Why was the heart important in ancient Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife?

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Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt. — ancient Egypt Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background, Giza, Egypt.

In ancient Egyptian belief, the heart was considered the essential source of life and being. It was viewed as the metaphysical entity (ib) that embodied a person's thoughts, intelligence, memory, wisdom, and emotions, such as bravery, sadness, and love.1

Because the heart was central to existence, it was always left in the body or replaced in the thorax during embalming. Damage to the heart was feared to cause a "second death," resulting in the total destruction of all components of the person, including the ka, ba, khu, and ren.1

Most significantly, the heart served as the focus of the postmortem judgment. In the afterlife, the heart was weighed against the feather of Maat, which symbolized truth and justice. If the heart achieved balance, the deceased was judged pure and could attain immortality; if it failed, the individual was consumed by the monster Am-mit, the "eater of the dead".1