The scene with the scales is a crucial moment in the story, in which the heart is weighed against a feather – if it is found to be heavier, Ammit gets to eat the soul, rather than it pass through to the kingdom of Osiris.
As he explains this, I watch a man taking a photo of his kids standing in front of the Funerary Stele, a frieze of Osiris and Isis being presented with cakes and wine. The kids smile but the faces of the gods are grave and watchful behind them.
It’s good news for the soul – it passes to everlasting life. I, however, must leave the Egyptian room and head back out to New Canterbury Road. I walk up past the water tower which, after my visit to the Book of the Dead, looks mythical, like a temple from another world.