The icon of Nehekhara, the ancient land of the Tomb Kings.
Usirian, called the "Bearer of the Scales",[4a] is the Nehekharan god of the Underworld. Usirian guides each soul on its journey from this world to the next. He is never pictured directly, as this is considered sacrilege, but he is invoked repeatedly during Nehekharan burial rituals.[1a]
Usirian was widely revered across ancient Nehekhara, as with the rise of the Mortuary Cult he became as widely worshipped as Ptra himself.[2b]
Usirian was in charge of guiding all the souls of the dead, especially the souls of the Priest Kings, on their journey to the beyond, to judge them and to decide if they were worthy to pass to the other life. If he had led a virtuous life, he would be allowed to enter the golden fields of paradise. Otherwise, Usirian would shed the spirit to the howling immensities of the avern to suffer there for all eternity or, at least, until the funerary priests could return their soul and return it to the land of the living. An exclusive right of those born of noble birth is that it was possible to negotiate and reach a deal with Usirian to reconsider his punishment and mitigate it.
Worse punishment ran those who directly opposed Usirian. It was whispered that those who displeased Usirian were punished in death. Forbidden to enter the golden paradise of the afterlife, they were instead condemned to the lowest depths of the Netherworld where a hive of Khepra beetles would burrow into their immortal bodies and gnaw on their insides for all eternity. The flesh-eating, skull-caparaced Khepra beetles were believed to be messengers of Usirian, his agents in the mortal world, and through their eyes would Usirian know the sins of all men.[2a]
His servants in the Underworld were the Horex, terrifying owl-headed warriors charged with guarding and protecting the Kingdom of Souls. The entrances to the temples of Usirian were flanked by towering basalt statues of these feared guardians.[3a]
Trivia[]
Usirian may be based on Osiris, the Egyptian god of life, the dead and the afterlife.