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17. Egyptian Book of the dead.

Chosen by:
Associate Professor Colin Hope,
Centre for Archaeology & Ancient History, Faculty of Arts

The Book of the dead : facsimile of the papyrus of Ani in the British Museum / [edited by E. A. Wallis Budge] 2nd ed. (London : British Museum, 1894)

Egyptian Book of the dead.

The Book of the Dead is the modern name for a collection of some 200 ancient Egyptian spells designed to assist the deceased in the journey through the underworld in overcoming any opposition which might be faced, and to enable a successful afterlife to be obtained.  Spell 1 commences with the statement:

Here begin the spells of going out into the day, the praises and recitations for going to and fro in the realm of the dead which are beneficial in the beautiful West, and which are to be spoken on the day of burial and of going out after coming in.

The spells, written in cursive hieroglyphic or hieratic, accompany painted vignettes; these papyri are the oldest surviving illuminated manuscripts. They were produced from the New Kingdom to Ptolemaic Period (1550 – 30 BCE) for officials, priests/priestesses, and members of the royal family, though not in general rulers.  They preserve various traditions relating to the after life that are recorded from as early as 2370 BCE in the Pyramid Texts and later within the Coffin Texts, but developed much earlier, and which were originally for the use of the king alone.  The books could be as long or short as required, generally 48 cm. in height; one of the longest is 41 metres.

Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead of Ani is illustrated. Ani was a Royal Scribe, Scribe of the Accounts of the Divine Offerings of all the gods and Overseer of the Granaries in the Nineteenth Dynasty (1295–1186 BCE). The inclusion of this chapter was obligatory in any collection of spells. It assured that the owner of the papyrus would successfully undergo the weighing of her/his heart against the feather of truth on the day of judgement. The heart was thought to contain a record of one’s life and so the symbolic weighing determined suitability to enter the next world. This weighing was accompanied by an interrogation by the 42 Assessors Gods, and took place in the presence of Osiris, judge of the dead. Following a successful examination the deceased was then presented to Osiris by the god’s son Horus, shown with a falcon head. The text describing these events and ensuring their success is written in cursive hieroglyphic.

Wallis Budge (1857–1934) was one of the great early Orientalists who took a keen interest in ancient Egypt from his youth; he was trained at Cambridge and obtained an MA, D. Litt, Litt. D and D. Lit.  He was Assistant Keeper in the British Museum from 1883 and Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities from 1894–1924.  He was instrumental in acquiring for the collection significant numbers of ancient texts, the first publications of many of which he undertook.  While many of these were not entirely accurate, he did make many available to the scholarly world at an early date.  He is the author of some 140 books and editions of texts in Hieroglyphic, Coptic, Cuneiform, Syriac and Ethiopic, as well as numerous articles.

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