B RIT IS H M US EUM .

Th e B ook 0 th e e ad

WITH TWENT! FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

- .

PRIN T ED B! ORDE R OF TH E T R U S T E ES .

1 92 0
PR IC E O NE S H ILL IN GAND SIXPF IC&

All R gh
[ i ts Reserv ed !
 T H E B O O K O F T H E D EA D .

I .

THE T ITLE .

B OO K OF TH E DE AD i s t h e t i tl e now c o mm onl y gi ve n to t h e
great co ll ect io n o f fu nerary te x ts w hi c h t h e a nc i e n t Egyp t i an
s c ribe s com po sed for the bene t o f the dea d Th ese co n si st o f .

spe ll s and incantations h ymn s and l i tani es ma gical formu l ae , ,

a nd na m es word s o f power a nd prayers and t h e y are foun d

, ,

cu t or pa inte d on wa ll s o f py ra m id s a nd to m b s a n d pa i nte d ,

on co f ns an d sarco ph ag i and ro ll s o f pa p yr i Th e t i t l e Boo k .

o f t h e Dea d i s somew h at u nsatis fa c to ry an d m i sl ea di ng for ,

t h e te x t s ne i t h er form a connected wor k nor be lo ng to o ne

p er io d the y are m i sce ll a neous i n ch aracter an d tell u s not hi ng ,

a bou t the l ives and wor k s o f t h e d ea d w i t h w h o m the y were

b uri e d Moreove r the Egyp t ians po sse ssed m any funerary
.
,

wor ks t h a t m ight ri g ht l y be call e d f Boo k s o f t h e Dea d b ut

,

n one o f t h e m bore a name that cou l d be t ransl ate d by t h e t i t l e

Boo k of the Dea d This titl e was g iven to the great coll ee

.

tion o f f u nerary te x ts i n the rst q uarter o f the ninetee n th

c entury by t h e p i onee r Egyp to l og i st s w h o posse ssed no e x act ,

knowl ed ge o f the ir conte n ts Th e y were fa m il iar wi th the ro ll s .

of papyru s i nscribe d i n the hi e rogl yphi c and t h e hi erat ic

character for co pi es o f severa l ha d been p u bl i s h e d
,
1
b ut t h e ,

t e x ts in them were sh ort and fragme n tary Th e p u blic at ion o f .

t he Facs im il e o f t h e Pap y rus o f Pe t a Am e n neb mest tau i by

3 - - -

See j ou r na l dc Trv ou z J u ne 1 0
7 4 C a ylu s n
A t q Egypt , i
pla t e pla t es i i
.
, , ,

t om I 2 1 D e non Tra vels 1 3 6 a nd r3 7 a nd D escr pt o n

t
.
, , ,
'

de I E gypte tom II pla e 6 4 a

'

i i
. .
, . ,

C op e F gu r/e d u n Rou lea u dc P a pyru s f rom ) ! d Thebes da s u n

'
n
Jom bea u d es R oi s P a r s X III 1 80 5 i
Th s p a p yr u s is e arly 3 0 f ee i n t
in t t t t in
. .
,

n
l e g h a nd was brou gh to S rassbu rg by a p a ym as e r N a p oleo s n

. A rm y i n E gyp t ca lle d P ou ssie lgu e w h o sold ,

it to M . C d t
a e .

m i lp f
: H
' s

t
5
1
m
w .

272
GIFT
2 T HE B OOK O F T HE DEAD .

M Cadet in 1 805 made a l ong hierog l yphi c text and numerou s

.

c o loured v ignettes a v ail abl e for study and the Fren c h Egypto ,

logists desc ribed it a s a copy of the R itue l F un raire of the

anc ient Egyptians A mong these wa s Cham po ll ion 1 e J eu ne
.
,

but l ater on h is re turn from Egypt he and others c all ed i t

, ,

Le Li vre des Morts

The B ook of the Dead
,

D a s Tod ten ,

bu c h e t c These t i t l es are mere l y transl ations of the name
,
.

gi v en by the Egyptian tomb robbers to e very ro ll of insc ribed -

papyru s whi c h they found with mummies name l y K it ab , ,

al Mayyit
-

Boo k of the dead man or Kittb al Ma yyitu n
,
"
,

-
,

Book of the dead (plow) These men knew nothing of the .

contents of such a ro ll and a ll they meant to sa y was that i t

,

wa s a dead man s book and that it was found in his c o f n

,

with him .

II .

TH E P RE S ERVA TI O N OF T H E M U MM I F I E D BO D ! I N TH E TOM B
T HO T H
B! .

The O bj e c t s found in the gra ves of the predynasti c Egyptians ,

i a v esse l s of food i nt k ni v es and other weapons et c pro v e

. .
, , ,
.
,

that these earl y dwe ll ers in the Nil e Val l ey be l i e ved in some
ki nd of a future e xistenc e B ut as the art of writing wa s .

unknown to them their graves c ontain no i nscri pt ions and we ,

c an onl y infer from texts of the dynasti c pe ri od what their idea s

about the Other Worl d were It is cl ear that they did not .

consider it of great im portan c e to pre serv e the dead body in as

c ompl ete and perfect state a s possibl e for in many of the i r ,

gra v es the heads hands and feet ha v e been found se v ered from
,

t he trunks and l ying at some distanc e from them On the other .

hand the dynasti c E gyptians either as the resu l t of a dif ferenc e

, ,

in rel igious be l ief or u nder the inuen c e of invaders who had

,

se tt l ed in their c ountry atta c hed supreme i m portanc e to the

,

preservation and integrity of the dead body and they adopted ,

e v ery means known to them to pre v ent its dismemberment and

de c ay They cl ea nse d it and emba l med i t with drugs spi c es and
.
,

bal sams ! they anointed it with aromati c o il s and preservati v e

uids they swathed it in hundreds of yards of l inen bandages
and then they sea l ed it up in a c of n or sar c ophagu s whi c h they ,

l aid in a chamber hewn in the bowe l s of the mountain Al l .

 T HE B OO K O F T HE DE AD . 3

these things were done to prote c t the p hysic al body against

dam p d ry rot and de c ay and against the atta c ks o f moth
, , ,

beet l es worm s and wil d anima l s B u t these were not the onl y
, .

enemies of the dead aga inst whi c h pre c aut ions had to be ta k en ,

for both the mumm i ed body and the Sp ir i tua l e l ement s which
had inhabited it upon earth had to be prote c ted from a mu l t i tude
of de vil s and ends and from the powers of dar k ness genera ll y
, .

Th ese powers of e vil had hideous and terr if y i ng shapes and form s ,

and their haunts were we l l k nown for they infested the region ,

throu gh w hich the road o f the dead l ay when pa ssing from

t h is worl d to the K i ngdom o f Osi ri s T he great god s were .

afraid of them and were obliged to prote c t them se lves by the

,

use of Spe l l s an d magica l na mes a nd words of power wh ic h were

, ,

co m po sed and wr itten down by Thoth .

In fact i t was be li e v ed in very early

t i mes in Egy pt that Ra the S un god -

owed h i s cont i nued e xi stence to the

po ssession of a secret nam e w i t h wh ich
Th oth had pro v ided him And ea ch .

m orni ng the risi ng sun was me naced

by a fearfu l monster ca ll ed Aa pe p ,

D 0
W881 w h ic h
. la y h i dd e n u nd er t h e
pl ace o f sunri se wa i t ing to swa ll ow u p
the so l ar dis k It was i m po ssibl e
.
,

even for the S u n god to destro y this

-

g "
,

Great De v il
but by rec i t i ng ea c h
,
Th e spew i n
W i! 0 e

m om in t h e powerf u l spe ll w i th w h i c h
m "m PW " V N M M A )
m : M M '

g
Thot h had p rovi ded h im he wa s a bl e to para l yse a ll Aa pe p s

limbs and to ri se upo n t hi s world Si nc e then the great gods

.

,

even t h oug h bene vo l en tl y di spo sed toward s them were not a bl e ,

to de liver the dead fro m the de vil s that li ved u pon t h e bodies ,

sou l s Sp iri ts sh adows and heart s of t h e d ead the Egyp t i ans
, , ,

decided to i nvo k e t h e aid o f Th ot h on be h a l f o f the ir dead and

to pla ce the m u nder the p rote c tion of his al m i ghty spe l l s .

Inspired by Thoth the theo l og ia ns o f anc ient Egypt c omposed

a la rge num ber o f f u nerary te x t s w hich were certainl y in
general use u nder the IVth d y na sty ( about 3 7 00 a nd
were p ro ba bl y we ll known under th e Ist dynasty and throug h ,

out t h e w h o le pe rio d o f dynast ic history Th oth was regarde d

a s t h e au t h or o f t h e B oo k o f the Dead "
.
4 THE B OOK O F THE DEAD .

III .

TH E BOO K PER -
T EM C H APT ER S
H RU , O R [
T H E OF! C OM IN G
FO RT H B! ( 0 R I NT
,
O ) T H E D A ! C O MM O N L ! ,
C A LL E D
T H E BOO K OF T H E D E A D

.

The spe ll s and other texts whi c h were wr i tten by Thot h for
the be ne t of the dead and are directly c onne c ted wi th hi m

, ,

were c a ll ed a cc ord i ng to documents wr i tten under

,
the X Ith
and X VIIIth dynasties Chapters of the Coming
,
Forth by
I

R E
O
One b m (9
( or, Into ) the Day
I
,
! l
W r u rl c
a

i n the P apyrus of Nu ( B rit Mus No 1 047 7 ) states that the text

. . .

of the work ca ll e d PER T E M Com i ng Forth ( or

-
,

into ) the Day was disco v ered by a hi gh o f c ia l i n the fou nd a

,

tions of a shr i ne o f the god Hennu during the re i gn o f S emt i ,

or Hesepti a ki ng of the Ist dynasty Another rubri c i n the

,
.

same p apyrus says that the te x t was ou t u pon the a l abaster

p l i n th of a statue of Menk a u ra ( My c e ri nus ) a ki ng o f t h e ,

IVth dynasty and that the l etters were i nl aid w i th l ap i s l azu l i

, .

The p l inth was found by P r i n c e Heru ta ta f ,

a
son of K i ng K hufu ( Cheops ) who c arr i ed it o ff to his king an d
,

e xh ibited it as a most wonderfu l th i ng This c ompos i t ion

.

was greatl y re verenced for it wou l d ma k e a man v ic torious

,

u pon eart h and i n the Other Worl d it wou l d ensure hi m a

safe and free passage through the Tuat ( Under Worl d ) ! i t
wou l d a ll ow him to go in and to go out and to ta k e at any ,

t ime any form he p l eased it woul d ma k e his sou l to ouri sh ,

and wou l d pre v ent him from dying the [se cond ! death For .

the de c eased to re c ei v e the fu ll bene t of t his te x t i t had to be

re c ited by a man who was ceremoni all y pure and who had ,

not eaten sh or m eat and had not c onsorted w i th women
, .

On c o f ns of the X Ith d y nasty and on p ap yri o f the X VIIIth

dynasty we nd two versi o ns of the PER T E M H EU one l ong -
,

and one short As the t i t l e of the shorter version states that

.

it is the Chapters of the PER T E M H RU in a s ing l e c h ap ter i t -

,

is cl ear that this work e ven under the IVth dynasty conta i ne d
, ,

many Chapters and that a m uch abbre vi ated fo rm of t h e

,

work was al so current at the sa m e peri od T he ru bri c that .

attri butes the nd i ng of the Chapter to Heru ta ta f asso ci ates

 THE B OO K O F THE D EAD . 5

it with Kh e m enu i a Herm o po l is and ind i cates that Th oth

,
. .
, , ,

the go d of this c ity was it s au thor

, .

The wor k PER T EM H RU re c e ived many additions in t h e

-

d
l

o
r
W 1

h
O r
t

e .

h 8
t
7
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.

C
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B
,
a
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f
H
o -
t
k b
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B N
e
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t

f
o
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o
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c u
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St a
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S a
s
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.

t
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f
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r
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2
s y
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t
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,

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a l

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c n
S a
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p
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g
E
t
n
r
e
h
u
o
S
[ t

c ourse of c entu ries and at l eng

, th u nder t h e X VIIIth dynasty
, ,

i t contained about 1 90 d i stinct com posit ions or Chapters
, .

Th e origi na l fo rm s of many of these are to b found in the e

6 THE B OOK O F T HE DE AD '

Pyramid Texts th e funerary c ompositions o u t on the

wa ll s of the c hambers and c orridors of the p yramids of K i ngs

Un a s Tet a Pepi I Meri R M erenra and P epi I I at S a k k ara h )
, ,
-
, ,

whi c h were written under the Vth and VIth dynasties The .

forms whi c h many oth er ch ap ters had under the X Ith and
'

X IIth d yna stie S are well represented by the tex ts pa i nt e

,
d on
the c o f ns of Am a m u S en and Gu a tep in the B ritish Museum
, ,

( Nos 6654 3 083 9

.
,
but it is po ssibl e that both these and
,

the so c all ed Pyramid Texts a ll be l onge d to the work PER T

- -

E M H R U and are extra c ts from it The P yramid Texts h a v e

,
.

no ill ustrations but a few of the text s on the coi ns of th e

,

K Ith and X IIth dynasties ha v e c o l oured v ignettes e g those ,

. .
,

whi c h refer to the region to be tra versed by the deceased on

hi s way to the Other Worl d and the Isl ands of the B l e ssed or ,

the Elysian Fie l ds On the upper margins of the insides of su ch

.

c o fns there are fre quent l y gi ven two or more rows o f c o l oure d
drawi ngs of the offerings whi c h under the Vth dynasty were
presented to the de c eased or h is statue duri ng the c e l ebration
of the servi c e of Ope ni ng the Mouth and the performan c e

of the c eremonies of The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings .

Under the X VIIIth dynasty when the u se of l arge re c tangu l ar ,

c o fns and sarc ophagi fe ll somewhat into disuse the sc ribes ,

began to write c o ll e c tions of Chapters from the PE R T EM H R U -

o n roll s of papyri instead of on c of ns At rst the texts were .

written in hieroglyphs the greater number of them be i ng in ,

.

bl a c k ink and an attempt was made to ill ustrate e a c h text by a

,

vignette drawn in bl a c k out l ine The nest known exampl e o f .

su c h a c odex is the P apyru s of Nebse ni ( B rit Mu s NO . . .

whi c h is 7 7 feet 7 % inc hes in l ength and I foot 1 % in c hes in

breadth Earl y in the X VIIIth dynasty sc ribes began to write
.

the tit l es of the Chapters the rubri c s and the c at c hwords i n , ,

red ink and the text in bl a c k and it be c ame c ustomary to ,

de c orate the vignettes with c o l ours and to inc rease their S ize ,

and number The o l dest c odex of this cl ass is the P apyrus of

.

Nu ( B rit Mus No 1 04 7 7 ) whi c h is 65 feet 3 % inc hes in l ength

. . .
,

and I foot 1 % inc hes in breadth This and many other ro l ls

were written by their owners for their own tombs and in ea c h ,

ro ll both text and vignettes were usuall y the work of the sam e
hand Later howe ver the scribe wrote the te x t onl y and a
.
, , ,

skill ed artist wa s employed to add the c oloured v ignettes fo r ,

 T HE B OOK O F THE DEAD . 7

which Sp a c es were mar ked out a nd l eft bl an k by the scri be

The nest exa m p l e o f this c l ass of ro ll is the Papyru s
.

i n tt nd t xt of th Th b n Book of th
Vg e e a e e e a e Vign tt nd t xt of th Th b n B ook of th
e e a e e e a e
D d f o th P py
ea r m of N
e a m s u . D d f o th P py s of A i
ea r m e a ru n .

[B it M
r . No
us , X VIIIth d y n t y
. as it M No
( Br . us , X VIIIth d y n t y
. as .

( B ri t Mu s No
.
,
. wh ich is 7 8 feet in l e ng th and I foot
3 i n c hes in b rea d th . In all papyri of thi s cl a ss the te x t i s
8 THE B OOK O F T HE DEAD .

written in h i eroglyphs bu t under the X IX th and fo llowing ,

:

dynastie s many p a pyii are written throughout in the hierati c

c hara c ter ! these usua ll y l a c k
vignettes bu t ha v e c o loured ,

frontispIece s .

Under the ru l e of the H igh

P riests of A men many c hanges
!

were in trodu c ed into the c ontents

of the papyri and the arrangement ,

of the texts and vignettes of the

PE R T E M H R U wa s a l tered
-
The .

great c onfraternity of A men R a -

,

the K ing of the Gods fe l t it to

,

be ne c essary to emphasi ze the

suprema c y of their god e ve n in ,

the K ingdom of Osiris and they ,

added many prayers l itanies and ,

hymns to the S un god to e v ery -

se l ection of the texts from the

PE R T E M H KU that w a s C opied
-

on a ro ll of p apyru s for funerary

purpo ses The greater number of
.

the ro ll s of this period are short

and c ontain onl y a few Chapters ,

e g
. . the P apyru s of the Roya l
,

Mother Netch em et ( B rit M u s . .

No 1 054 1 ) and the P apyrus of

.

! ueen N e tch e m e t ( B rit M u s . .

No . In some the text

is v ery defe c ti v e and c are l essl y
written but the c o l oured Vignettes
,

are remarkabl e for their S ize and

beauty ! of this cl ass of ro ll the
nest exampl e is the P apyru s of

Vigne tt e a nd h pt
C a er of th e B ook
A nh a l ( En t Mu s ' NO !

of th e D d w itt in hi ti c
The most interesting of a ll the ro ll s
ea r en e ra

fo H r h b e ru - e m -
e

[B it M that were wr itten duri ng the ru l e

.

r . No us , .

X X VI d y ty o l t of the Priest K ings o ver Up per

) na s r a e
-

Egypt is the P apyr us of P rinc ess N esita nebta sh ru ( Brit Mu s . .

No . now c ommonl y known a s the Green e l d P apyru s .
THE B OOK O F T HE DEAD .

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10 T HE B OOK O F T HE DEAD .

1
It is the l ongest and widest funerary papyrus k nown for ,

it measures 1 2 3 feet by 1 foot 6% in c hes and it c ontains ,

more Chapters H ymns Litanies Adorations and Homages

, , ,

to the gods than any other ro ll The 87 Chap ters from the .

PE R T E M H R U whi c h it c ontains p ro v e the princ ess s de vo
-

tion to the c u l t of Os iri s and the Hymns to A men R Show ,

-

that she was abl e to regard this god and Osiris not as riva l s
but as two aspe c ts of the same god S he be l ie ved that the .

hidden c reati v e power whic h was mate rial i zed i n A men was
onl y another for m of the power of pro c reation renewed birth ,

and resurre c tion wh ic h wa s typi ed by Osiris The o l dest .

c opies of the PE R T E M H R U whi c h we ha v e on papyru s c ontain

-

a few extra c ts from other anc ient funerary works su c h as the ,

Book of Opening the Mouth the Liturgy of Funerary

,

Offerings and the Book of the Two Ways

,

B ut under the .

ru l e of the P riest K ings the scribes in corporated with the

-

Chapters of the PER T E M H R U extra c t s from the Boo k of Ami

-

Tuat and the Book of Gates and se v eral of the v ignettes

,

and te xts that are fou nd on the wall s of the roya l tombs of
The bes .

One of the most remarkabl e texts written at this period is

found in the P apyrus of Nesi K h e nsu whi c h is now in the -
,

Egyp tian Museum in Ca iro This is rea ll y the c opy of a c on .

tra c t whi c h is de cl ared to have been made between Nesi Kh e nsu -

and A men R a the ho ly god the l ord of all the gods

-
,

As a ,
.

reward for the great piet y of the q ueen and her de votion to ,

the interests of A men R upon earth the god undertakes to -

,

make her a godde ss in his kingdom to pro vide her with an ,

estate there in pe rpetuity and a ne ver failing suppl y of offerings -

,

and happiness of heart sou l and body and the [ dail y ! re c ita l
, ,

upo n earth of the S e venty S ongs of R a for the bene t of her

sou l in the K hert Neter or Under Worl d The c ontra c t wa s
-
, .

drawn up i n a series of paragr aphs in l egal phraseo logy by the

priests of A men who be lie ved they had the power of ma king
,

their god do a s they p l eased when they pl eased .

Lit tl e is k nown of the his tory of the PER T E M H R U after the -

downfa ll of the priests of A men and during the period of the ,

ru l e of the Nubians bu t under the kings of the X X VIth dynasty

,

I
T h e l o ges n tp a pyr u s in th e w orl d is P a p yru s H arr i s No 1 ( B it
r

t by t in
. .

Mus . N o 9 99 9 )
. it m e a su re s I 3 3 fee I f oo 4 % ch e s .
12 THE B OOK O F T HE DEAD .

the B ook enj oyed a great vogue Many funerary ro ll s were

.

written both in hieroglyphs and hierati c and were de c orated

,

with vignettes drawn in bl a c k out l ine and about this time the

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T
e
h

g
u
o
h
h
t

d
r
o
g
-
n .
u 3
S 2
e 9
h .

t
O

oN
f

e 2
n
y

j r
u
oB
e
a

h
T

sc ribes began to w rite funerary texts in the demoti c c hara c ter .

B ut men no l onger copied long sel e c tions fro m the PE R T E M

-

H R U a s they had done under the X VIIIth X IX th and X X th

,
 T HE B O O K O F THE DEAD . 13

dynasties p art l y because th e re l ig iou s views of t h e Egyp tians

,

had undergone a grea t cha nge and part l y be c au se a num ber

,

of Books of the Dead of a more popu l ar c haracter h ad a ppeared .

T he cu l t of Os iri s was triumphant e verywhere and me n pre ,

f e rr ed the hym ns and l i ta nies wh ic h dea l t wit h h i s su ff eri ngs ,

dea th and resu rrectio n to the com pos i t ions in whic h the abso l ute
supremacy of R a and
his so l ar cyc l e o f gods
and godde sse s was a s
sumed or p roc l a im e d .

T hu s in the La m e nta
,

tions of Isis and the

Fest iv al So ngs o f Isis
and Ne p hth ys a nd the

,

L i ta nie s of Se ker ,

and the
Boo k o f

Honouri ng Osi ri s etc ,
.
,

t he cent ral gu re is
Os iris a nd h e a l one i s
,

rega rd e d a s t h e g iver
of e verl asting l i fe The .

dead were no l onger

buri e d w i t h l arge ro ll s
o f papy r us ll e d w i t h
Chap t ers o f the PER T -

EM H R O l a i d in t h e ir
co hi ns b u t wit h sm a ll
,

sheet s or st rips of pa

pyrus on whic h were

,

inscri be d the above

c o m posi t io ns or t h e
,

shorter te x ts of the
8 001 O f B rea thi ng i

A copy of Book of th D ea d Ii titled M y m y
a e

e a

or th e Boo k o f Tra


p i od er .

v ersi ng Eterni t y or ,

the Boo k o f May m y na m e ouri sh or a p a rt o f t h e Cha p ter

,

o f t h e Last J udgm ent

.

A ncient Egyp t ia n tradition asserts t h at the Boo k PER T -

EM H RU was used earl y i n the Ist dy nasty an d the p apy ri and

,

co fns of the Roman Peri o d a fford e videnc e that the native

14 THE B OOK O F THE DEAD .

Egyptians still a cc e p ted all the essentia l be l iefs and doc trine s
c ontained in it During the four thou sand years of its existen c e
.

many additions were m ade to it but nothing of importan c e ,

seems to ha v e been ta k en away from it In the Spa c e here .

a v ai l ab l e it i s im po ssib l e to desc ribe in detai l the v ariou s R e c en

sions of this work v iz ( I ) the H eli 0polita n ( 2 ) the Theban and
,
.
, ,

its v ariou s forms and ( 3 ) the S ai te ! but it is proposed to

,

sket c h briey the main fa c ts of the Egyp tian Re l igion whi c h

may be dedu c ed from them genera ll y and espe c ia lly from the ,

Theban R ec ension and to indic ate the c ontents of the princ ipa l
,

Cha p ters No one papyr us c an be c ited a s a na l authority

.
,

for no payp ru s contains a ll the Chap ters 1 90 in number of th e , ,

The b an R ec ensi on and in no two papyri are the se le c tio n and

,

se quence of the Chapters i denti c a l or is the treatment of the ,

vi gnettes the same .

IV .

T HO T H T H E A U T HO R
,
OF T H E BOO OF T H E K DE A D .

Thoth i n ,
Egyptian Tch e h u ti or Te h u ti ,
or
: 3
who has al r eady been mentioned as the aut hor
of the texts that form the PE R T E M H R U or Boo k of the Dead -
, ,

wa s be l ieved by the Egyptians to ha v e been the heart and mind

of the Creator who was in very earl y times in,

Egypt c a ll ed by the nati ves Pa u tti and by ,

fore i gners R a Thoth was al so the tongue .

of the Creator and he at a ll t imes voic ed the wi ll

,

of the great god and Spoke the words whi c h c om ,

m a nd ed e v ery being a nd thing in hea v en and in

earth to c ome into existen c e H is words were .

al mighty and on c e uttered ne v er remained without

T h ti ( Th oth ) effe c t
e u H e framed the l aws by whi c h hea v en earth
.
,

and all the hea venl y bodies are main tained ! he

,

ordered the c ourses of the su n moon and stars ! he in vented , ,

dr awing and design and the art s th e l etters of the a l phabe t and ,

the art of writing and the scien c e of mathemati c s At a very

,
.
16 T HE B OOK O F THE DE AD .

and the nation wa s happy and prosperous S et mar ked this .

and be c ame v ery j ea l ous of h is brother and wished to Sl ay him ,

so that he might seize h is throne and take possession of Isis ,

whose reputation a s a de voted and l o v ing wife and abl e manager

ll ed the c ou ntry By some means or other S et did contri ve to
.

ki ll Osiris : a cc ording to one story he k ill ed him by the S ide

of a c ana l at Ne t at
M M M
o
,
! near A bydos and a cc ord i ng
,

to another he c au se d him to be drowned Isis a cc ompanied .

,

by her sister Nephthys went to Ne t a t and resc ued the body o f

,

her lord and the two S isters with the he lp of A npu a son of
, , ,

R a th e S un god emba l med it

-
,
They then l aid the body in a .

tomb and a sy c amore tree grew round it and ourished o v er

,

the gra v e A tradition whi c h is found in the P yramid Text s

.

states that before Osiris w a s l aid in h is tomb h is wife Isis , ,

by means of her magi c a l powers su c ,

ce e d e d in restoring him to l ife temporari l y ,

and m ade him beget o f her an heir who ,

wa s c a ll ed Horus A fter the buria l of .

Osiris Isis retreated t o the m arshes in ,

t he De l ta an d there sh e brought f orth ,

Horus In order t o a v oid the perse c ution .

of S et who on one o cc asion su cc eede d ,

in k ill ing Horus by the sting o f a s c orpion ,

sh e ed f rom p l a c e t o p l a c e in the De l ta ,

and l i v ed a very unhappy l i f e for some

years B ut Thoth he l pe d her in a ll her .

di f c u l ties an d p ro v ide d her with t he

words of power whi c h restored Horus to
l ife and enab l e d her to pass unharmed,

among the c ro c o d il es and other e v i l

beasts t hat infested the waters of the
H o s of Ed f
ru p i ng th D
u s
e l t
eara at that time e

W hen H orus arri v ed at years of

mat urity he set ou t to n d S et and t o wage war against
,

h is father s murderer

At l ength they met and a er c e ght
.

ensued and though S et w a s defeated before he wa s na ll y

,

hurl ed t o t he ground he su cc eeded in tearing ou t the right eye

,

of H oru s and keeping it Ev en after this ght S et w a s ab l e .

to perse c ut e Isi s an d Horu s w a s power l ess to pre v ent it

,
 T HE B OO K O F THE DE AD . 17

un t il Thoth made Set gi v e hi m the right e ye of Horus whi c h

h e had c arried off Thoth then brough t t he eye t o Horu s
.
,

and rep l a c ed it in h is fa c e and restored S igh t to it by

,

S pit t ing upon i t Horus then sought ou t the body of Osiris

.

In order t o raise it up to l ife and when he found it he ,

un t ied t he bandages so t hat Osiri s might mo ve h is l imbs ,

and rise up Under the dire c tion of Thoth Horus re c ite d

.

a series of form u l as as he presented o fferings t o Osiris and ,

T H E FO U R S O NS or H ow s .

N e sta . H i
ap .
'

l uam u te f .
e h se nnu f .

he and his so ns a nd Anubis pe rfonn ed t he ceremonies whi c h

ope ned th e m ou t h and n ostri l s and t he e v es and t he ears of
, ,

A n bi s sta ndi ng by th e bi e
u r of th e d d
ea .

I) 2
18 TH E B OOK or TH E DEAD .

Osiris He embra c ed Osiris and so transferred to him h is ka

.
,

i e h is own l i v ing persona l ity a n d v iri l ity and ga v e him h is

. .
, ,

eye whi c h Thoth had res c ued from S et and had rep la c ed
in h is fa c e As soon a s Osiris h a d e a te n t he eye of Horus he

be c ame endowed with a sou l a n d v ita l power and re c o v ered ,

t hereby the Comp l ete u se of a ll h is menta l fa c u l ties whi c h death ,

had suspended S traightway he rose up from h is bier and

.

be c ame the Lord of the Dead and K ing of the Under Worl d .

Osiris be c ame the type and sy m bo l of resurre c t ion among

t he Egyptians of a ll period s be c au se he was a god who had ,

been ori ginall y a morta l and had risen from the dead .

But before Osiris be c ame K ing of the Under Worl d he su ffered

further perse c ution from S et P ie c ing together a number of .

disc onne c ted hints and brief statements in the texts it seem s ,

pretty cl ear either that O siris a p pea l ed to the Great Gods

to take notic e that S et had murdered him or that S et brought a ,

series of c harges against O siris At a ll e vent s the Great God s .

determined to investigate the matter The Greater and the .

Lesser Companies of the Gods assembl ed in the c e l estia l A nu or ,

H e l io po l is and ordered Osiris to stand up and defend himse l f

,

against the c harges brought against him by S et Isis and .

Nephthys brought him before the gods and H oru s the , ,

a venger of h is father cam e to wat c h the c ase on be ha l f of
,

h is father Os iris Thoth appeared in the H a ll of J udgment in

,
.

h is o f c ia l c apa c ity a s sc ribe i e se c retary to the gods and ,
. .
, ,

the hearing of the e v idenc e began S et seem s to ha v e pl eaded .

his own c au se and to ha ve repeated the c harges whi c h he had

,

made against O siris The defenc e of O siris wa s undertaken by

.

Thoth who pro ved to the gods that the c harges brought against
,

O siri s by S et were u nfounded that the statement s of S et were ,

l ies and that therefore S et wa s a l iar

,
The gods a cc ep t ed .

Thoth s proof of the inno c enc e of Osiris and the gui l t of S et a nd

,

ordered that Osiris w a s to be c onsidered a Great God and to ha v e

ru l e o v er the K ingdom of the Under Worl d and that S et wa s to ,

be punished Thoth c on vinc ed them that Osiris wa s M A A

.

K H ER U ,

g
Eg ) , true of word ,

i . e
.
,
that he had
S poken the truth when he ga ve h i e v idenc e and in texts of a ll
s ,

periods Thot h is fre quent ly desc ribed a s S M A A K H ER U AS AR -

,
 THE B OOK O F T HE DEAD . l9

!
[I: P
r-
he who pro ved Osiris to be
. true

of wo rd A s for Se t the Liar he was seized by the min i sters
.
,

of t he Great Gods who threw him down on h is ha nds and face ,

and made Osiris mount upon h is ba ck as a mark of his v ictory

and su pe riority A fter this Se t was bound with cords l ike a
.

beas t for sa c ri ce and in the pre senc e of Thoth was hacked in

,

pieces .

O S IRI S AS J U DG E or T H E DE A D A N D K IN G on T H E U N D ER
\VO R L D .

When Se t was destro y ed Osiris depa rte d from th i s worl d to

t he kingdom whic h the god s had gi ven him and began to re ign
o ver the d ea d He was abso l ute ki ng of t hi s rea l m j ust a s R a
.
,

t he S un god wa s abso l ute ki ng of t h e s ky Thi s reg ion o f the

"

-
.

d ead or Dead
,
-
l a nd i s ca l l ed
,

Tat ,

3
% g . or Tuat ,

3k
: 3
, bu t w h ere the Egypt ia ns thoug h t i t was situated
is not quite c l ear The o ri gina l home o f the cu l t o f Os iri s wa s
.

in t he De l ta i n a cit y which in historic t i m es wa s c a l l ed Te t u by

,

the Egyp t i ans and Busiris by the Gree k s and it is reasonabl e ,

t o a ssume that the l ua t o ver which Osiri s ru led was situated '

, ,

near this pl ace Wherever i t was i t was not u nd erground a nd

.
,

i t wa s not origina ll y in the Sky or e ven on it s c on nes ! bu t i t

was loca ted on the bord ers o f the vi sibl e worl d in t h e Outer ,

Dar k ne ss The Tuat was not a pla ce of ha p pi ne ss j udging fro m

.
,

t he d esc ript ion of it in the PER T EM HRU or Boo k of the Dead -

,
.

W hen A n i the scri be arri ved t h ere he sa id What is t h is to which ,

I ha ve co m e T here is neither water nor air h ere i t s depth ,

is u nfatho m abl e it is as dar k as the dar kest night and men, ,

wander abou t here he l pl essly A man c annot l ive here and .

be sat i sed and he ca nnot grat ify the c ra v ings of a ffection

,

( Chapte r CL X X V In the Tuat there was neit h er tree nor pl a n t ,

for it wa s the l and where noth i ng grew a nd in p ri mi t ive
ti m es it was a region of destruction a nd death a p l ace where ,

the dead rot ted and deca y e d a pla c e o f abomination and horror , ,

and terror and annihi l atio n B ut in very ear ly t im es certainl y

, .
,
20 TH E B OOK O F T H E D EAD .

in the N eolithic Period the E gyptians believed in some kin d of

,

a future life and they dimly conceived that the attainment of

,

that life might possibly depend upon the manner of life which
those who hoped to enj oy it led here The E gyptians hated .

death and lo v ed life and when the be lief gained ground among

,

them that Osiri s the God of the De ad had himself risen from
, ,

the dead and had been acquit ted by the gods of heaven after
,

a searching trial and had the power to make men and women
,

to be born again and to renew life because of h is truth
,

and righteousness they came to regard him a s the Judge a s

,

well a s the God of the Dead As time went on and moral and
.
,

r eligiou s ideas developed among the E gyptians it became ,

certain to them that only those who had satised Osiris a s to

their tru th speaking and honest dealing u pon earth could hope
-

for admission into his kingdom .

When the po w er of Osiris became predominant in the U nder

World and his fame a s a j ust and righteous j udge became well
,

established among th e natives of Lower and Upper E gypt it ,

was u niversally believed that after death all men would ap pear
before him in his dread Hall of Judgment to receive their
reward or their sentence of doom The writers of the Pyramid .

Texts more than fty v e centuries ago dreamed of a time

,
-
,

when heaven and ea rth and men did not exist when the gods ,

had not yet been born w hen death had not been created
, ,

$ 8 75 : $8: * f a

[m
l A
! K , and when anger
1
,

speech ( ) cursing and rebelli on w ere unkno wn

P
,
B ut that .

time was very remote and long before the great ght took
,

place between Horu s and Set when the former lost his eye and
,

the lat ter w a s wounded in a vital part of h is body Meanwhile .

death had come into the world and since the religion of Osiris ,

gave man a hope of escape from death and the promise of ever ,

l asting l ife of the peculiar k ind that appealed to the great m ass
of the E gyptian p eople the Spread of the cult of Osiri s and its
,

ultimate triumph over all forms of rel igion in E gypt were assured .

U nder the early dynasties the priesthood of Ann ( the On o f

1
P yram i d of P epi I , 11 . 6 64 an d 66 2 .
 TH E B OO K O F THE DE AD . 21

the B ible ) strove to make their Sun god R a pre eminent in - -

Egypt but the cult of this god never appealed to the people a s
,

a whole It was embraced by the Pharaohs and their hig h

.
,

of cials and some of the nobles and the

, ,

ofc ial priesthood but the re w ard which

,

its doctrine off ered w as not popular w ith

the materialistic E gyptians A life passed .

in the Boat of R5 wi th the gods being .

,

arrayed in light and fed upon light made ,

no appeal to the ordinary folk since Osiris

o ffered them as a reward a life in the Field
of R eeds and the F ield of Offering s of
,

Foo d and the F ield of t he Grasshoppers

, ,

and everlasting existence in a t ransmuted

and bea tied body among the resu rrec t ed
bod ies of fat h er and mother w ife and ,

children k insfolk and friends

,
.

But as according to the cult of R5 the

, ,

wicked t h e re bels and the blasphemers of

, ,

the Sun god su ffered swift a nd nal punish

-

ment so al so all t h ose w ho ha d sinned

,

against the stern mora l La w o f Os iris and its th S n god , e u - .

wh o ha d failed to sa tisfy it s demands ,

p a i d t h e pena l ty wi thout dela y The Jud gment of R a was held

.

at sunrise and t h e wicked we re thrown into deep pits fi lled

,

wit h fire and their bodies souls shadows and hearts were con
, , .

sumed forthwith The Judgment of Osiris took place near

.

Abydos probably at midnig h t a nd Ia decree of swift ann ih ilation

, ,

wa s p ssed by him on the dam ned Their heads were cut o ff bv

a .

t he headsman of Osiris who was called Shesm u, ,

and t h eir bodies dismem bered and destroyed in pits of re .

Th ere w as no eternal pu nishment for men for the wic ked were ,

annih ilated quickly and completely but ina smuch as Osiris sat
in j udgment and doomed the wicked to destruction daily the ,

in iction of pu nishment never cease d .

22 TH E B OO K O F T H E DEAD .

V II .

TH E J U D GM E N T OF OS I ISR .

The oldest religious texts suggest that the E gyptians al w ays

associated the Last Judgment w ith the weighing of the heart
in a pair of scales and in the illu strated papyri of the B ook of
,

the Dead great prominence is always gi v en to the vignettes in

w hich this weighing is being carried out . The heart ,
db

was taken a s the symbol of all the emotions desires and passio ns , , ,

both good and evil and ou t of it proceeded the issues of life

,
.

It was inti mately connected with the ka Li i

-
, . a . the double
, ,
l
or personality of a man and several short spells in the Book ,

PER T E M H R U w ere composed to ensure its preservation ( Chapter s

-

XXVI X X X B ) The great Chapter of the Judgment of Osiris

.
,

the C X X Vth i s divided into three parts w hi ch are sometime s

, ,

( a s in the Papyru s of A ni ) prefaced by a Hymn to Osiris The .

r st part contains the follo w ing w hi ch wa s said by the deceased ,

w hen he entered the Ha ll of Ma a ti in whi ch O siris sa t in ,

j udgm ent :
Homage to thee 0 Great God Lord of M a a ti I have com e
,
1
, ,

to thee O my Lord that I may behold thy be ne cence I

, ,
.

know thee and I kno w thy name and the names of the Forty
, ,

T w o who li v e with thee in the Hall of Ma a ti who keep ward ,

over sinn ers and feed upo n their blood on the day of estimatin g
,

3
characters before Un Nefe r Behold I have come to
-
,

thee and I ha v e brought m a d t

,
t ruth integrity ) to thee ,
.

I have destroyed sin for thee I ha v e not sinned against men . .

I have not O ppressed [ my ! kinsfolk I ha v e done no wrong .

the place of tru th I have not kno w n worthless folk I have

. .

not wrought e v il I have not defrauded the O ppressed one

.

of h is goods I ha v e not done the things that the god s

,
.

abominate I have not vil ied a servant to h is master I
. .

have not cau sed pain I have not let any man hunger I . .

have made no one to w eep I have not committed murder . .

I have not commanded any to commit murder for me I ha v e .

in icted pain on no man I have not defrauded the temple s .

1
rut h or L aw i n a d ou bl e asp e ct
T
name of O si ri s
.
, ,

2
A .
24 TH E B OO K O F TH E DEAD .

O Maa anu f comer forth from Per Menu I have not d eled
-
,
-
,

myself .

O Tem Sep comer forth from Te t u I have not cursed the king
-
, ,
.

O Nefer Tem comer forth from Het k a Ptah I have not acted
-
,
- -
,

deceitfully I have not committed wickedness.

.

O N ekh en comer forth from He qat I have not turned a deaf

, ,

ear to the words of the Law ( or Tru th )
The names of most of the Forty Two gods are not ancient -
,

but w ere invented by the priests probably about the same time
a s the names in the Book of Him that is in the Tuat and

t he Book of Gates i 6 between the X IIth and the X VIIIth

,
. .
,

d ynasties Their articial character is shown by their mean

.

ings Thus Usekh nem m it means He of the long strides
.
-

Fen t i means He of the N ose N eha h a u means Stinking -

members ! Se t q esu means Breaker of bones etc The
-
,
.

e arly E gyptologists calle d the second part of the CX X Vth

Chapter the N egative Confession and it is generally known ,

by this somewhat inexact title to this day .

In the third part of the C X X Vth Chapter comes the address

w hich the deceased made to the gods after he had declared his
innocence of the sins enumerated before the Forty Two gods -
.

He says Homage to you 0 ye gods wh o d well in your Hall ,

~

of Ma a ti I know you and I know your names Let me not

. .

fall under your slaughtering kni ves Bring not my wickedness .

to the notice of the god w hose followers ye are Let not the .

af fair [
of my j udgment ! come under your j urisdiction Spe ak .

1
ye the Law ( or tru th ) concerni ng me before Neb er tcher v -
,

for I performed the La w ( or tru th ) in Ta mer a E gyp t ) ,

-
.

I have not blasphemed the God N o affair of mine came under .

the notice of the king in h is day Homage to you 0 ye who .

,

are in your Hall of Ma a ti who have no lies in your bodies , ,

who li v e on truth who eat tru th before Horu s the dweller
, ,

2
in his disk deliver ye me from Babai who liveth upon the
,

entrails of the mighty ones on the day of the Great R eckoning

k
G
( APT AAT . Behold me ! I have come

1
the Lor d to t h e utterm ost l i m i t of e v er yt hi n g ,

or God .

h e w as accord i n g to on e l eg end t h e
rstborn son of O i ri
s s .
 THE B OO K O F T H E DEAD . 25

to you withou t sin wi thou t deceit ( ) without evil withou t

,
P
, ,

f al se testimony ( P) I have not done an [evil ! thing I live u po n .

truth and I feed u pon truth I have performed the behests .

of men and the things that satisfy t h e gods

,
1
I have pro .

itia te d the God [ by doing ! His wi ll I have g iven b read to the

p .

hungry water to the thirsty raiment to the naked and a boat

, , ,

to him that needed one I have made holy o ff erings to the .

gods and sepulchral o fferi ngs to the bea tied dead Be ye

,
.

then my sa viours be ye my protectors and make no accu sa

, ,

tion a g ainst me before the Great God I am pure of mouth .

,

and clea n o f hand s therefore it hath been sai d by those wh o

saw me Come in peace come in peace
, ,
. .

The decease d then addresses Osiris and says Hail thou , , ,

who art exa l ted u pon thy sta ndard t h ou Lord of the Atefu ,

C rown who se name is Lord of Winds save me from t h y

, ,

Messe ng ers ( or Assessm s) with uncovered faces w h o bring ,

charges of e vil and ma k e shortcoming s plain because I have ,

performed the Law ( or Truth ) for the L ord o f the Law ( or

T rut h ) I h ave pu rifi ed myse lf wi th wa sh ings in water my
.
,

bac k h ath bee n cleanse d wi th salt and my inner parts are in ,

t h e Poo l of T rut h T here is not a member o f mine that

.

l acket h t ru t h From the lines that follow the above in the

"
.

Pa py r us of N u it seem s as thoug h the j udgment of the deceased

by t h e Forty T wo gods wa s preliminary to the fina l j udgment
-

of Osiri s A t a ll event s a f ter questioning him about the per

.
,

form a nce of certain ceremonies the y invited him to enter the ,

Hal l of Ma a ti bu t wh e n he was about to do so the porter and

, ,

the door bolts and t h e variou s part s o f the door and its f rame
-
, ,

a nd t h e oor re fu se d to permit h im to e nter u ntil he had repeated

,

their magical names Wh e n he had pronounced t h ese correctly

.

the porter took him in and presented h im to Ma a u ( P) Taui who -

,

wa s Th oth h im self Wh en asked by him why he h ad come the

.

decease d answered I have come that report may be made of
,

me . The n Tho th said Wh at is thy cond ition P, A nd
the deceased replie d I am puried from e vil t h ings I am free
, ,

f rom t h e w ic k e d ne ss of those w ho lived in my days I am not

one of them On this T hoth said
. Thou shalt be re ported ,
.

[ Tel l me Who is he whose roof is fi re whose walls are living ,

I hav e k e p t t he M ral
o a nd Divi ne L aw .
 T HE B OO K O F TH E DEAD . 27

serpe nt s and whose floor is a stream o f water ! Wh o is

,

he P The decea sed havi ng re p lied Osiri s Th ot h t h en ,

led h im forward to the g od Osiri s who received him and p ro , ,

m ise d t h at su b sistence should be provided for h i m f rom the

Eye o f R a .

In great papyri of the Book o f the Dea d suc h as those o f

Nebse ni N u A ni H u ne fe r e tc t h e Last J ud gment or t h e
, , , ,
.
, ,

G reat R ecko ning is made the most prominent scene i n the

,

whole wor k and the vignette in which it is depicte d is several

,

fee t long T he most complete form of it is given in the Papyru s

.

of A ni and may be t h u s desc ri bed A t one e nd o f the Hall o f

,

Ma a ti Osiris is se ated o n a throne within a shrine made in th e

form of a fu nerary co ffer ! behin d him stand Isi s an d N epht h ys .

Al o ng one si de of the Hall a re seated t h e gods Harmachis ,

T em S h u Te fnu t Ge b N ut I sis and N epht hy s H or us Hathor

, , , , , , , ,

H u and Saa who are to serve as the divi ne j u ry

, these formed

the G reat Com pa ny o f the God s o f Ann ( Hel iopolis ) By

.

the se stands t h e Great B a la nce a nd on it s p illar sits the dog

'

hea d ed a pe A st es or Aste nu t h e a ssoc iate of Thot h T he

, , .

po inter of the Ba lance is in t h e c h arge o f A npu Be h ind A np u .

are Th oth t h e scri be of the gods a nd the monster Am e m it with , ,

t h e h ead o f a croco d ile the fore p a ws a nd shoulders of a l ion

, ,

a nd t h e h indqua rters o f a hippo potamu s ! t h e d uty o f the last

na med was to eat up the hearts tha t were light in the balance .

On the ot h er sid e o f the Ba l ance A ni accom panied by h is wife , ,

is see n standing wit h h ead be nt low in ad orat ion and between ,

him and the Balance stand the two godde sse s who nurse and
rear c h ildren Me skhe ne t a nd Renne t A ni s soul in the form of
, ,

,

a man hea d e d h aw k a portion o f h is body an d h is l uc k Shai

-
, , .

Since t h e he a rt was consid ered to be the se at of all will emot i on , ,

fee ling reason and intel l igence A ni s heart 0 is seen in

, ,

, ,

o ne pa n o f the Balance and , in the ot h er is t h e feather ,

B ,

sym bo l ic of tru th and righteousness Whilst his h eart was in .

the Ba la nce A ni repeating the words of Chapter X X X B o f the

,

Boo k of the Dead addre ssed it sa ying My heart of my
, , ,

mot h er ! My heart o f my mother 2 My heart of my be i ng

Ma k e no stand against me w h en testifying thrust me not ,

bac k before the Tch a tcha u t the overseers of O siris ) and ,

make no fa ilure in respe c t o f me before the Master of the

 THE B OO K O F THE D EAD . 29

Balance Thou a rt my K a the dweller in my bo d y u niting ( P)

.
, ,

and strengthening my members Thou shalt come forth to .

the happiness to which we advan ce Make not my name to .

st ink with the of cers [ o f Osiri s ! who made men utter no lie ,

against me before the G reat God t h e Lord of Am entt ,
.

Th en Thoth the Judge of Truth of the G reat Company o f

, ,

the Gods w ho are in the presence o f Osiri s saith to the gods , ,

Hearken ye to this word In very truth the heart o f Osiris

hath bee n weig h ed and his soul h at h borne testimony con

,

cerning him ! according to t h e G reat B alance his case is

tru th j u st ) N o wi ckedness hath been found in him He
. .

did not lch o fferings from the temples He did not ac t .

crookedly and h e did not vi l ify folk when he was on earth

,

.

A nd the G reat Com pa ny of the God s say to Thoth w h o ,

dwelleth in Kh e m e nu ( Hermopolis ) : This that comet h

fort h from thy mout h of t ru th is co nrmed ( P) The Osiris ,

t h e scri be A ni t rue of voice h ath testied He hat h no t

, ,
.

sinned and [ h is n a me ! d oth not stin k before u s ! Am em it

the Ea ter of t h e De ad ) shal l not have the mastery over

him L et there be given unto h im o fferings of foo d and an

.

a ppeara nce be fore Osiri s a nd a n abid ing homestea d in the

,

Field of Offering s as u nto the Followers o f Horus .

T hu s t h e gods h ave dec l ared t h at A ni is true of voice

,

as was Osiri s and t h ey h ave calle d A ni Os iri s becau se in his
, ,

pu rity o f word an d deed h e rese m bled that god I n all the .

co p ies o f the Boo k o f the Dead the d eceased is a l ways ca l led

Os iri s a nd as it was always assumed that t h ose for whom
,

t h ey were written would be foun d i nnocent when weig hed in

t h e G reat Balance t h e word s t rue of voice , wh ich were ,

equivalent in me a ni ng to innocent and acquitted were a l ways

,

wri tten after t h eir na mes I t may be noted in p assing tha t

.

w hen A ni s hea rt was weighed a gainst T ru th t h e beam o f t h e ,

G reat Bala nce remained pe rfectl y hori zontal This suggests that .

the god s did not ex pect the heart o f the deceased to kic k the

beam bu t were quite satised i f it exactly counterbalanced
,

T rut h They demanded the fullment of the Law and nothing

.

more and were content to be sto w immortalit y u pon the man

,

on whom Th oth s verdict was he hath done no evil ,
a
30 TH E B OO K O F TH E DE AD .

In a ccordance w ith the command of the gods A ni passes

from the Great Balance to the end of the Hall of Ma a ti where
O siris is seated and a s he approaches the god Horu s the son of
, ,

Isis takes him by the hand and leads him forward and standing
, ,

before h is father O siris says I have come to thee Un Nefer

,
1
,
-
,

I ha v e brought to thee the Osiris A ni H is heart is righteou s .

and
[ ! hath come forth from the Balance It hath no sin .

before any god or any goddess Thoth h a th set down h is .

'

j udgment in writing and the Company of the Gods have

,

declared on h is behalf that [ h is! e v idence is very true Let .

there be gi v en u nto him of the bread and beer which appear

before Osiris Let him be like the Followers of Horu s for

.

e v er N ext w e see A ni kneeling in adoration before Osiris ,

and he says Behold I am in thy presence 0 Lord of Am entt

, , ,
.

There is no sin in my body I have no t u ttered a lie kno w .

ingly I ha v e ! no duplicity ( ) Grant that I may be like

[
.
P

the favoured (or re w arded ) ones w ho are in thy train U nder .

favour of Osiris A ni then became a

sd /zu ,
! g , or
spirit -
bod v ,
and in this form passed into the K ingdom of
Os iris .

VI II .

TH E K I NGD O M or O snu s .

A ccording to the Book of Gates and the other Guides to

the E gyptian U nder World the K ingdom of Osiris formed the
,

Sixth Division of the Tuat in very early times it wa s situated

in the Western Delta but after the X IIth dynasty theologians
,

placed it near Abydos in Upper Egypt and before the close ,

of the Dynastic Period the Tuat of Osiri s had absorbed the

U nder World of e v ery nome of E gypt When the soul in its .

be a ti ed or Spiri t body arrived there the ministers of O s iris

'

.
,

took it to the homestead or place of abode whi ch had been

a llotted to it by the command of Osiris and there it began its ,

new existence The large vignette to the C X th Chapter sho w s

.

u s exactly w hat manner of pla ce the abode of the blessed wa s .

The country w a s a t and the elds were intersec ted by canals

the B e n e ce nt B e i ng ,

a t i tl e of O i ri
s s .
32 T H E B OOK O F TH E DEAD .

Osiris says to them , ! are truth of tru th rest in peace
e .

A nd of them he says , They were doers of truth whilst they were

u pon earth they did battle for their god and they shall be
, ,

called to the enj oyment of the Land of the House of L i fe with

 TH E B OO K O F TH E D EAD . 33

Truth The ir tru th shall be reckoned to them in the presence

.

of the Great God who destroyeth sin Then addressi ng them .

again Osiri s says ! e are beings of Truth 0 ye Tru ths

, Take , .

ye your rest becau se of what ye have done becom i ng even ,

as those who are in my foll owi ng and who direct the Hou se ,

of H im whose Soul is ho l y ! e sh a ll live there even as they .

live an d ye sh all have dom i ni on over the cool waters of your

,

land I command that y e have your being to the l imit [

. of

t h a t land ! wi th T ruth an d withou t sin In these p assa ges .

we h ave the two conceptions of Os iri s wel l illustrate d A s the .

Wh eat god h e wou l d satis fy t h ose who wi shed for a purely

-

material agricu l tural heaven where hu nger woul d be u nknown

, ,

and whe re th e ble ssed would be able to satis fy every ph y si ca l

desire and want da il y ! and as t h e God o f T ru t h o f w h om the ,

spiri tuall y m inded h o pe d to become th e cou nterp a rt h e would ,

be t h eir h0pe and co nsolation an d t h e ima ge o f t h e E te rn al

, ,

IX

A S HO RT D E C RIP I N S TO or THE D OO RS 0R C HA PT E RS or
m e Boox or m e D EA D .

Allt h e gre a t pa py ri o f t h e Boo k o f t h e Dea d be gin with a

H ! M N TO RR who from the period o f t h e IVth d y nast y was the

Ki ng o f t h e God s o f Egyp t H i s cu l t was na lly esta b

.

lished un d er the Vth dy na st y when t h e k i ng o f E gypt be gan

to ca ll him se l f in o ffi c ia l d ocume nts an d monument s So n o f t h e
9
g

Sun , 5 a Rd . This H ym n is suppose d to be su ng by
t h e deceased who says , :

H om age to t hee O
at t hy beauteous ri si n g Thou ri se st
Ra
t hou ri sest ! thou shi nest t hou shi nes t at t he d awn Thou art Ki n g
.
, , ,

of t h e Gods an d t h e M aa t i g odd esse s em brace t h ee The C om pany of

.
,

t he God s p rai se t hee at sunri se an d at sunset Thou sa ilest ov er t h e

.
,

heights of heav en an d t hy heart is gl ad Thy M orn i n g B oat meeteth

.

t hy E veni n g B oat wi t h f ai r wi n d s Thy f ath er is t he S ky god an d t hy

.

m oth er is t he S ky godd ess an d t hou art H oru s of th e E astern an d

.

W estern ski es O t hou O nl y O ne 0 t hou P er fe ct O ne 0

,

t hou w h o art eterna l w h o art ne v er weak w hom no m ight y one ca n

.
, ,

abase ! n one hat h d om i ni on ov er t he t hi n gs w hi ch appertai n to t hee

, ,

H omag e to t h ee i n t hy characters of H orus T e rn an d K he pera t hou

.

G reat H aw k w h o mak est man to rej oi ce by thy beautif ul f ace W hen

, , ,

t hou ri sest men an d w omen l iv e Thou renewe st t hy y out h an d d ost

.
,

. ,
34 THE B OOK O F TH E DEAD .

se t t hyse l f i n t h e pl ace w h ere t hou wast y ester d ay 0 D ivi ne ! out h

w h o art se l f create d I cann ot com p re h en d t h ee Thou art t he l or d
.
,

of h ea v en an d eart h a n d d idst create b e i n gs ce l esti al an d b e i n gs

.
,

terrestri a l Thou art th e God O ne w h o camest i nt o be i n g i n t h e

,

be gi nni n g of t i me Thou didst create the earth an d man t hou di d st

.
,

m a k e t h e sk y an d th e cel esti al riv er H e p ! t h ou didst mak e th e waters

.
, ,

an d d idst giv e li f e unt o all t h at t h ere i n is Th ou h as t k n i t t og et h er t h e

m ountai ns th ou h as t mad e man ki n d a nd t h e b easts of t h e e l d to come
.

i nto b ei ng a nd hast mad e th e heav ens a nd t he eart h The en d N a k

,

is ov ert hr own hi s arm s are cu t o O t hou Di v i ne ! out h t h ou hei r

.
,

of e v er l as ti n gness se lf b e g otten a n d se l f b orn O ne Migh t of m yri ad

.
, ,

- -

forms and as p ects Pri n ce of A1 1 O n) L ord of E terni t y E v er l asti n g

, , , ,

R ul er t h e C om p an y of t h e G od s rej oi ce i n t h ee A s t h ou ri se st t h ou
, , ,

g h p f Th b
.
,

g r ow es t reater : t y ra y s are u on a ll a ce s o u art un k n owa l e

an d n o t on gu e ca n d escribe t h y Si mi li tu d e t h ou existest al one
.
,

Mil li ons of years h av e passe d ov er the w orl d I cannot tell t he number

.

of t h os e thr ou gh w hi ch th ou h ast p ass e d Thou j ou rneyest thr ou gh

,

sp a ces [ re qui ri n g! m illi on s of y ears [to p as s ov er! i n on e li ttl e m oment

.

of ti me a n d t h en t h ou settes t a n d d ost mak e an en d of t h e h ours

.
,

The su bj ect matter of the above extract is treated at greater

length in Chapter XV which co ntains a long Hymn to R a at h is ,

ri sing or A men R a or Ra u nited to other solar gods 6 g Horu s

,
-
, ,
. .
,

and Kh epe r a and a short Hymn to Ra at hi s setting In the

,
.

latter the welcome which R a receives from the dwellers in

Am entt the Hidden Place like the Greek Hades is ,

emphasi zed thus

A ll t he
d ead (A k h ) i n t h e T uat re eiv e hi i n the
be a ti e d a u c m

hori on of A
z Th ey hout prai e of hi i n h i form of T e n
m e ntt S s s m s r

th e etti n g Th d d i p g h t hou
.

) s o u i t r e d
su n ut o tren t d s s an n s an

ette t a livi n g b e i n g an d t hy gl ori e are i n A The god of

.
,

s s s m e n tt s

rej oi e i n t hy b eaut i e ( o b ) Th e hi dd en one

.
, ,

A m e n tt c s r e ne ce n ce s

w or hip t h ee t h e ag e d one bri n g t hee off eri n g d p r ote t t h e T he

.

s s s an c e

h h h M i
.
,

S oul of A
s y o d w
m e ntt en t e y meet
cr t y aj e t y
u t, ( L f
an e s

S tren gt h H eal t h b o t h ee l ) t h e y h out H ai l ! H ai l ! Th e l ord

,

e t s s

of t h e man i on of t h e Tuat tret h o t he i r h an d o t h ee fr om t he i r

,

s s s c u t s t
abod e d they
s, a n y o t h ee an d t h e y f o ll o
crw i n t h y b righ
t t tra i n d an

t he h eart of t he l ord of t he T uat rej oi e w h en t hou en d e t t hy li g h t

, ,

s s c s s

i nt o A Thei r ey e f oll ow th ee they pre f orwar d o t hee

m e ntt s ss t se e

an d t he ir h eart rej oi e at t h e ight of t hy f a e Thou h k

.
, ,

s c o s c ear e n e st t
t he p eti ti on o t h o e w h o are i n t h ei r t om b t hou di p l t h e i r h e l p
.

s f s s, s el est

l e ne an d d i
ss ss away e vil fr om t h em Thou giv e t b reat h o t he i r
r v est s t
n o tril T h ou art great l y f eare d t h y f orm i maj e ti d v er y
.

s s s s c, an

g reatl y art thou bel ov ed by t h o e w h o d well i n th e Oth er W orl d

.
,

s .
 TH E B OO K O F TH E D EAD . 35

Th e Introductory H ! M N TO Ra is f oll owed by a H ! MN TO

O S I RI S in w h ic h the deceased says
,

Gl ory be o th ee o O i ri U N t hou great god i n Ab tu

D

t s s n- e fer,

( A byd o ) K i n g of E t r i t y L or d of E v erl a ti n g ne God w ho e

,

s e n s ss, s

xi ten e i mil li on of y ear eld e t o b egotten by G b th e

, ,

e s c s f N s s, s s n o u t, e

A n e t or C hi e f L or d of h C r own of th e S out h an d t h e N orth L or d

,

cs -
t e s

of t h e High Vh i Thou art th e G overn or of god an d of men

, ,

C r own \ te s

d h t re e iv ed t he e p tre th e w hip an d t h e ran k of thy D ivi ne

.

an as c sc

F ath e Let th y h e rt i n A be ontent fo thy o H or

, ,

rs a m e ntt c r s n us

e te d u pon t hy throne Thou art L or d of T e tu ( B u i ri ) an d

.
,

i
s s a s s

Gov ern or of Abtu ( Abyd o ) Thou mak e t ferti l e th e Two Lan d

.

s s s

ll E gyp t ) by [thy! true w or d be f ore th e Lor d o th e U tterm o t Li m i t

.

a t s

Thy power i wi d e pread and great i t he terror of thy n e

.

s s s am

Thou d f o all etern i t y i n t hy n m of

,

O ii
s r s

en u r estU N e i er r a e n-

B ei n g ) H omage o t hee K i n g of ki ng Lor d of

.

B e ne ce nt t s,

l ord Gov ern or of gov ernor w h o fr om t h e w om b of h S ky godd e

.
,

s, s, t e -
ss

ha t r l ed h Worl d an d h U nd er W orl d Thy li m b are i l v er

s u t e

t e s as S

gol d t hy h an d i bl ue lik e l pi J li an d th e p a e o e i ther id e of

.

s a s a zu s c n s

th ee i of t he olo r of turqu oi e ( o emer l d ) Thou god A of

, ,

s c u s r a n

ill on of y ear thy body i ll perv ad i n g O d we ll er i n h L an d of

.

m i s s, s a -
t e
H oli ne thy f ace i be utif ul The god o e be fore thee
,

ss, s a s c m

bowi ng low The y hol d th ee i n f ear The y wi thdraw an d retreat

.

w hen t he y the awf u l ne of R u pon th ee t h e [t hou ght! of t h e

. .

see ss a !
c onq ue t of thy M aj e ty i i n t he i r h eart
s s Lif e i wi t h t h ee
s s s s

Let me foll w t hy M aj e t y w h en l w o arth l et m y ou l be

. .

o s as as n e s

umm on d an d l i t be found near th e Lor d of T ruth I ha v e ome

,

s e et s c
o h C i ty of God t h e re gi n t h t i eternally old wi t h m y oul ( b )
.
.

t t e o a s s a

dou bl e ( h ) an d pi ri t oul o be a d we ll er i n thi l an d

, , ,

a s -
s I t s ts
God i t h e Lord of T rut h he giv eth old g o hi that
.

s a e t m

w or k et h T rut h an d hon our o hi foll owe an d at t h e l t ab un d ant t s rs , as

equi p ment fo t he t om b an d b uri al i n th e L n d of H oli ne I h av e

,

r a ss

come unt o t h ee m y h a d hol d T rut h an d t h ere i o f al e h ood i n m y

.
,

n s s n s

he rt Thou ha t T uth b fore t hee I k n ow o wh at

, ,

a s se t r e ! n
th u l iv e t l h av e omm i tted o i i n t hi l and d I h av e d e frau d e d
.

o s c n s n s an

o man of hi po e i o h
.
,

"
n ( C a pster C L X X X III )
ss ss ns . .

C h a p ter I was rec i te d by the p riest w h o accom p ani e d t h e

mumm y to t h e tomb an d performe d t h e buri a l ceremonie s
t h ere zeb assu me d the character o f
I n it t h e p riest ( kher [
.
)
Th ot h a nd prom i se d t h e decease d to do for him all that h e h a d
done for Osiri s i n d a y s o f old Chap ter 1 3 gave the sd lzu or .
,

S p iri t bo dy power to e nter t h e Tuat imme di ate l y after t h e

-
,

b u ri al o f the mate ri a l bod y and d el i vere d it from t h e N ine ,

Worm s th at live d on t h e d ead C ha pters I I I V are short spe ll s

.

wri tten to g i ve t h e d ecease d power to re visit t h e eart h to j oin t h e ,

go d s a nd to trave l a bou t t h e sky C h apters V and V I p rovided

,
.
36 T H E B OOK OF TH E D EAD .

for the performance of agricultural labours in the Other World .

The text of Chapter VI was cut on gu res made of stone wood , ,

e tc . which w ere placed in the tomb and wh en the ,

deceased recited it these gures became alive and did everything

he wished . The sha bti gu re ,
m g took the place
of the human funerary sacrice which was common all over
Egypt before the general adopt ion of the cult of Osiri s under the
X IIth dynasty A bou t 7 00 u sha btiu gures were found in the
.

tomb of Seti I and many of the m are in the B ritish Museum

,
.

Chapter VI I is a spell to destroy the G reat Serpent Aa pep ,

U D
W , the A rch enemy of Horus the
-
E lder R a , ,
Osiri s ,

Horu s son of Isis and of every fo llower of Osiris Chapters VII I

, .

and I X secured a passage for the deceased through the Tuat ,

and Chapters X and X I gave him power over the enemies he

met there Chapters XI I and XI I I gave him great freedom
.

of movement in the K ingdom of Osiris Chapter XIV is a .

prayer in which Osiri s is entreated to p u t away a ny feeling of

dissatisfa ction t h at he may have for the deceased who says , ,

Wash a w ay my sins Lord of Tru th destroy my transgressions , ,

wickedness a nd iniquity O God of Truth May this god be at ,

.

p eace with me Destroy the t hings that are obstacles be tween

.

us Give m e peace and remove all dissatisfaction from thy

.
,

heart in respect of me .

Chapter XV h a s several form s and each of them contains ,

Hym ns to R 5 which w ere sung daily in the morning and

,

Th e h oly A p e -god s s ng ngi i hy m ns Th e J

ac ak l god s
-
a nd th e H a wk god s
-

of pra i se to R 5 a t su n r se i . i i
s ng n h
g y m ns of pra i se to R 5 a t su nse t .
 TH E B OO K O F TH E D EAD . 37

evening ! Specimen para graphs are given above ( pp 3 3 .

,

C h a p ter XV I is only a vignette that i ll u strates Ch a p ter XV ,

Chapter XVI I is a very im portant chapter for it contains state ,

ments of divine doct rine as u nderstood by the priest s of Heliopo l i s .

Th e o pening words are I am Te rn in ri sing I am the O nly One

, . .

I came into being in N u ( the Sky ) I am Ra who ro se in .

,

prim eval t ime ruler of what he had made , Following this .

comes the question Wh o is this P and the answer is

, I t is ,

Ra wh o ro se in the city o f H ensu in primeval time crowned as , ,

i tt i the i
.

The Su m god Ra in the fo m of the . Gre at C a t, s ng byr

s d e of t

he Perse a
Tre e of A nn a nd cu ng of!
. tt i
ea d of Aa pe p, the go th e h
d of d a rk ne ss a nd ev il .

k ing . existed on t h e h eigh t of the D weller in Khem enu

He
Th ot h of Hermopolis ) before t h e p ill ars t h at supp ort t h e

sky were made Chapter XVI I I contains t h e A ddresses to
.

Thoth who is entreated to ma k e t h e d ecea se d to be declared

,

innocent before t h e gods o f Heliopolis B usiris Latopol is Mendes , , , ,

A bydos etc These addresse s forme d a very p owerf u l spell

,
.

w h ich wa s u se d by Horu s and when he recited it four times all

,

hi s enemie s were overth rown and cu t to pieces Chapters X I X .

and XX are var iant form s of Chapter XV II I Ch apters XX I .

XX I I I secured the h e l p of T hot h in Opening the mou t h o f

t h e decea se d whereby he o b tained the power to breat h e and
,

think and drink and eat Th oth recited spells over the god s .

whilst Ptah untie d t h e bandages and S h u forced o pen their

mouths with an iron k ni fe Chapter XX I V gave to the .

deceased a k nowle d ge of the words of power LJ gE ,

which were u sed by the great god Tem K hepera and

( take n) -
,

Chapter XXV restore d to him his memory F ive chapters .

,

XXV I XXX contain pra yers and spell s whereby the deceased
-!
,
38 T H E B OO K O F T H E D EAD .

obtai ned po w er over his heart and gained absolute posse ssi on
of it The most popu lar prayer is that of Chapter X X X B
.

( see above p 4 ) which according to its rubric w a s fou nd
,
.
, , ,

i 6 edited by Heru ta ta f th e son of the great Cheops abo u t

. .
, , , ,

3 600 B C This prayer was still in u se in the early years of the

. .

Christian E ra In the Papyru s of N u it is associated with

.

Chapter L XIV and the earliest form of it was probably in

,

existence under the Ist dynasty .

Chapters XXXI X L I I were written to deliver the deceased -

from the Great Crocodile Sui and the Serpents Rerek and ,

Se ks ek and the Lynx with its deadly cla w s and the Beetle
, ,

Ap sh a it and the terri ble Merti snake goddesses and a group of

,
-
,

three particularly venomous serpents and A a pep a personica ,

tion of Set the god of evil and the E ater of the A ss and a serie s , ,

of beings who lived by slaughtering the souls of the dead In .

Chap ter X L I I every member of the decea sed is put under the
protection of or identi ed with a god or goddess e g the hair
, , ,
. .
,

w ith N u the face with A te n ,

the solar disk ) the eyes with ,

Hathor and the deceased e xcla irns t riumphantly

,
There is no ,

member of my body which is not the member of a god .

Chapter X L I I I A spell to prevent the decapitation of the

.

deceased who assumes in it the character of Osiri s the Lord o f

,

E terni ty Chapter X L IV An ancient and mighty spe ll the

. .
,

recital of w hich pre v ented the deceased from d y ing a second

tim e Chapters X L V and X L VI preserved the mummy of th e
.

deceased from decay and Chapter X L VI I prevented the removal ,

of his seat or t h rone Chapter L enabled the deceased to avoid .

the block of execution of the god Sh esm u Chapters LI LI I I .

provided the deceased with pure food and clean water from the
table of the gods he lived upon what the y lived upon and so ,

became one with them Chapters L IV L XI I gave the deceased .

-

power to obtain coo l water from the Celestial N ile and the springs
of waters of heaven and bei ng ident ied with Shu the god of , ,

light and air he was en abled to p ass over a ll the earth at wil l
,
.

H is lif e was that of the E gg of the

Great Cackler and the ,

go d dess Se sh eta built a house for him in the Celestial A nu or ,

Heliopolis .

The recital of Chapter L XI I I enabled the deceased to avoid

d rinking boiling water in the Tuat The water in some of its .

poo ls was cool and refreshi ng to those who were speakers of the
40 TH E B OOK O F T H E DEAD .

of the deceased to his body in the Tuat and Chapter XC pre ,

served him from mutil ation and attacks o f the go d who cut

off heads and sl i t foreheads Cha p ters XCI and XCI I pre .

vented t he soul of t h e deceased from being shut i n t h e tomb .

Chapter XCI I I is a spell very di fcult to understand Chapters .

XCIV and XCV provided the deceased with the books of Thot h
and the power of this god and enabled him to take his place as ,

the scribe of Osiri s Chap ters XCVI and XCVI I also placed
.

him under the protection of Thoth The reci ta l of Chapter .

XCVI I I pro vided the deceased with a boat in which to sail over
th e northern heavens and a ladder by which to ascend to heaven
,
.

Chapters XCI X CII I gave him the u se of t h e magical boat the ,

mystic name of each part of which he was o b liged to know and ,

helped him to enter the Boat of R a and to be with Hathor .

The Bebait or mantis led him to the great gods ( Chapter CIV )
, , ,

a nd the Ua tch amulet from the neck of Ra provided his double

( ka ) and his heart soul ( ba ) with offerings ( Chapters CV CV I )

-
,
.

Chapters CVI I CI X made him favoura bly known to the spirits

of the E ast and West and the gods o f the Mountain of Sunr i se
,
.

In this region lived the terrible Serpent god A mi hem f he was - -

3 0 cubits ( 50 feet ) long In the E ast the deceased saw the

.

Morning Star and the Two Sycamores from between which t h e

, ,

Sun god appeared daily and found the entrance to the Se kh et

-
,

A aru or E lysia n Fields Chapter CX and its vignette of

.

the E lysian F ields have already been described ( see p .

Chapters CXI and CXI I describe how Horus lost the sight of his
eye tempora rily through loo k ing at Set u nder the form of a blac k
pig and Chapter CXI I I refers to the legend of the drowning of
,

Horus and the recovery of h is body by Se b e k the Crocodile god -

.

Chapter CXIV enabled the deceased to ab sorb the wisdom of

Thoth and h is E ight gods Chapters CXVCXXI I made him .

lord of the Tu a ts of Memphis and Heliopolis and supplied him ,

with food and Chapter CXXI I I enabled him to id entifyf h im self

,

with Thoth Chapters CXXIV and CXXV which treat of the

.
,

Judgment have already been described Chapter CXXV I con

, .

t ai ns a prayer to the Four Holy A pes Chapter CXXVI I a ,

hym n to the gods of the Circles in the Tuat and Chapter ,

CXXVI I I a hymn to Osiri s Chap ters CXX X and CXXXI .

secured for the deceased the u se of the Boats of Su nrise and

Sunset and Chapter CXXXI I enabled him to return to earth
,
 THE B OO K O F TH E D EAD . 41

and v i si t the h ou se he had l i ved in C h apters CXXX I I I ( or .

CXXX I X ) C XXXV I re semble in contents Chapter CXXXI

-
.

Chap ter CXXXVI I describe s a seri es of ma gi cal ceremonies

th at were to be performed for the deceased da i l y in order to make
him to become a li ving sou l for ever The formulae are said

.

to h ave bee n com pose d u nder the IVth dy nasty Chapter .

C XXXVI I I re fers to t h e ceremony of reconstituti ng Osiris and ,

Chapters C XL C X L I I d eal wi th the set ting up of twelve alta rs

-
,

a nd the ma ki ng o f off ering s to a ll t h e gods and to the various

forms o f C h a p ter C X L I I I consi sts o f a seri es o f vignettes ,

in t h ree o f w hi c h so l ar boat s are represented .

C ha pters CXL I V and C X L V I I de a l with the Seven Great

Ha ll s ( Ari! ) o f t h e Ki ng d om o f O si ri s The gate of eac h Ha l l .

was gu arde d by a porter a watc h man an d a messe nger t h e rst, ,

ke p t the door the second l ooke d ou t for the arri va l o f visi tors
, ,

and t h e th ird too k t h e ir names to Osiri s N o one could enter a .

H a ll wi t h ou t re p eat ing the name o f it o f t h e porter of the , ,

watc hman a nd o f t h e me sse nger A ccording to a late tradi tion

,
.

th e Gates o f t h e K ingdom o f Os i ri s were twent y one in num ber -

( C h a p ters C X L V and CXLVI ) an d eac h h a d a magica l name and , ,

ea c h was guard ed by one or two go d s whose names had to ,

be re pea t ed by t h e decea se d be fore h e cou l d p a ss Chapter .

CX L VI I I su ppl ied th e decease d wi th t h e nam es o f the Seven

Cows and t h eir Bull on w h ic h t h e god s were su ppose d to
feed Ch apters CX LI X and C L gi ve t h e names of th e Fourteen
.

'

Aa ts or dis tri cts of t h e King dom o f Osiris Chapter CL I A an d

, ,
.

GL I B give a p icture o f the mum my cham ber and the m a gica l

te xt s that we re necessary for t h e p rotection of both the c h am ber
and the mumm y in it C ha p ter CL I I pro vi de d a hou se for th e
.

dec eased i n t h e Celest i a l A nu a nd C h apter CLIIIA and CLIIIB ,

e na bl ed hi s soul to a v oi d capture in t h e ne t of t h e snarer o f

sou ls . C h apter C L I V is an addre ss to Osi ris in which th e
d eceased sa ys .
I shall no t decay nor rot nor p utre fy nor
, , , ,

become worm s nor see corruption I shall h ave my being

,
.
,

I sh all l i ve I shall ouri sh I sh a ll rise up i n pea ce

,

, Chapters .

C L V C L XV I I are Spell s w h ic h were e ngraved on t h e amulets

-

a, ,
I ,
X . etc giving
.
, th e d eceased t h e protec

tion o f Ra Osi ri s I sis Horns an d Oth er go d s Th e remaini ng

, , , , .

Cha p t ers ( C L XV I I I C XC ) are o f a m iscella neou s character and

-
,
42 THE B OO K O F TH E D EAD .

fe w of them are found in more than one or two papyri of the

Book of the Dead A few contain hym ns that are not older
.

than the X VIIIth dynasty and one is an extract from the text
,

on the Pyramid of U n a s ( lines 3 7 9 The most interesting

is perhaps Chapter CLXXV w hich de scribes the Tuat as
, , ,

a irless waterless and l ightless In this chapter the deceased is

, ,
.

assured of im m orta ilty in the words Thou shal t live for ,

mi ll ions of mill ions of years a life of millions of years

,

.

E . A WA L LI S B U D GE
. .

D E PA RT M E N T or E G! PT I A N A N D A SS ! RI AN
A NT I! U I T I E S B R I T I S H M U S E UM
,
.

A pril 1 5 ,
1 02 0 .
 N O TE .

Th e T r u st ees o f t h e B ri tis h M us eum h ave p u bl is h e d

I . Col oured f acsimi l e o f t h e Pa py ru s o f H u nefer X IX th ,

dy nast y w i t h hi ero g ly ph ic t ransc rip t an d t ranslation

, .

1 1 p l at es l arg e f o l i o
, .

2 . C olour ed f ac sim il e o f t h e Pa pyru s o f A n h ai X X Ist ,

dy nast y wit h h iero g l yph ic t ranscri p t an d t ra nslat i on

, .

8 p l at es larg e f o l io
, .

3 . Co ll ot yp e re p ro d uct ion o f t h e Pa py rus o f ! ue en

Netch em e t X X Ist dy nast y wi t h h ierog l yphi c t ra n
, ,

scri p t an d t ra ns l at i on 1 2 p lat es la rg e fo li o . , .

4 . Colou red re p ro d uc tion o f t h e h i erat i c t e xt o f t h e B oo k

o f B re at hing s wi t h hi ero g l yp h ic t ransc rip t an d t rans
,

la tion Wit h 2 co l lo t yp es o f t h e vi gnett es l arg e

.
,

folio .

5 . H i erog l yph ic t ransc ri p t o f t h e Pa py rus o f N u w i t h one ,

co ll ot ype p l ate .

N os
. 1 5 a re bou nd one vol u m e, r ice
p 2 [ 05 .

6 . C ol lot yp e re p ro d uct ion o f t h e Pa py rus o f ! ueen N esi

ta ne bt ashru w i t h f ull d escri p tions o f th e vign et t es
- -
, ,

t rans l ations an d int rod uct i on co nta i nin g several

, ,

illustrations an d 1 1 6 p lat es o f h i erat ic t e xt La rg e

,
.

4 t o .Pr i c e 2 ro s .