In Egyptian mythology, Ammit devoured the heart of a person judged unworthy in the afterlife.
Ammit was a composite creature with the head of a crocodile, the front of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. These three animals were among Egypt’s most dangerous creatures, making her appearance a powerful image of destruction.
During judgment, Anubis weighed the deceased person’s heart against the feather of Ma'at. If the heart was found heavier, Ammit consumed it. The dead person then lost the possibility of continuing a blessed existence after death.
Ammit is sometimes called a demon, but she was not simply an evil god in the modern sense. She acted as an enforcer of divine justice. She is also commonly confused with a deity who ruled the underworld; that role belonged primarily to Osiris, while Ammit carried out the punishment for an unjust life.