Book of the Dead

For other uses, see Book of the Dead (disambiguation).

This scene, from the Papyrus of Hunefer, shows the Hunefer's heart being weighed against the feather of truth. If his heart is lighter than the feather, he is allowed to pass into the afterlife. Vignettes such as these were a common illustration in Egyptian books of the dead.

'The Book of the Dead' is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as 'The Book of Coming '[or 'Going']' Forth By Day'. The book of the dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the afterlife and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. The book of the dead was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.^[1]
The name "Book of the Dead" was the invention of the German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, who published a selection of the texts in 1842. When it was first discovered, the book of the dead was thought to be an ancient Egyptian Bible. But unlike the Bible, The Book of the Dead does not set forth religious tenets and was not considered by the ancient Egyptians to be the product of divine revelation, which allowed the content of the book of the dead to change over time. The Book of the Dead was thus the product of a long process of evolution from the Pyramid texts of the Old Kingdom to the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom. About one-third of the chapters in The Book of the Dead are derived from the Coffin Texts.^[2] The Book of the Dead itself was adapted to The Book of Breathings in the Late Period, but remained popular in its own right until the Roman period.

Weighing of the heart

The two hundredth part of The Book of the Dead is typically a pair of songs to Ma'at and Osiris. This is followed by the most critical moment in the book, the "weighing of the heart", in which the heart of the deceased was weighed against the feather of truth (Ma'at, goddess of truth) as a symbolic judgment of the person's character. If the deceased's heart is lighter than the feather, he is judged worthy and may proceed into the company of the gods. If the deceased is found unworthy, he is devoured by the monster Ammit, and goes out of existence. At this moment, the deceased could utter a spell to prevent their hearts from speaking out against them:^[2]

O my heart which I had from my mother! O my heart of different ages! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the keeper of the balance, for you are my ka which was in my body, the protector who made my members hale. Go forth to the happy place whereto we speed, do not tell truths about me in the presence of the god; it is indeed well that you should hear!

If the deceased is judged worthy, the great Ennead will say:^[2]

This utterance of yours is true. The vindicated Osiris-[name] is straightforward, he has no sin, there is no accusation against him before us, Ammat shall not be permitted to have power over him. Let there be given to him the offerings which are issued in the presence of Osiris, and may a grant of land be established in the Field of Offerings as for the followers of Horus.

Continuing the journey

The rest of the text describes the mythic origin of the gods and places, spells for protection of the deceased and his journey through the underworld to join the company of the gods. On the way, the deceased must address the various guardians with a secret name and supply cryptic passwords to enter, for example:^[2]

The third gate: the name of its gatekeeper is 'One who eats the Putrefaction of his Posterior'; the name of its guardian is 'Alert of Face'; the name of the announcer in it is 'Gateway'.

Words spoken by the Osiris-[name], the justified, when arriving at the gate: 'I am the secret one of the cloudburst, the one who separated the Two Companions. It is in order that I might drive away evil from Osiris that I have come. I am the one who clothed his own standard, who emerges in the Wereret-Crown. I have established offerings in Abydos. Open the way for me in Rosetjau because I have relieved the sickness in Osiris. I have painted his perch. Make way for me so that he might shine in Rosetjau.'

The sometimes cryptic material in the book of the dead was used to enhance the mystery and secrecy of the afterlife, into which the deceased hoped to be admitted.

The negative confessions

Although the deceased has been vindicated, he must now assert his innocence in two series of 42 statements known as the negative confessions. In the second series, the deceased addresses each of 42 cryptically named gods, in turn, declaring his innocence:^[3]

O Wide-of-stride who comes from On: I have not coveted.

O Shadow-eater who comes from the cave: I have not stolen.

O Savage-faced who comes from Rosetjau: I have not killed people...

Versions

Although during the New Kingdom the book of the dead was not organized or standardized in any meaningful way, versions dating to this period are known as the 'Theban Recension'. In the Third Intermediate Period leading up to the Saite period, the book of the dead became increasingly standardized and organized, and books of this period are known as the 'Saite Recension'.

Saite recension

Early versions of the book of the dead were not standardized and were not organized by thematic content; however, this changed by the Saite period :

• Chapters 1-16 The deceased enters the tomb, descends to the underworld, and the body regains its powers of movement and speech.
• Chapters 17-63 Explanation of the mythic origin of the gods and places, the deceased are made to live again so that they may arise, reborn, with the morning sun.
• Chapters 64-129 The deceased travels across the sky in the sun bark as one of the blessed dead. In the evening, the deceased travels to the underworld to appear before Osiris.
• Chapters 130-189 Having been vindicated, the deceased assumes power in the universe as one of the gods. This section also includes assorted chapters on protective amulets, provision of food, and important places.^[2] There are 192 unique chapters known, and no single papyrus contains all known chapters. Sometimes the verses are divided into Spell numbers as opposed to Chapter numbers. This depends on the translation that you read.

Production

Books were often prefabricated in funerary workshops, with spaces being left for the name of the deceased to be written in later. They are often the work of several different scribes and artists whose work was literally pasted together. The cost of a typical book might be equivalent to half a year's salary of a laborer, so the purchase would be planned well in advance of the person's death. The blank papyrus used for the scroll often constituted the major cost of the work, so papyrus was often reused.^[2]
Images, or vignettes to illustrate the text, were considered mandatory. The images were so important that often the text is truncated to fit the space available under the image. Whereas the quality of the miniatures is usually done at a high level, the quality of the text is often very bad. Scribes often misspelled or omitted words and inserted the wrong text under the images.