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Ancient Egyptians - Book of the Dead |
Book of the Dead Book of the Dead Fact Sheet The Book of the Dead Fact Sheet Fact 1 on Book of the Dead: The Author: The ancient Egyptians believed that Thoth, the ibis-headed god of knowledge and wisdom, was the author of "Book of the Dead". Thoth was the scribe to the gods and the "tongue" of the Creator. Fact 2 on Book of the Dead: The Content: The content of the "Book of the Dead" consists of magic spells, incantations, litanies and hymns, magical formulae and names, words of power and prayers Fact 3 on Book of the Dead: Origin: The content of the "Book of the Dead" is derived from the Pyramid texts of the period of the Old Kingdom (2686 to 2181 B.C), the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom (2134 - 1782 B.C.) which evolved into a version developed in the New Kingdom about 1550 to 1070 B.C. Fact 4 on Book of the Dead: Versions: The 'Book of the Dead' was not just one book like the Bible or the Koran, it was the product of a long process of evolution and developed into different versions. Fact 5 on Book of the Dead: The Purpose: The ancient Egyptian people believed that the text would provide them with magical knowledge and magic spells to overcome obstacles presented in the terrifying journey through the underworld. Fact 6 on Book of the Dead: The Title: The original Egyptian name for the collection of texts was called the "Book of Coming Forth by Day" or as "Book of emerging forth into the Light". Fact 7 on Book of the Dead: The Egyptologists: One of the first modern scholars to study these texts, or 'Chapters', was the eminent Frenchman, Jean-Francois Champollion (23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832). Jean-Francois Champollion was the decipherer of the Egyptian hieroglyphs who published the first translation of the Rosetta Stonehieroglyphs in 1822. Champollion rightly concluded that the texts were of a religious character but incorrectly called the collection as a whole a "Funerary Ritual." Fact 8 on Book of the Dead: The Tomb robbers & traders: The Egyptian tomb-robbers, and traders in ancient Egyptian artefacts, gave the name the "Book of the dead man" to any roll of inscribed papyrus which they found with mummies Fact 9 on Book of the Dead: The Egyptologists: The Book of the Dead" is not a translation of the original Egyptian title for the texts, but an invention of the German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius (23 December 1810 – 10 July 1884), who was pioneer of modern archaeology. Karl Richard Lepsius published a selection of the texts in 1842 called "Todtenbuch" which translates as the Book of the Dead. Fact 10 on Book of the Dead: The Egyptologists: Henri Edouard Naville (14 June 1844 – 17 October 1926) was a Swiss Egyptologist was a student of Karl Richard Lepsius. Henri Edouard Naville published a standard edition of New Kingdom Books of the Dead in 1886. Ancient Egypt - Book of the Dead Fact Sheet Book of the Dead Book of the Dead Ancient Egypt - Book of the Dead Fact Sheet Fact 11 on Book of the Dead: The content: The content has nothing to do with the earthly worship of the ancient Egyptian gods but was for the benefit of the ancient Egyptians to help them through the terrible dangers of the Underworld and enable them to reach the 'House of Reeds', the Egyptian equivalent of paradise. Fact 12 on Book of the Dead: The text was organized into four sections with 189 Chapters which contained the words of various spells. No one papyrus contained all of them, the ancient Egyptians chose the spells that they thought would be of the most help to them. Fact 13 on Book of the Dead: Wealthy Egyptians would select different parts of the texts and commission a scribe to create a 'personalized' Book of the Dead - a very expensive undertaking. Fact 14 on Book of the Dead: Other versions were 'ready-made' versions with blank spaces to fill in the name of the deceased. The Book of the Dead was highly profitable to the priests and scribes of ancient Egypt. Fact 15 on Book of the Dead: The text was intended to be studied before death and a copy of the text would be buried with the deceased so that it could be used as a 'memory jogger' to the essential spells needed on the journey through the terrifying obstacles that would be encountered in the Underworld (Duat) and achieving the ultimate goal of gaining entry to the 'Field of Rushes', the ancient Egyptian name for paradise. Fact 16 on Book of the Dead: Excerpts from various versions are found painted on the walls of pyramids and tombs, the insides of coffins, on sarcophagi and detailed on rolls of papyrus. Rolls of papyrus containing the Book of the Dead were placed in several places such as a niche in the wall of the mummy chamber, in the coffin just above the ankles or by the side of the deceased or in hollow wooden figures of the god Osiris. Fact 17 on Book of the Dead: The rolls of papyrus were illustrated with pictures called vignettes. Some of the vignettes were displayed as a row of pictures, with texts placed beneath them. Fact 18 on Book of the Dead: The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul consisted of different entities including the Ka, Ba and Akhu. The part of the soul called the 'Ka' was the life-force or spirit. The part of the soul called the 'Ba' was the roaming physical essence of the soul and represented by a bird with a human head. Fact 19 on Book of the Dead: The Akhu was the divine spark that emerged when the Ka and Ba were united which was of imperative importance. It was impossible to enter paradise without all of the united parts of the soul and the Akhu. Fact 20 on Book of the Dead: To enter paradise the dead would need protection during their journey in the Underworld. This included the knowledge of religious myths and the ability to recite ritual recitations, incantations and magical spells. It was also essential to be able to address the 42 gods or judges of the Underworld by their correct names and origins and persuade the 42 'Assessor Gods' or judges that the mortal life was without sin. continued... Ancient Egypt - Book of the Dead Fact Sheet Book of the Dead Ancient Egypt - Book of the Dead Fact Sheet Fact 21 on Book of the Dead: Failure to persuade the 42 'Assessor Gods' or judges that they had lived a good and worthy earthly life, to answer questions correctly, or use the appropriate responses would result in part of the soul being given to Ammit the "soul-eater". Fact 22 on Book of the Dead: The frightful dangers of the ancient Egyptian Underworld included a variety of obstacles including horrifying creatures, traps, demons and a long series of tests. The journey through the Underworld was guided by the jackal-headed god, Anubis. Fact 23 on Book of the Dead: If they passed all of the obstacles they would face their final judgement in the Hall of Judgement where their mortal life was examined by the 42 god-judges. Each of the gods required a 'Declaration of Innocence' or 'Negative Confessions' of specific crimes and sins. Fact 24 on Book of the Dead: They would then have to participate in the final test called the 'weighing of the heart ceremony' and face the gods Ma'at and Thoth. Only souls who weighed exactly the same as the feather of the goddess Ma'at would be presented to Osiris who would greet them in the eternal life in the Field of Reeds - Heavenly Paradise. Fact 25 on Book of the Dead: The content provided information on how to address the gods of the Underworld and the appropriate words to use during the Judgement process. The text provided magic spells to preserve of their spiritual being and protect them from dangers. It also provided information on the journey in the Duat and how to navigate the gates, caverns, and guardians of the Underworld. Fact 26 on Book of the Dead: The most famous of the the versions is the Papyrus of Ani, also referred to as the Book of Ani. Ani was a wealthy scribe who served the royal family. There were 189 chapters in the papyrus manuscript that was commissioned by Ani. Fact 27 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 1–20 provided Funerary and mythological texts Fact 28 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 21–30 prescribed preservation of the parts of being Fact 29 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 31–53 provided spells and instructions for protection from peril Fact 30 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 54–63 empowered the deceased with the power to breathe and drink Fact 31 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 64–89 information and spells required in the Coming Forth by Day Fact 32 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 98–112 provided information about navigation through the Underworld Fact 33 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 125-6 provided the text and spells necessary in the Hall of Judgement. Fact 34 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 127–137 detailed journeys in the Duat and on the Barque of Ra Fact 35 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 144–150 dealt with gates, caverns and guardians Fact 36 on Book of the Dead: Chapters 151–189 provided protective spells. Fact 37 on Book of the Dead: The emergence of the Coffin Texts that emerged into the Book of the Dead was extremely important as it allowed non-royals to have direct spiritual access to the Duat, the world of magic and of the dead. Fact 38 on Book of the Dead: The religion, rituals and ceremonies undertook a significant change and focussed most of the religion of ancient Egypt on funerary and mortuary religious beliefs with the promise that all worthy Egyptians could attain a perfect existence in the Afterlife. Fact 39 on Book of the Dead: These changes had a significant effect on the economy, the government and the standing of the priests. The temples were not just places of worship. The temple complexes also housed treasuries, offices, schools and palaces. The temple complexes were also centres of government, economy and commerce. Fact 40 on Book of the Dead: Producing personalized versions of the 'Book of the Dead' became 'big business' in ancient Egypt. Less expensive, 'Off the peg', versions were created with blank spaces so that the name of a deceased could be entered as required. Fact 41 on Book of the Dead: And the sale of amulets, complete with required spells and inscriptions, increased both the coffers of the temples and the coffers of Egypt. Fact 42 on Book of the Dead: The 'Book of the Dead' would later evolve and the New Kingdom Books of the Netherworld such as the Book of Gates, Book of Caverns and the Amduat were produced. Fact 43 on Book of the Dead: This Ancient Egyptian literature provided the ancient Egyptians with a Guide to attaining entry into the Field of Rushes to enjoy the glorious afterlife, an everlasting, perfect existence in an ideal version of Egypt. Fact 44 on Book of the Dead: In the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods the priests a highly condensed form all the texts that were necessary for salvation. Fact 45 on Book of the Dead: As time went by even more abbreviated texts were used and the Book of the Dead ended its existence in the form of a series of almost illegible scrawls traced upon scraps of papyrus only 9 to 12 inches high, and from 5 to 10 inches wide. Fact 46 on Book of the Dead: And so ends the story of the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Ancient Egypt - Book of the Dead Fact Sheet
The Egyptians view of the House of Reeds (Paradise) Book of the Dead |
