Ammit

(Am-mut) - "Dead-Swallower" Stationed just to the side of the scales in the Hall of Double Truth [see Ma'at], Ammit's function is to await the postmortem judgment of a soul (envisioned as the deceased's heart being weighed on a scale against the feather of Ma'at) and then, if the soul fails the test, Ammit snatches up the heart and devours it, causing the soul to cease to exist. As the ultimate punishment of the wicked, Ammit is depicted as a hideous composite of the animals Kemet's people feared most: crocodile snout and head, feline claws and front, and a hippopotamus body and back legs. Ammit is also sometimes referred to as "Great of Death," and papyri depict Her patiently watching Yinepu weighing a man's heart against the feather of Ma'at.