A ferocious divine being associated with Egyptian MORTUARY RITUALS and traditions, the creature possessed the head of a CROCODILE, the foreparts of a large CAT, and the rear of a HIPPOPOTAMUS. Called “the Great of Death” or “the Devourer,” Amemait was female. The illustrations of the beast in the BOOK OF THE DEAD depict Amemait waiting beside the scales in the JUDGMENT HALLS OF OSIRIS, where the god OSIRIS weighed the hearts of the deceased against the feather of the goddess MA’AT. The hearts of those who were evil in life were given to Amemait as food. The NEGATIVE CONFESSIONS, claims of not committing various crimes or sins, were designed to protect the deceased from Amemait, who was clearly a dispenser of justice, not of mindless terror. AMULETS and spells were also employed to keep this divine being from devouring the dead. The horror involved in Amemait’s dining on the dead derived from the Egyptian’s fear of going into “nothingness,” or the endless void.
