1) A female demon, she is found in The Book of the Dead, She plays an important role in the Hall of Maat. We find Ammut during the weighing of the heart of a deceased person against the feather of Maat. It was Ammut who would devour the souls of those who's hearts proved heavier than Maat. This was a terrifying prospect for the ancient Egyptians. It meant the end of existence. They would never meet Osiris and live forever in the Fields of Peace.

2) An Egyptian demon; sometimes clearly female and human, sometimes with the head of a crocodile, the torso of a wild cat and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. Ammit ("devouress of the dead") sits under the Scales of Justice, in the Hall of the Two Truths, in the House of Osiris. When a person dies and after performing the necessary rituals, he is taken there by Anubis, in his role as psychopomp ("conductor of souls"), to be weighed. Here he will have a chance to defend his deeds in his previous existence. The role of the prosecutor is for Thoth, the god of wisdom. Osiris sits on his throne as the judge, accompanied by the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. Eventually the heart of the deceased will be placed on one of the scales and a feather, from the headband of Ma'at the goddess of truth on the other. If the heart under the weight of its sins, weights more than the feather, then Ammit will appear from underneath the scales to devour it. This means the end of the soul and there will be no chance for a further existence.

3) Ammut was a creature which dwelled in the Hall of Ma'at awaiting the judgement of the deceased that passed through there. Those souls who were found unworthy to dwell in the Afterlife were devoured by her. The process of judgement involved the weighing of the dead's heart against the feather of Ma'at. If the heart (the seat of the soul, according to the ancient Egyptians) was found to be heavy with sin and impurities and did not balance with the feather, Ammut would devour them. The goddess was depicted with the head of a crocodile, the forequarters of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopatamus.