Introduction to the Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Egyptian Book of the Dead, a term coined in the 19th century AD, was a group of texts known to the ancient Egyptians as (Going Forth by Day). After the Book of the Dead was first translated by Egyptologists, it became widely known as the Bible of the ancient Egyptians. This comparison is highly inappropriate. The Book of the Dead was not the basic scripture of Egyptian religion. It was only one of a series of designs of the dead to achieve and maintain a perfect afterlife.
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| Book of the Dead papyrus of Pinedjem II, 21st dynasty (circa 990-969 BC), from the Deir el-Bahri royal cache. Depicts Pinedjem II as High Priest making an offering to Osiris. British Museum (EA 10793/1). Photo by User:Captmondo (Own work, 19 August 2008). Licensed under GFDL and CC-BY-SA-2.5/2.0/1.0 |
Contents of the Book of the Dead
The book was used for more than a thousand years and eventually consisted of more than 190 spells or 'formulas'. Individual copies of the Book of the Dead vary greatly in the number and selection of spells they contain. The order of the spells was determined around 650 BC.
Evolution and Use of the Book of the Dead Over Time
During the New Kingdom, spells from the Book of the Dead were sometimes inscribed on grave goods such as shrouds and coffins, and sometimes on the walls of royal tombs and mausoleums. The majority were written on papyrus.
Writings and Illustrations in the Book of the Dead
The spells in the Book of the Dead are usually written in hieroglyphics or a cursive (simplified) form of hieroglyphics. The vast majority of spells are in Middle Egyptian. By the time of the New Kingdom, the spoken language had changed dramatically, and the number of people who could understand the ancient Middle Egyptian texts must have been very limited. This may be one reason for the increasing importance of vignettes in the Book of the Dead. By the end of the New Kingdom period, almost all spells were illustrated with traditional vignettes. In some manuscripts, spells are represented only by illustrations. This is because from the 14th century BC onwards it was allowed to depict gods on the walls of private tombs.
Importance of Temples and Royal Tombs
Copies of the Book of the Dead have been found all over Egypt, but the Temple of Thebes seems to have been the center of production. Many of the spells were adapted from earlier funerary literature, especially the Coffin Texts. In Spell 17, quotations from the Coffin Documents are interspersed with explanatory passages under the heading 'this means'. In these explanatory passages, the ancient creation myths are reinterpreted from the perspective of later theology.
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| Book of the Dead spell 17 from the Papyrus of Ani, circa 1275 BC. British Museum Collection. Referenced in Taylor, John H. (Ed.), Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the Afterlife (British Museum Press, 2010, pp. 51-53, ISBN 978-0-7141-1993-9). Source: Vassar College Project. |
Gods and Ritual Significance
Although many gods are mentioned and depicted in the Book of the Dead, the future generations predicted by the spells are dominated by two gods, Ra and Osiris. Some of the Ra-related spells are adapted from the sun chants used in temples. The souls of the dead would join the 'crew' of the sun ship or seek a place in the palace of Osiris, ruler of the underworld. Many of the spells designed to nurture and protect the souls on their journey to these destinations were based on earlier archetypes, but there was a new emphasis on identifying the past lives of the deceased.
This is most clearly seen in the formula for spell 125, 'Descend into the Great Hall of the Double March'. Before the throne of Osiris, the deceased had to appear before a jury of gods and goddesses and declare himself innocent of 42 specific sins. Since most of the sins included in this negative confession were offenses against the gods, the temple, and ritual purity, the 125 spell is thought to have originated in the initiation ceremony of the priests. In one of the most famous Egyptian iconographies, the heart of the deceased is held on a scale with a feather symbolizing Maat, the goddess of truth. If the heart is found to be heavy with sin, it will be swallowed by a monster.
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| Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead from the Papyrus of Ani. Source: Own work (2010). Author: Soutekh67 |
Initially, the ordeal was just one of a series of crises that could be overcome by magic, but the popularity of magic in the late New Kingdom period coincided with a new emphasis on God as a just but merciful judge. In prayers during this period, people asked gods like Thoth and Amen to help them survive in an unjust society. Others humbly acknowledged that their suffering was a just punishment for actions such as breaking vows made in the name of God. These 'texts of repentance', like much of our everyday religious knowledge, came from Deir el-Medina, the village of the artists who built and decorated the tombs of Theban royalty. This well-preserved desert settlement is also the site of much of the literature of the New Kingdom period.
Origins and Development of the Underworld Books
The Book of the Underworld is a general term for a type of mortuary book used in New Kingdom royal tombs and cenotaphs. It is taken from the Egyptian word for the genre to which these books belong,' that which is in the underworld’.
Amduat: The Book of the Secret Chamber
The oldest of these books, the Book of the Secret Chamber (now known as Amduat), may have originated from rituals performed by kings at Heliopolis and other temples. The paintings on the walls of the tombs of Thutmose III and his successor Amenhotep are direct . This gives us an idea of what the temple copies looked like.
They were painted on the walls and ceilings of tombs or inscribed on important items such as temples and coverings. They were written in Middle Egyptian, although later versions were heavily influenced by Late Egyptian. The texts are all written in hieroglyphs, although some are difficult to read. These books contain very limited information known only to kings and those in high priestly positions.
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| Room of the Sarcophagus with scenes from the Amduat. Source: Own work (12 May 2009). Author: Ignati |
Purpose and Themes of the Underworld Books
The purpose of the underground books was to protect the universe and, secondarily, to help kings identify with the sun god and pass into the afterlife. The daily journey of the sun god Ra Atum was a common theme. Most of them focused on the dangerous journey through the night sky, which was identified with the underworld. Although dangerous journeys are probably the world's oldest narrative motif, the Book of the Underworld is not described as a story. The structure of the book is provided by the passage of time or the geography of the imagined underworld, divided into caves and regions separated by guarded gates. Each Underground Book presents a different view of the topography of the afterlife, but since the end of the 18th dynasty, royal tombs have featured more than one Underground Book in their decoration.
Imagery and Symbolism in the Underworld Books
Most Underground Books are dominated by pictorial elements. With a few exceptions, the text is mostly in the form of captions to the illustrations. Underground books such as the Book of Doors and the Book of Caves are more detailed versions of the underground maps depicted on coffins from the Middle Kingdom. Invariably, the gate and the cave are represented by a huge tableau of hundreds of gods, demons, and monsters. Some Egyptologists refer to these groups as 'image clusters'. Individual symbols can change their meaning when they are included in one of these clusters.
Esoteric Texts and Mythological Contexts
These esoteric texts acknowledge the fragility of the divine order and show the challenges faced by the creator sun god. Almost all the players of Egyptian mythology board the sun ship and protect the sun god from Apophis and other monsters of chaos. Even more surprisingly, Osiris and other dead bodies are shown waiting to be temporarily resurrected by the sun god in the sixth hour of the night. The Osireion of Abydos was skillfully constructed as the site of this mystical union of Ra and Osiris.
Variations and Significance of Different Underworld Books
In two works often considered 'books of the underworld', the Book of the Heavenly Bull and the Hymn of Ra, the genre takes a different direction. While the former focuses on a complex image of a celestial goddess in the form of a bull, part of the text is a vivid narrative of why Ra had to leave the world after suppressing a human uprising. The story may have originated in the dawn myth first recorded in the Pyramid Text57 but developed into something more profound during the New Kingdom period. Ra is said to possess human emotions such as anger, resentment, and pity, and the stories answer the fundamental question of why creation involves suffering and death.
Solar Hymns and Their Influence on Funerary Texts
In contrast, in the book known as The Hymn of Ra, the mystical nature of the creator's sun god is conveyed through elevated language and powerful visual imagery. The sun god is evoked as the vital force behind the universe in 75 nocturnal manifestations. These manifestations range from great gods such as Horus and Isis to obscure beings such as the 'Big Tom Cat' and the 'Man in the Cave'. The characteristic actions of independent beings, the driving force behind mythological narratives, become almost meaningless in this context.
New Kingdom hymns, such as those preserved in Papyrus Leiden I 350, perpetuate the idea that all gods are aspects of the Creator. They speculate on the miraculous process by which the one Creator, often called Amun-Ra, can divide himself into a plurality of creators. Worship of the sun god, the Creator as sustainer of the universe, was common among the Egyptian elite. Solar hymns praising Ra's Day and night journeys were inscribed on the mausoleums of many private tombs and statues of priests and officials during the New Kingdom. Towards the end of the New Kingdom period, a version of Ra's hymn was added to the funerary text known as the Book of the Dead.