Page 79 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

Concerning the second conclusion, it must be pointed out that the allegory of the "Charioteer and
the winged steeds" is a description of the quality and destiny of the soul as it appears at the bar of
justice, in the Judgment Drama of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. In this Drama, the Great Chief
Justice and President of the Unseen World, Pethempamenthes, i.e., Osiris is seated on a throne,
and is attended by the Goddesses Isis and Nephthys, while 42 assistant judges are seated around.

Near Osiris there are four genii of Amenthe, the Unseen World, represented as short vases, called
canopi, in which the different viscera, symbolizing the moral qualities of the individual, are kept
embalmed. The intestines hive a very important connection with the moral qualities of the
individual since they are blamed for any sin which the individual commits. At the opposite end
the deceased is introduced by Horus, while in the centre stands the Scale of Justice which has
been erected by Anubis. On one side of it, there appears a heart-shaped vase containing the moral
qualities of the deceased, while on the other side, there is a figure of the Goddess of Truth. Toth,
the scribe, holding a roll of papyrus, stands by and makes a record of the weighing. After this is
completed, Horus receives the record from Toth and advances to Osiris to make known the
results. Osiris listens and at the end of the report, pronountes sentence of reward or punishment.
In the meantime, fearful monsters lurk around the scene to destroy the soul, if the verdict is
against it.

Let us observe that:

(1) the motion of the scale in the Judgment Drama corresponds with the up and down motion of
the winged steeds of the allegory

(2) the opposite qualities weighed on the scale correspond with the opposite qualities possessed
by the noble and ignoble steeds of the allegory

(3) the idea of justice symbolized by the scale of Judgment Drama, corresponds with the idea of
justice expressed in the allegory.

(4) The winged steeds corresponds with the monsters of the judgment drama.

(B) The Authorship of the Republic.

According to Diogenes Laertius book III and pages 311 and 327, it is stated both by Aristoxenus
and Favorinus, that nearly the whole of the subject matter of Plato's Republic was found in the
Controversies, written by Protagoras.

78

Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook