Ancient Egyptian “Book of the dead”
Have you read this book? I’ve just finished it and I must say it is a very interesting book! I suggest that you take a peak at it.
What is this book about?
Well… The Egyptians seemed to have all the mystery stored in their darkened tombs brightened by the rich glints of gold. Their beliefs and ways have often fascinated many an Egyptologist. The ‘Book of the Dead’ is another one of them.
Book of the dead
It is well known that Egyptians believed in life after death or afterlife. The tombs and Pyramids with mummies are a standing example of the same. Many Pharaohs were mummified and buried with their wealth and other belongings, in the belief that all this might be needed by the dead in the afterlife. Among the things that aided the dead to ‘live’ a peaceful afterlife were spells and incantations. It was the idea of ancient Egyptians that the dead required such spells to overcome hazards in the afterlife and attain a place in the universe with the gods. Thus the ‘Book of the Dead’ is not actually a book but rather a compilation of such spells. The first publication of the text collection was done by Karl Richard Lepsius in 1842 who named it the ‘Book of the Dead’. The original Egyptian name is ‘Rw Nw Prt M Hrw’ which roughly translates to “Utterances of arising during day”.
Initially the spells were derived from pyramid texts and coffin texts of the Old and Middle Kingdom respectively. The book was completed during the New Kingdom period. Later on as the Late Kingdom was established the book became more systematic and standard and came to be known as ‘Saite Reading’.
The spells were chosen by the people before they died, similar to preparing a will. These spells were then placed along with the deceased to be read in their journey to the new world for a happy afterlife. It was believed that the spells guided and protected the deceased against any possible danger and to circumvent all barriers that might hamper their journey. The spells were like hints and keys to disclose paths. The rich could afford to write on Papyrus while the poor could only avail copies of the most popular and common spells. The places where the names of the deceased were to be written were left blank to be filled after death. Thus these spells offered not only protection but also recognition of the deceased to the gods.
Illustrations and images supplemented the text in course of time. After a point, the images gained more importance such that the text were almost lost. The images were finely made and reproduced with much care while the text seemed to be rather carelessly scribbled. Sometimes parts of phrases and words were missing and the text seemed to have been adjusted to suit the illustrations, which had by then, gained immense significance. It is speculated that there might be about 200 chapters on various stages of the afterlife, like the deceased entering the new world, the god and goddess origins, the blessed dead traveling across the sky, spells for protection, food etc. But no single papyrus had been found to contain all the spells.
Thus among the various customs of the ancient Egyptians, ‘Book of the Dead’ is one of the most important as it was followed by common man and pharaoh alike.
//Bruce
