The Weighing of the Heart was an Egyptian religious belief regarding the immortality of the soul. If a soul weighed the same or less than the feather of Ma’at, a concept representing balance, harmony and truth, the soul would progress to the afterlife. If it didn’t, the soul would be eaten by Ammit, Devourer of the Dead. 

The god Thoth was responsible for recording the result, which he would then pass onto Osiris, the Lord of Aaru, (the field of reeds), an Egyptian conceptualization of Heaven. Egyptians believed that pure souls would be reunited with their physical bodies to spend all of eternity; farming, hunting, eating, drinking, and even practising their favourite hobbies. 

Although they are not entirely the same, it is impossible to ignore the similarities between Egyptian and Christian beliefs. The judgment of the soul features heavily in Christian eschatology, as does the Book of Life, the belief in an afterlife and the immortality of the soul, Aaru/Heaven, the Duat/Hell, even the idea that souls will be reunited with their physical bodies after death. 

Both Osiris and Jesus were killed, resurrected, ascended, and rule in heaven. (Jesus shares authority with God). The number 14 also plays a significant role. Osiris’ body was cut into 14 pieces, and Jesus suffered imprisonment, torture, and death as marked out by the 14 stations of the cross. 

The majority of the Ten Commandments were taken directly from the 42 Negative Confessions of Ma’at. These confessions were addressed to the 42 Assessors of Ma’at by the deceased soul. The number 42 is a multiple of 14 and can be found in a number of significant places in the Bible. According to Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, 42 is the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything.