Egyptian Book of the Dead
A Guidebook to the Afterlife
The vast collection of funeral texts that the ancient Egyptian scribes created for the benefit of the deceased is now widely referred to as the “Book of the Dead.” These are found carved or painted on the walls of pyramids and tombs, as well as on coffins, sarcophagi, and rolls of papyrus. They include spells and incantations, hymns and litanies, magical formulae and names, words of power, and prayers. The name “Book of the Dead” is a little misleading and disappointing because the writings are not cohesive or specific to one time period; they are very diverse in nature and don’t provide any information on the lives or accomplishments of the deceased with whom they were interred. Furthermore, the Egyptians produced a large number of funerary works that may legitimately be referred to as “Books of the Dead,” but none of them had names that could be appropriately translated as “Book of the Dead.”
The early Egyptologists, who had no precise understanding of the writings’ contents, gave the large collection of funerary texts this name in the first half of the nineteenth century. They were aware with the papyrus rolls containing hieroglyphic and hieratic writing since reproductions of some of them had been published, albeit the texts were sparse and incomplete.
Long hieroglyphic texts and several coloured vignettes were made available for study with M. Cadet’s 1805 publication of The Facsimile of the Papyrus of Peta-Amen-neb-nest-taui, which the French Egyptologists referred to as a replica of the ancient Egyptians’ “Rituel Funéraire.” Champollion le Jeune was one of them, but once he returned from Egypt, he and others referred to it as “Le Livre des Morts,” “The Book of the Dead,” “Das Todtenbuch,” etc.
These names are just translations of the names given by Egyptian tomb raiders to each roll of written papyrus that they discovered alongside mummies, specifically “Kitâb-al-Mayyit,” “Book of the Dead,”), which is “Kitâb-al-Mayyit.” These folks just wanted to state that it was “a dead man’s book” and that it was discovered in his coffin alongside him; they had no idea what such a roll contained.
The name "Book of the Dead" is used today to refer to a collection of ancient Egyptian burial rituals that aided the departed in navigating the afterlife so they might be reunited with Osiris, the god of the dead.
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Development
A tradition of funeral texts that dates back to the Egyptian Old Kingdom gave rise to the Book of the Dead. The Pyramid Texts, which were originally utilized in the Pyramid of King Unas of the Fifth Dynasty circa 2400 BCE, were the earliest funeral texts. These texts, which were only intended for the pharaoh’s use, were inscribed on the walls of the burial chambers inside of pyramids (and, from the 6th Dynasty, the queen). The hieroglyphic writing used in the Pyramid Texts is uncommon; many of the hieroglyphs depicting people or animals are either unfinished or have been mangled in the drawings, most likely to prevent them from injuring the deceased pharaoh.
The goal of the Pyramid Texts was to assist the deceased king in reuniting with his divine father Ra and assisting him in taking his position among the gods, as the afterlife was then believed to exist in the sky rather than in the underworld as recounted in the Book of the Dead. As the Old Kingdom came to an end, regional governors and other senior officials began to accept the Pyramid Texts, making them no longer just a royal luxury. A brand-new funeral literature called the Coffin Texts appeared in the Middle Kingdom. The Coffin Texts introduced images for the first time, a fresh dialect of the language, and new spells. The Coffin Texts were most frequently inscribed on the inside of coffins; however, they have also occasionally been discovered on papyri or tomb walls. The Coffin Texts made the afterlife much more accessible to affluent private persons, democratizing it in the process and greatly expanding the number of people who may anticipate participating in it.
Around 1700 BCE, at the start of the Second Intermediate Period, Theban produced the first version of the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead spells were first discovered in the coffin of Queen Mentuhotep of the 13th Dynasty, where they were discovered with older passages that were already known from the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts. The rubric of one of the spells introduced at this period, 30B, claims that it was found by Prince Hordjedef during the reign of King Menkaure, hundreds of years before it is mentioned in the archaeological record. The Book of the Dead was widely used during the 17th Dynasty, not only by members of the royal family but also by courtiers and other authorities. Although rarely they are discovered written on coffins or papyrus, during this time the spells were generally engraved on linen shrouds draped over the corpse.
The Book of the Dead continued to grow and disseminate under the New Kingdom. The ‘Weighing of the Heart’, also known as the fabled Spell 125, is first recorded during the reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, around 1475 BCE. The Book of the Dead was normally written on a papyrus scroll starting this time and had vignettes to illustrate the content.
The vignettes sometimes tended to be opulent, often at the expense of the surrounding prose, especially during the 19th Dynasty.
The Book of the Dead began to appear in hieratic form as well as the more common hieroglyphics during the Third Intermediate Period. The hieratic scrolls were a less expensive alternative that were printed on smaller papyri and lacked any illustrations other than a vignette at the beginning. At the same time, the Amduat and other extra funeral writings were employed in several graves.
The Book of the Dead underwent updates, revisions, and standardisation during the 25th and 26th Dynasties. For the first time, spells were regularly numbered and organised. The Saite recension, named for the Saite (26th) Dynasty, is the modern name for this standardised rendition.
The vignettes sometimes tended to be opulent, often at the expense of the surrounding prose, especially during the 19th Dynasty.
The Book of the Dead began to appear in hieratic form as well as the more common hieroglyphics during the Third Intermediate Period. The hieratic scrolls were a less expensive alternative that were printed on smaller papyri and lacked any illustrations other than a vignette at the beginning. At the same time, the Amduat and other extra funeral writings were employed in several graves.
The deceased used these books as a guide as they made their way to the afterlife. Each was created by scribes for funerals, and the quality of each varied according to the scribe's talent. Some were made with blank spots so that the name of the deceased may subsequently be filled in.
Spells
The Book of the Dead underwent updates, revisions, and standardisation during the 25th and 26th Dynasties. For the first time, spells were regularly numbered and organised. The Saite recension, named for the Saite (26th) Dynasty, is the modern name for this standardised rendition. It is frequently interpreted as either chapter or spell when used in relation to the Book of the Dead. The term spell is used in this text.
There are now about 192 spells that are known, however no one document has all of them. They performed a variety of functions. Some, like Spell 17, which is a lengthy and cryptic description of the deity Atum, are meant to provide the departed with magical wisdom in the hereafter or maybe to identify them with the gods. Others are spells to give the departed influence over his environment and to guarantee that the many aspects of his existence were maintained and brought together. Others still shield the departed from various adversaries or lead him through the underworld through numerous obstacles.
Famously, two spells in the Weighing of the Heart ritual also address the assessment of the departed.
Heart-related spells like 26–30, as well as occasionally 6 and 126, were written on scarabs.
The Book of the Dead’s writings and illustrations combined magic with religion. Even when magic was used to manipulate the gods themselves, it was still considered to be a valid practice on par with praying to the gods. The Ancient Egyptians did not distinguish much between magical and religious practices. The idea of magic (heka) was closely related to both spoken and written language.
Speaking a ritual phrase was like creating something; in a way, the act of speaking and the act of doing were one and the same. The written word also has the magical power of words. The deity Thoth was credited with creating the hieroglyphic script, and the hieroglyphs themselves were potent. Written words might transmit a spell’s full power. This held true even when the text was condensed or removed, as was frequently the case with later Book of the Dead scrolls, especially if the accompanying visuals were present.
The Book of the Dead provides its possessor with the mysterious names of many of the beings he would see in the hereafter, giving him power over them. The Egyptians also thought that knowing something’s name gave one control over it.
Spell 79 (tying the spirit to the body) and Spell 80 from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, painted on a piece of a coffin (about 747–656 BCE) (preventing incoherent speech)
Several magical methods that were employed in the spells of the Book of the Dead are also seen in other aspects of Egyptian culture.
There are several charms for magical amulets that would guard the dead from harm. These spells occurred on amulets coiled inside a mummy’s wrappings, as well as on a papyrus from the Book of the Dead. Amulets were often used in common magic. Headrests and other objects in direct contact with the deceased in the tomb were also thought to have amuletic efficacy. A few spells also make reference to Egyptian notions of saliva’s healing ability.
125 The Weighing of the Heart ritual judgement is described in this spell. Anubis guides the deceased into Osiris' presence, where he enters a "negative confession," declaring in front of 42 judges that he is innocent of a list of 42 sins.
Organization
Almost each Book of the Dead became unique, containing a exclusive aggregate of spells drawn from the corpus of texts available. For maximum of the records of the Book of the Dead there has been no described order or shape.[ In fact, till Paul Barguet`s 1967 “pioneering study” of not unusualplace issues among texts, Egyptologists concluded there has been no inner shape at all. It is simplest from the Saite duration (twenty sixth Dynasty) onwards that there’s a described order.
The Books of the Dead from the Saite duration have a tendency to arrange the Chapters into 4 sections:
• Chapters 1–sixteen The deceased enters the tomb and descends to the underworld, and the frame regains its powers of motion and speech.
• Chapters 17–sixty three Explanation of the mythic foundation of the gods and places. The deceased is made to stay once more in order that he may also arise, reborn, with the morning solar.
• Chapters 64–129 The deceased travels throughout the sky withinside the solar ark as one of the blessed dead. In the evening, the deceased travels to the underworld to seem earlier than Osiris.
• Chapters 130–189 Having been vindicated, the deceased assumes strength withinside the universe as one of the gods. This segment additionally consists of diverse chapters on defensive amulets, provision of food, and critical places.
Preservation
One element of demise changed into the disintegration of the numerous kheperu, or modes of existence. Funerary rituals served to re-combine those distinctive components of being. Mummification served to maintain and rework the bodily frame into sah, an idealised shape with divine components; the Book of the Dead contained spells geared toward maintaining the frame of the deceased, which may also had been recited at some point of the procedure of mummification. The coronary heart, which changed into appeared because the element of being which covered intelligence and memory, changed into additionally blanketed with spells, and in case some thing came about to the bodily coronary heart, it changed into not unusualplace to bury jewelled coronary heart scarabs with a frame to offer a replacement. The ka, or life-force, remained withinside the tomb with the lifeless frame, and required sustenance from services of food, water and incense.
In case monks or household didn’t offer those services, Spell one hundred and five ensured the ka changed into satisfied. The call of the lifeless character, which constituted their individuality and changed into required for his or her persisted existence, changed into written in lots of locations at some stage in the Book, and spell 25 ensured the deceased could recall their very own call. The ba changed into a free-ranging spirit element of the deceased. It changed into the ba, depicted as a human-headed bird, which could “cross forth via way of means of day” from the tomb into the world; spells sixty one and 89 acted to maintain it. Finally, the shut, or shadow of the deceased, changed into preserved via way of means of spells 91, ninety two and 188. If these kind of components of the character might be variously preserved, remembered, and satiated, then the lifeless character could stay on withinside the shape of an akh. An akh changed into a blessed spirit with magical powers who could reside a few of the gods.
Afterlife
The nature of the afterlife which the lifeless human beings loved is tough to define, due to the differing traditions inside Ancient Egyptian religion. In the Book of the Dead, the lifeless had been taken into the presence of the god Osiris, who changed into limited to the subterranean Duat. There also are spells to permit the ba or akh of the lifeless to enroll in Ra as he travelled the sky in his sun-barque, and assist him combat off Apep. As nicely as becoming a member of the Gods, the Book of the Dead additionally depicts the lifeless dwelling on withinside the `Field of Reeds’, a paradisiac likeness of the actual world. The Field of Reeds is depicted as a lush, considerable model of the Egyptian manner of dwelling. There are fields, crops, oxen, human beings and waterways. The deceased character is proven encountering the Great Ennead, a collection of gods, in addition to his or her very own parents. While the depiction of the Field of Reeds is great and considerable, it’s also clean that guide labour is required. For this motive burials covered some of statuettes named shabti, or later ushebti. These statuettes had been inscribed with a spell, additionally covered withinside the Book of the Dead, requiring them to adopt any guide labour that is probably the proprietor’s responsibility withinside the afterlife. It is likewise clean that the lifeless now no longer best went to an area wherein the gods lived, however that they obtained divine traits themselves. In many occasions, the deceased is referred to as “The Osiris – [Name]” withinside the Book of the Dead.
The course to the afterlife as laid out withinside the Book of the Dead changed into a tough one. The deceased changed into required to byskip a chain of gates, caverns and lumps guarded via way of means of supernatural creatures. These terrifying entities had been armed with tremendous knives and are illustrated in ugly forms, generally as human figures with the heads of animals or combos of various ferocious beasts. Their names—for instance, “He who lives on snakes” or “He who dances in blood”—are similarly ugly. These creatures needed to be pacified via way of means of reciting the suitable spells covered withinside the Book of the Dead; as soon as pacified they posed no in addition threat, and will even make bigger their safety to the lifeless character. Another breed of supernatural creatures changed into ‘slaughterers’ who killed the unrighteous on behalf of Osiris; the Book of the Dead ready its proprietor to break out their attentions. As nicely as those supernatural entities, there had been additionally threats from herbal or supernatural animals, which includes crocodiles, snakes, and beetles.
Judgment
If all of the limitations of the Duat might be negotiated, the deceased could be judged withinside the “Weighing of the Heart” ritual, depicted in Spell 125. The deceased changed into led via way of means of the god Anubis into the presence of Osiris. There, the lifeless character swore that he had now no longer dedicated any sin from a listing of forty two sins, reciting a textual content called the “Negative Confession”. Then the lifeless character’s coronary heart changed into weighed on a couple of scales, in opposition to the goddess Maat, who embodied fact and justice. Maat changed into frequently represented via way of means of an ostrich feather, the hieroglyphic signal for her call. At this point, there has been a danger that the deceased’s coronary heart could undergo witness, proudly owning as much as sins dedicated in life; Spell 30B guarded in opposition to this eventuality. If the scales balanced, this supposed the deceased had led a great life. Anubis could take them to Osiris and they might locate their location withinside the afterlife, turning into maa-kheru, meaning “vindicated” or “genuine of voice”. If the coronary heart changed into out of stability with Maat, then any other fearsome beast referred to as Ammit, the Devourer, stood equipped to consume it and positioned the lifeless character’s afterlife to an early and unsightly end.
F.A.Q
A collection of ancient Egyptian funeral spells that aided the departed in navigating the afterlife in order to reunite with the god of the dead, Osiris, are referred to as the “Book of the Dead” in contemporary parlance.
A wonderfully preserved papyrus scroll was discovered in a tomb from the 18th Dynasty close to Luxor in the year 1888 by Dr. E. A. Wallis Budge, who was working as the British Museum’s buying agent at the time. He had heard of a remarkable archaeological find in Upper Egypt.
A 4,000-year-old copy of the “Book of Two Ways,” an ancient Egyptian guide to the afterlife said to be a precursor to the “Book of the Dead,” has been found by Egyptologists. It is being hailed as the world’s earliest illustrated book. The text is at least 40 years older than the earliest known versions.
The judgement ceremony known as Weighing of the Heart is described in this spell. The corpse is escorted by Anubis into Osiris’ presence, where he makes a “negative confession,” announcing in front of 42 judges that he is innocent of a list of 42 crimes.
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