The underworld is the realm of the dead, beneath the earth’s surface. In the ancient Egyptian belief system, the underworld was a treacherous place full of peril which could lead to destruction of the soul, through which the dead had to journey to a place where the heart was weighed, and the gods would judge the deeds committed in life. He/she would either be punished or rewarded for the life they led. In shamanism, the underworld is considered the ancestral realm of power.