BOOK OF THE DEAD

A body of Egyptian texts on death and the afterworld, written on papyrus and placed in the tombs. The name Book of the Dead is generally applied to the texts of the New Kingdom and later, but their origin can be traced back to the mortuary literature of earlier periods: the Coffin Texts and Pyramid Texts.

The Pyramid Texts are the oldest heterogeneous compositions inscribed on the walls of the inner chambers of the Fifthand Sixth-Dynasty pyramids for the benefit of the deceased kings. They include rituals, mythological allusions, incantations, and magical spells. Most of them are associated with the solar cult center at Heliopolis, but some reflect the basically different Osirian complex, and others can be explained only as remnants of predynastic fetishism. Some sections of the Pyramid Texts were later included in the mortuary texts of Egyptian nobility of the Middle Kingdom and were inscribed on coffins; hence they are known as the Coffin Texts. Through the Coffin Texts these sections made their way into the New Kingdom Book of the Dead, which was considered beneficial to anyone who could afford to purchase a copy and place it in his tomb.

The Book of the Dead contains, according to the different recensions, from about 150 to 190 chapters, not all of equal value, equal popularity, or equal length. They include: magical spells of much variety; prayers and hymn to the gods ra (re), Osiris, etc.; ritual recitations with instructions for priests; theological instructions; and a guidebook to the other world. Almost every chapter had its own title, such as, Chapters of Coming Forth by Day (ch. 1–2), Chapter of Opening of the Mouth (ch. 23), Chapter of Not Dying for a Second Time (ch. 44), Chapter of Not Being Tripped Up in the Underworld (ch. 51), Chapter of Changing into a Divine Hawk (ch. 78).

Among the most important and interesting are chapters 17 and 125. Chapter 17 consists of questions and answers on theological subjects, such as:

"I am the great god who came into being by himself." Who is he? "The great god who came into being by himself" is water; he is Nun, the father of the gods. Another version: He is Ra ….

"I am yesterday, while I know tomorrow." Who is he? As for "yesterday," that is Osiris. As for "tomorrow," that is Ra on that day on which the enemies of the All-Lord are annihilated and his son Horus is made ruler …. [Translation of J.A. Wilson.]

Chapter 125, which concerns the judgment of the soul before Osiris and 42 divine judges, includes the socalled Negative Confession or, more correctly, Declaration of Guiltlessness, containing statements such as these:

I have not made anyone weep …. I have notkilled …. I have neither increased nor diminished the grain measure …. I have not takenmilk from the mouths of children …. [Translation of J. A. Wilson.]

The Book of the Dead was primarily a book of rituals, as has been recently demonstrated; it often mentions the reciting priest and the ritual objects. The kind of ritual was generally indicated in the title of each chapter. However, it was apparently intended, not for the priests, but for the deceased, so that his soul could participate in his own funerary service. A large portion of these rituals had to be performed in front of the eternal gods by the soul itself in the netherworld.

Beyond the ritual requirements and overwhelming magic, employed here as a protective force, the Book of the Dead contains the fundamental belief in personal responsibility of each soul before the divine judgment and in ultimate justice in the afterlife.

Bibliography: Pyramid Texts. k. h. sethe, Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte, 4 v. (Leipzig 1908–22); Übersetzung und Kommentar zu den altägyptischen Pyramidentexten, 6 v. (Hamburg 1935–62), no more pub. s. a. b. mercer, The Pyramid Texts in Transslation and Commentary, 4 v. (New York 1952). Coffin Texts. a. de buck, The Egyptian Coffin Texts, 7 v. (Chicago 1935–61), the Egyptian text without tr. Book of the Dead. e. a. t.w. budge, tr., The Book of the Dead: The Hieroglyphic Transcript of the Papyrus of Ani … (London 1895; repr. New Hyde Park, N.Y. 1960), somewhat out of date. t. g. allen, ed., The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Documents in the Oriental Institute Museum … (Chicago 1960). c. maystre, Les Déclarations d'innocence: Livre des morts, chap. 125 (Cairo 1937). j. a. wilson, The Burden of Egypt: An Interpretation of Ancient Egyptian Culture (Chicago 1951) 116–118. j. b. pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (2d, rev. ed. Princeton 1955) 3–4, 10–12, 34–36.

[b. marczuk]