Book of the Dead Chapter 5

But before Osiris became King of the Under World he suffered further persecution from Set. Piecing together a number of disconnected hints and brief statements in the texts, it seems pretty clear either that Osiris appealed to the "Great Gods" to take notice that Set had murdered him, or that Set brought a series of charges against Osiris. At all events the "Great Gods" determined to investigate the matter. The Greater and the Lesser Companies of the Gods assembled in the celestial Anu, or Heliopolis, and ordered Osiris to stand up and defend himself against the charges brought against him by Set. Isis and Nephthys brought him before the gods, and Horus, "the avenger of his father," came to watch the case on behalf of his father, Osiris. Thoth appeared in the Hall of Judgment in his official capacity as "scribe," i.e., secretary to the gods, and the hearing of the evidence began. Set seems to have pleaded his own cause, and to have repeated the charges which he had made against Osiris. The defence of Osiris was undertaken by Thoth, who proved to the gods that the charges brought against Osiris by Set were unfounded, that the statements of Set were lies, and that therefore Set was a liar. The gods accepted Thoth's proof of the innocence of Osiris and the guilt of Set, and ordered that Osiris was to be considered a Great God and to have rule over the Kingdom of the Under World, and that Set was to be punished. Thoth convinced them that Osiris was "MAA KHERU," "true of word," i.e., that he had spoken the truth when he gave his evidence, and in texts of all periods Thoth is frequently described as S-MAA KHERU ASAR, i.e., he who proved Osiris to be "true of word." As for Set the Liar, he was seized by the ministers of the Great Gods, who threw him down on his hands and face and made Osiris mount upon his back as a mark of his victory and superiority. After this Set was bound with cords like a beast for sacrifice, and in the presence of Thoth was hacked in pieces.