Hymns, prayers and magic spells which came from the tombs are found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead is a book where the Egyptians recorded their beliefs for the afterlife. One part of the book describes a trial in which the soul of the dead person argues its case with the jury of the gods. The gods are told what the dead person did.

The soul also tells the gods what he or she did not do. Then the gods would weigh the heart of the dead person against the feather of truth. The Egyptian people believed that the heart was the center of intelligence and memory. If the heart was heavier than the feather, that meant that the person would die a second death which was forever. If the heart was lighter than the feather the person would go on into a happy afterlife.

EGYPTIAN RELIGION

King Zoser's pyramid was more than a new idea in architecture. It also showed religious beliefs that the Egyptian people had.

Egyptian literature pictured the king climbing up to heaven on a stairway formed by the rays of the sun. The people may have thought of that stairway when they looked at the Step Pyramid. The shape of the later pyramids might have seemed like the slope of the sun's rays. The later pyramids too in that way might have pictured a kings passage to heaven.

In every temple in ancient Egypt the pharaoh was supposed to carry out the duties of the high priests, but his place was usually taken by the chief priest. In great temples such as Karnak at Thebes, sacred to Amun Re the King of the Gods, the chief priest had great power and controlled the wealth in the temple treasuries and the great lands of the temple estates.

The office of chief priest could remain in the hands of one family for generations until the pharaoh broke their hold by making an appointment from outside. The priests had titles to indicate their power, they could be called ' God's servant ' with the addition of ' first ',' second ' or 'third ' to show their position. Priests at lower levels could be called ' pure ones ' or ' God's father ' and would have the responsibility of keeping the temples property clean and keeping administrative records.