Weighing of the Heart

Section of the Book of the Dead depicting the Weighing of the Heart.

The Weighing of the Heart, also known as the Judgment of the Dead, is a ritual in Ancient Egyptian religion that is used to judge whether the soul of a dead person may pass to the afterlife or if they should be fed to the soul eating Ammit.

In the manga and first series anime, holders of the Millennium Scale are capable of performing the same ritual to living people to determine if they should be punished.

Procedure

The Feather of Ma'at is placed in one side of a set of a scales. This side represents the good deeds of the person being judged. The other side represents their bad deeds. If the side of good deeds outweighs that of the bad deeds, the person may pass to the afterlife. If their bad deeds outweigh their good deeds, they would have their soul devoured by Ammit. Osiris would be the judge at the ritual, while Anubis would hold the scales.

Individuals who hold the Millennium Scales are also capable of performing this test, although they do it on living people to measure their sins. It is sometimes done in the form of a Shadow Game, where the individual being tested may be subject to a Penalty Game if they have a high level of bad deeds

Known weighings

Tragoedia

The White Feathered Spirit being weighed against the Feather of Ma'at in Tragoedia's weighing.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, Tragoedia, who was an astronomer under Pharaoh Atem, was caught intruding in the Shrine of Wedju, shortly after his disiciple committed suicide after a failed attempt to kill the pharaoh.

The priests Akhenaden, Kalim and Seto questioned Tragoedia's involvement, but he wouldn't answer, so they decided to perform the weighing to measure his sins.

Seto Summoned the White Feathered Spirit, Winged Kuriboh, who assimiliated Tragoedia's heart and rested in one end of the Millennium Scales. Kalim, the holder of the Millennium Scales, placed the Feather of Ma'at in the other end. The White Feathered Spirit represented the sins of Tragoedia's heart, while the Feather represented his good deeds.

The side of his sins quickly slammed on the ground and were so heavy that the White Feathered Spirit turned black. The priests were astonished that a man's sins could be so heavy, but Tragoedia laughed that theirs must also be heavy after what they did at Kul Elna. The weight of his crimes was the same as the weight of the crimes they commitd at Kul Elna, he said, and described it as the weight of revenge.

Tragoedia transformed into a monster. Seto tried to seal his in a stone slab. Tragoedia tried to counter, but his Heka was weak, as the White Feathered Spirit had assimilated it. He tried to grab the White Feather Spirit, but it assimiliated the Feather of Ma'at, making him unable to touch it. Seto then sealed the monster Tragoedia in a stone slab.

Professor Kanekura

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and first series anime, Professor Kanekura was involved in an excavation of a pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of Kings. Shadi accused him of defiling the tomb, to sell the treasure for his own profit.

Shadi travelled to Domino Museum, where he played a Shadow Game with Kanekura. He placed the Feather of Ma'at in one side of the Millennium Scales.

Shadi asked Kanekura a series of questions. If he told the truth, the side containing the feather would lower. If he lied, the other side would lower.

Kanekura's first question was would he save a young girl who fell in a well or take the opportunity to steal her golden ring. Kanekura said that he would, causing the bad deeds side to lower.

For Kanekura's last question, Shadi transformed Kanekura's chair into Ammit, who he said has taken residence in Kanekura's soul room. The last questionwas did Kanekura defile the territory of the Gods and sell their treasure to fatten his own pockets. Kanekura begged Shadi to stop, saying he would pay him anything to stop. This caused the side without the feather to hit the table.

For Kanekura's Penalty Game, he was made believe Ammit was eating his soul, while in reality he died of a heart attacked induced by shock.