![]() If the feather and the heart balanced the scales, the dead person would pass the test. In the other dish was the dead person’s heart, embodying the actions carried out in their lifetime. In one dish sat an ostrich feather, like that worn by the goddess of justice, Maat, and regarded as a symbol of truth. Anubis, the jackal god of mummification, held up a pair of scales. I have not slain sacred cattle.”Īfter the confession came the climax of the trial: the weighing of the heart. I have not carried out grain-profiteering. Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead includes many examples, including: “I have not slain people. The “defendant” would swear they were innocent of a lengthy list of potential sins. Photograph by British Museum / Scala, FlorenceĪfter the labyrinth, the next stop was the Hall of Two Truths, where the dead would be judged by a panel of 42 judges presided over by the god of the underworld, Osiris. The Ani Papyrus is still held by the British Museum. It was acquired in Luxor in 1888 by Wallis Budge, who published a translation in 1895. for Ani, the royal scribe of Thebes, and his wife, Tutu, priestess of Amun. With a total length of nearly 78 feet, the Ani Papyrus is the most complete surviving version of the Book of the Dead. If the correct prayer was offered, then the gate would say: “Pass, you are pure.” To go through each one, they had to recite a specific text and call out the name of the gate. Having made it past Apep, the deceased would eventually arrive at a labyrinth, protected by a series of gates. If the deceased were to come face-to-face with this terrifying creature, chapter 7 of the Book of the Dead was at hand to offer help:“I will not be inert for you, I will not be weak for you, your poison shall not enter my members, for my members are the members of Atum.” Trial of the Heart The most formidable of these was Apep, a serpent intent on stopping Re’s boat and bringing chaos to the world.Īpep would threaten Re every night. During this journey, the deceased, aboard Re’s boat, would have to confront ferocious creatures barring the way to their new life. After disappearing with the setting sun in the west, Re passed under the world in a boat to return to his starting point in the east. The Egyptians believed that the dead person would embark on a subterranean journey, tracing the route of Re, the sun god. I am noble, I am a spirit, I am equipped O all you gods and all you spirits, prepare a path for me.” (Learn how to make a mummy in 70s days or less.)įor the ancient Egyptians this was a moment of hope as expressed in the ninth chapter: “I have opened up every path which is in the sky and which is on earth, for I am the well-beloved son of my father Osiris. It was believed this ceremony reactivated the senses of the corpse. Among these was the rite called “the opening of the mouth,” in which ritual tools were applied to the image of the deceased on the sarcophagus. Next came a series of rituals to prepare the dead for their journey. (Take a look at Egypt's stunning life-lifelike mummy portraits.) Journey of the DeadĮxcerpts from the Book of the Dead were intoned by a priest during the funeral ceremony at the tomb. ![]() Despite the text’s long evolution, however, its function remained the same for royalty and nonroyalty alike: to ease the passage of the deceased through the underworld, offering them protection to face the ordeals and terrors lying in wait there. Some copies were lavishly illustrated and costly others seem more mass-produced with blank spaces where the deceased’s name could be filled in to personalize their copy. (Discover the latest finds in King Tut's tomb.)īy the New Kingdom (circa 1539–1075 B.C.), access to the Book of the Dead was more widespread. ![]() Originally intended solely for the use of royalty, the oldest parts of the Book of the Dead were drawn from funerary writings known as the Pyramid Texts, which date back as far as the Egyptian Old Kingdom, to as early as 2300 B.C. Passages have been found inscribed on rolls of papyrus, on the bandages used in mummification, on tombs, and on the sarcophagi and grave goods of the dead. Of the many versions of the spells that have been found, the texts’construction are not exactly alike-yet the arrangement of Lepsius’s publication helped scholars to see this body of work as a more coherent whole. However, there is no uniform version of the Book of the Dead. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Īlthough scholars had known of the magical content of the writings before Lepsius’s publication, his careful ordering of the spells and the assigning of a chapter number to each is the system still used to study them today.
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