At the end of everything, your heart goes on a scale.
In the Hall of Two Truths the jackal does the weighing. On one pan lies the heart, carrying every promise you kept and every one you broke. On the other rests a single feather, the feather of Ma'at, who is truth and balance and the order of the world. Anubis steadies the beam and reads it true. He cannot be bribed, flattered, or hurried. He is the embalmer who made you ready, the guide who walked you in, and now the impartial hand that learns exactly what you were.
If the heart weighs light, you pass into the field of reeds. If it is heavy with what you did, the Devourer crouches beside the scale, and she is always hungry.
The Egyptians did not fear Anubis. They trusted him, because he kept death honest. Printed heavy on garment dyed cotton, for anyone who would rather be measured than flattered.
