Egyptian Book of the Dead

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See also: Tibetan Book of the Dead

A Section of Plate 3 from the Papyrus of Ani. Plate 3 contains half of the first (and longer) instance of chapter 30B in Ani's Book of the Dead, which is titled: Chapter for not letting Ani's heart create opposition against him in the God's Domain. This vignette shows Ani's heart being weighed against a feather of Maat (Truth, Rightful Order). Thoth (baboon) is overseeing, and Anubis (Jackal headed god) is the "Guardian of the Scales." The three standing figures to the left are the three aspects of fate. The rectangular stone with a woman's head is one of the three aspects of fate. Ani's Ba (the human headed bird and one aspect of the soul) is perched on a shrine and is looking over the event which will determine his fate. This vignette is similar to vignettes that would be found associated with chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, and an abbreviated version is, in fact, found in chapter 125 of the Papyrus of Ani.

The Book of the Dead is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as The Book of Coming [or Going] Forth By Day. The Book of the Dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the afterlife and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. The book of the dead was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.[1]

The name "Book of the Dead" was the invention of the German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, who published a selection of the texts in 1842. When it was first discovered, the book of the dead was thought to be an ancient Egyptian bible. But unlike the bible, the book of the dead does not set forth religious tenets and was not considered by the ancient Egyptians to be the product of divine revelation, which allowed the content of the book of the dead to change over time. The book of the dead was thus the product of a long process of evolution from the Pyramid texts of the Old Kingdom to the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom. About one-third of the chapters in the book of the dead are derived from the Coffin Texts.[2] The book of the dead itself was adapted to the Book of Breathings in the late period, but remained popular in its own right until the Roman period.

Contents

Weighing of the heart

The first part of the book of the dead is typically a pair of hymns to Ra and Osiris. This is followed by the most critical moment in the book, the "weighing of the heart," in which the heart of the deceased was weighed against the feather of truth as a symbolic judgment of the person's character. If the deceased's heart is lighter than the feather, he is judged worthy and may proceed into the company of the gods. If the deceased is found unworthy, he is devoured by the monster Ammit, and goes out of existence. At this moment, the deceased could utter a spell to prevent their hearts from speaking out against them:[2]

O my heart which I had from my mother! O my heart of different ages! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the keeper of the balance, for you are my ka which was in my body, the protector who made my members hale. Go forth to the happy place whereto we speed, do not tell lies about me in the presence of the god; it is indeed well that you should hear!

If the deceased is judged worthy, the great Ennead will say:[2]

This utterance of yours is true. The vindicated Osiris-[name] is straightforward, he has no sin, there is no accusation against him before us, Ammit shall not be permitted to have power over him. Let there be given to him the offerings which are issued in the presence of Osiris, and may a grant of land be established in the Field of Offerings as for the followers of Horus.

Continuing the journey

The rest of the text describes the mythic origin of the gods and places, spells for protection of the deceased and his journey through the underworld to join the company of the gods. On the way, the deceased must address the various gaurdians with a secret name and supply cryptic passwords to enter, for example:[2]

The third gate: the name of its gatekeeper is 'One who eats the Putrefaction of his Posterior'; the name of its guardian is 'Alert of Face'; the name of the announcer in it is 'Gateway'.
Words spoken by the Osiris-[name], the justified, when arriving at the gate: 'I am the secret one of the cloudburst, the one who separated the Two Companions. It is in order that I might drive away evil from Osiris that I have come. I am the one who clothed his own standard, who emerges in the Wereret-Crown. I have established offerings in Abydos. Open the way for me in Rosetjau because I have relieved the sickness in Osiris. I have painted his perch. Make way for me so that he might shine in Rosetjau.'

The sometimes cryptic material in the book of the dead was used to enhance the mystery and secrecy of the afterlife, into which the deceased hoped to be admitted.

Spell 125: The Negative Confessions

Sample of a Book of the Dead of the scribe Nebqed, around 1300 B.C.E.

Although the deceased has been vindicated, he must now assert his innocence in two series of 42 statements, which have since become known as the "negative confessions." In the second series, the deceased addresses each of 42 cryptically named gods, in turn, declaring his innocence:[3]

O Wide-of-stride who comes from On: I have not done evil.
O Flame-grasper who comes from Kheraha: I have not robbed.
O Long-nosed who comes from Khmun: I have not coveted.
O Shadow-eater who comes from the cave: I have not stolen.
O Savage-faced who comes from Rosetjau: I have not killed people...

The content of some of the statements of denial or the 'negative confession' has led some scholars to hypothesize that they may be the basis for the Biblical Ten Commandments.[4]

Versions

The earliest known versions date from the 16th century B.C.E. during the New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550-1292 B.C.E.). It partly incorporated two previous collections of Egyptian religious literature, known as the Coffin Texts (ca. 2000 B.C.E.) and the Pyramid Texts (ca. 2600 B.C.E.-2300 B.C.E.), both of which were eventually superseded by the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead for Scribe Ani, the Papyrus of Ani, was originally 78 ft (28 m), and was separated into thirty seven sheets at appropriate chapter and topical divisions.

The text was often individualized for the deceased person, so no two copies contain the same text. However, "book" versions containing similar features are generally categorized into four main divisions – the Heliopolitan version, which was edited by the priests of the college of Annu (used from the 5th to the 11th dynasty and on walls of tombs until about 200); the Theban version, which contained hieroglyphics only (20th to the 28th dynasty); a hieroglyphic and hieratic character version, closely related to the Theban version, which had no fixed order of chapters (used mainly in the 20th dynasty); and the Saite version which has strict order (used after the 26th dynasty).

Saite recension

Early versions of the book of the dead were not standardized and were not organized by thematic content; however, this changed by the Saite period, when the following ordering became universalized:

  • Chapters 1-16 The deceased enters the tomb, descends to the underworld, and the body regains its powers of movement and speech.
  • Chapters 17-63 Explanation of the mythic origin of the gods and places, the deceased are made to live again so that they may arise, reborn, with the morning sun.
  • Chapters 64-129 The deceased travels across the sky in the sun bark as one of the blessed dead. In the evening, the deceased travels to the underworld to appear before Osiris.
  • Chapters 130-189 Having been vindicated, the deceased assumes power in the universe as one of the gods. This section also includes assorted chapters on protective amulets, provision of food, and important places.[2] There are 192 unique chapters known, and no single papyrus contains all known chapters.

Production

Books were often prefabricated in funerary workshops, with spaces being left for the name of the deceased to be written in later. They are often the work of several different scribes and artists whose work was literally pasted together. The cost of a typical book might be equivalent to half a year's salary of a laborer, so the purchase would be planned well in advance of the person's death. The blank papyrus used for the scroll often constituted the major cost of the work, so papyrus was often reused.[2]

Images, or vignettes to illustrate the text, were considered mandatory. The images were so important that often the text is truncated to fit the space available under the image. Whereas the quality of the miniatures is usually done at a high level, the quality of the text is often very bad. Scribes often misspelled or omitted words and inserted the wrong text under the images.

Notes

  1. "Feature story: The Book of the Dead" by Caroline Seawright
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Goelet, Ogden (1998). A Commentary on the Corpus of Literature and Tradition which constitutes the Book of Going Forth By Day. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 139-170. 
  3. Lichtheim, Miriam (1976). Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol 2. London, England: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02965-8. 
  4. Robinson, B.A.. The Ten Commandments (a.k.a. The Decalogue): The possible origin of the Ten Commandments. www.religioustolerance.org. Retrieved 2007-08-30.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Allen, Thomas George. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Documents in the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1960.
  • Allen, Thomas George. The Book of the Dead or Going Forth by Day. Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians Concerning the Hereafter as Expressed in Their Own Terms. SAOC Vol. 37. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974.
  • Assmann, Jan. In search for God in ancient Egypt. Translated by David Lorton. Ithica: Cornell University Press, 2001. ISBN 0801487293.
  • Breasted, James Henry. Development of religion and thought in ancient Egypt. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986. ISBN 0812210454.
  • Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). The Egyptian Book of the Dead. 1895. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
  • Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). The Egyptian Heaven and Hell. 1905. Accessed at [www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ehh.htm sacred-texts.com].
  • Budge, E. A. Wallis. The gods of the Egyptians; or, Studies in Egyptian mythology. A Study in Two Volumes. New York: Dover Publications, 1969.
  • Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian texts. 1912. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
  • Budge, E. A. Wallis (translator). The Rosetta Stone. 1893, 1905. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
  • Dennis, James Teackle (translator). The Burden of Isis. 1910. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
  • Dunand, Françoise and Zivie-Coche, Christiane. Gods and men in Egypt: 3000 B.C.E. to 395 C.E.. Translated from the French by David Lorton. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004. ISBN 080144165X.
  • Erman, Adolf. A handbook of Egyptian religion. Translated by A. S. Griffith. London: Archibald Constable, 1907.
  • Faulkner, Raymond O. The Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Book of Going forth by Day. The First Authentic Presentation of the Complete Papyrus of Ani. Translated by Raymond Faulkner. Edited by Eva von Dassow, with contributions by Carol Andrews and Ogden Goelet. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1994. ISBN 0811807673.
  • Frankfort, Henri. Ancient Egyptian Religion. New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1961. ISBN 0061300772.
  • Griffith, F. Ll. and Thompson, Herbert (translators). The Leyden Papyrus. 1904. Accessed at sacred-texts.com.
  • Larson, Martin A. The Story of Christian Origins. 1977. ISBN 0883310902.
  • Meeks, Dimitri and Meeks-Favard, Christine. Daily life of the Egyptian gods. Translated from the French by G.M. Goshgarian. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, 1996. ISBN 0801431158.
  • Mercer, Samuel A. B. (translator). The Pyramid Texts. 1952. Accessed online at [www.sacred-texts.com/egy/pyt/index.htm sacred-texts.com].
  • Pinch, Geraldine. Handbook of Egyptian mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2002. ISBN 1576072428.
  • Shafer, Byron E. (editor). Temples of ancient Egypt. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997. ISBN 0801433991.
  • Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. ISBN 0500051208.

External links


Ankh Topics about Ancient Egypt edit Ankh
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Gods associated with the Ogdoad: Amun | Amunet | Huh/Hauhet | Kuk/Kauket | Nu/Naunet | Ra | Hor/Horus | Hathor | Anupu/Anubis | Mut
Gods of the Ennead: Atum | Shu | Tefnut | Geb | Nuit | Ausare/Osiris | Aset/Isis | Set | Nebet Het/Nephthys
War gods: Bast | Anhur | Maahes | Sekhmet | Pakhet
Deified concepts: Chons | Maàt | Hu | Saa | Shai | Renenutet| Min | Hapy
Other gods: Djehuty/Thoth | Ptah | Sobek | Chnum | Taweret | Bes | Seker
Death: Mummy | Four sons of Horus | Canopic jars | Ankh | Book of the Dead | KV | Mortuary temple | Ushabti
Buildings: Pyramids | Karnak Temple | Sphinx | Great Lighthouse | Great Library | Deir el-Bahri | Colossi of Memnon | Ramesseum | Abu Simbel
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Chronology: Ancient Egypt | Greek and Roman Egypt | Early Arab Egypt | Ottoman Egypt | Muhammad Ali and his successors | Modern Egypt

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