The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Egyptians were a culture that did not regarded death
with fear or apprehension. They accepted death as a necessary process and saw
the afterlife as a simple continuation of their existence. Because the Egyptians had so many Gods
related to death and the afterlife, they had a lot of myths and beliefs
surrounding the world beyond death.
Naturally, the Egyptians developed many rituals to help ease a soul’s
passing into the afterlife.
One of the lesser known tools given to those buried in
Egyptian culture was the Book of The Dead. The book of the dead was a
collection of manuscripts that provided a passing soul all of the information
needed to navigate the afterlife. Traditionally, the Book of the Dead was given
only to deceased pharaohs but later iterations were sold to wealthy citizens.
What Was In The Book of the Dead?
What Did The Book of the Dead Look Like?
The Book of the Dead took many forms depending on the person is for. Most commonly, it was painted or carved as a series of hieroglyphs on the walls of a tomb. It has also been found to be carved on the inside lid of sarcophagi or written on scrolls and placed with other treasures inside the tomb. It was rare that a uniform or common form of the Book was made or used (Ellis, 1988).
Sources:
I remember watching a couple movies when I was younger about a kid using a spell from the Book of the Dead to try and bring back a deceased loved one. Were there any spells in the actual Book that were meant to raise the dead? Also you mention that originally the Book was only given to dead Pharaohs, does that mean that the living didn't read the Book of the Dead? Was it not permitted for most people to know about the Book or was it's contents common knowledge? What was the supposed benefit of having a copy?
ReplyDeleteI'm currently looking into purchasing a translation of the Book of the Dead so I cannot definitely say yet whether or not it contained spells for raising the dead. However, I can say that because the Texts were meant for assisting souls in the underworld and given the Egyptians reverence of death, it is highly unlikely that they contained such spells.
DeleteThe living may have read the book of the dead, but not often as it was a symbol to them. There was no benefit to reading it before you had passed on. Almost everyone knew of the book of the dead, just as any Christian would know of the Bible, but it was only given to Pharaohs to use. With it they could easily overcome the challenges of the Duat. It was like a road map for the dead, without the texts it was easy to become lost forever.