In Egyptian myth, Amemait (Amam or Amamet, Am-mit or Ammut) means “the devourer.” She is a monster with the forelegs of a crocodile, the body of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippo. Before passing into the afterlife, the souls of the dead must be judged. According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Maat weighs the ba (soul) of the deceased against the Yellow feather of virtue in the Judgment Hall of Two Truths. Amemait is seated beside forty-two juror gods and devours those hearts which are weighed down by guilt. She was also the attendant of the Lord of Amenti in the first region of underworld, to whom she delivered the souls and bodies of the unworthy for total destruction.
Amenti (Pet or Sekhet Tehant) is the “Place of Reeds,” the name given to the West or Otherworld, a region of darkness through which the souls must pass before coming to the Next World. The utmost horizon of Amenti is the Horn of Ament, and one of the boundaries of the Next World. Other regions of the After Life are Sekhet Aaru and Sekhet Hetep. Sekhet Aaru is the second region of Amenti. Aaru is sometimes spelt Aralu and has some resemblance to the Babylonian underworld Aralu. It may also be equated with the Semitic Sad-El. Luxuriant fields of wheat grow on this island in the Delta. Other sources place Sekhet Aaru in Al Khrgah (the Great Oasis) or beyond a huge body of water. In the middle of this island is a door through which the sun god Ra appears daily. Sekhet Hetep is located in the stars. It is a place rich in material blessings where the dead live in friendship with the gods.