33) 1
Current CustodianSourced to the subject's own account
British Museum 1
Origins
Creation
1260 BCE to 1240 BCE 2
CountrySourced to the subject's own account
Egypt (found at Thebes; now in the United Kingdom) 1
Medium (class)Sourced to the subject's own account
Painting (general) 1
Subject Matter
Depicted Subject
Twelve gods of the Heliopolitan Ennead seated on thrones as a tribunal witnessing the declaration of innocence, at the head of the weighing-of-the-heart sequence. 2
Classification
Object TypeSourced to the subject's own account
Painting 1
Connections

Associated With

Hathor, Deities

This source names Hathor directly: "Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Hathor, Figures

This source names Hathor directly: "Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Horus, Deities

This source names Horus directly: "Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Horus, Figures

This source names Horus directly: "Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Isis, Deities

This source names Isis directly: "Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Isis, Figures

This source names Isis directly: "Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Hathor, and the paired personifications Hu, the divine utterance, and Sia, perception."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Osiris, Deities

This source names Osiris directly: "Set left out as the murderer of Osiris and Osiris himself absent because he appears enthroned as judge on the plate immediately following."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Osiris, Figures

This source names Osiris directly: "Set left out as the murderer of Osiris and Osiris himself absent because he appears enthroned as judge on the plate immediately following."

Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)

Belongs to Tradition

Ancient Egyptian Religion, Religions
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)

Depicts

Atum, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Geb, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Nephthys, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Nut, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Shu, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Tefnut, Deities
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)

Originated In

Egypt, Regions
Source The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Sources
1. The Weighing of the Heart, Papyrus of Ani (Egypt Museum)
Egypt Museum
  • catalogue record, medium/object-type description
    A painted vignette on sheet 33 of the Papyrus of Ani, the Book of the Dead written and illustrated for the scribe Ani around 1250 BC, in the reign of Ramesses II, and held today by the British Museum under object number EA 10470.
  • Originated In: Egypt, Stored country property on this entity, cited to this source: Egypt (found at Thebes; now in the United Kingdom)
View the Source
2. Andrew Fulton, "Ani's Life After Death, 3: Declaration of Innocence and Weighing the Heart," Ancient Egypt Magazine 147 (2025)
Andrew Fulton, Ancient Egypt Magazine, The Past, 2025View the Source
Duat (Wikipedia)
In Group: Egyptian Funerary and Afterlife Deities, the sheet's own title names the scene the Tribunal of the Gods from the Book of the Dead of Ani, the funerary judgment textView the Source
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