Aaru
:
Reed fields redirects here. If you were looking for the use of reeds to filter wastewater, see Reedbed.In
Egyptian mythology,
the fields of Aaru (alternatives:
Yaaru,
Iaru,
Aalu), are the
heavenly
underworld where
Osiris ruled.
Only souls which weighed less than
Ma'at (symbolically represented as a feather) were allowed to start a long and perilous journey to Aaru to exist in pleasure for all eternity.
Aaru was usually placed in the east, where the
sun rises, and is described as eternal reed fields, very much like those of the earthly Nile delta: an ideal hunting and fishing ground, and hence those deceased who after judgement were allowed to reside there were often called
the [eternally] living, those excluded for the weight of their sins said to suffer a
second death. More precisely Aaru was envisaged as a series of
islands, covered in
Fields of rushes (
Sekhet Aaru),
Aaru being the
Egyptian word for
rushes. The part where Osiris himself dwelt was sometimes known as the
field of offerings,
Sekhet Hetepet in Egyptian.
*
Catholic Encyclopaedia*
Eternal Hunting grounds*
Elysium
