Description
Ammit (𓂝𓅓𓄈𓅓𓀐) is a creature, demoness, and/or Goddess from ancient Egyptian mythology [1]. She is described as having the head of a crocodile, the upper body of a lion, and the lower body of a hippopotamus. These were seen as the three largest "man-eating" animals known to the ancient Egyptians.
Ammit is a funerary deity with titles including "Devourer of the Dead", "Eater of Hearts" and "Great of Death". She lived near the scales of justice in Duat [2].
Duat is the Egyptian underworld. In the hall of two truths, Anubis weighed the heart of a person against the feather of Ma'at, the goddess of truth. If the heart was judged to not be pure Ammit would devour it and the person undergoing their journey to Osiris and immortality [3].
Once Ammit devours the heart it is believed that the soul becomes restless forever [3].
Sources:
[1]: Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1926-1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, volume 1, page 184.9
[2]: Hart, George (2005). The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, Second Edition. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-203-02362-4.
[3]: Hart, George; George, Hart (April 8, 1986). A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (1st ed.). Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780203136447.
