The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Copies of the Book of the Dead in the Theban period.

Age of the papyrus.

An examination of the papyri of the Theban period preserved in the British Museum shows that two distinct classes of Book of the Dead papyri existed in the XVIIIth dynasty. In the first both text and vignettes are traced in black outline,[2] the rubrics, catchwords, etc., alone being in red colour; in the second the text only is black, the rubrics, etc., being red, and the vignettes beautifully painted in a number of bright colours. To the latter class the papyrus of Ani belongs, but, if the text and vignettes be compared with those found in any other early Theban papyri, it will be seen that it occupies an independent position in all respects. Though agreeing in the main with the papyri of the XVIIIth dynasty in respect of textual readings, the papyrus of Ani has peculiarities in spelling, etc., which are not found in any of them. The handwriting of the first section at least suggests the best period of the XVIIIth dynasty; but as the scribe forms some of the characters in a way peculiarly his own, the palæographic evidence on this point is not decisive. That the papyrus belongs to the period which produced such documents as the papyrus of Neb-qet,[3] and the papyrus of Qenna,[4] i.e., to some period of the XVIIIth dynasty, is tolerably certain; and we may assume that it is older than the papyrus of Hunefer, which was written during the reign of Seti I.; for, though belonging to the same class of highly decorated papyri, the execution of the vignettes is finer and more careful, and the free, bold forms of the hieroglyphics in the better written sections more closely resemble those of the texts inscribed in stone under the greatest kings of the XVIIIth dynasty. The "lord of the two lands," i.e., of Upper and Lower Egypt, or the North and South, mentioned in pl. 4, is probably one of the Thothmes or Amenhetep kings, and accordingly we may place the period of our papyrus between 1500 and 1400 years B.C.

[1. In the stele of Canopus, is rendered by {Greek ta`s i'era`s parðe'nous}; see Brugsch, Wörterbuch, P. 1454.

2. Compare the papyrus of Nebseni (British Museum, No. 9, 900)

3. Le Papyrus de Neb-Qued, ed. Devéria, Paris, 1872. M. Pierret, its translator, says, "Il appartient la plus ancienne époque des exemplaires sur papyrus."

4 Papyrus Égyptien Funéraire Hiéroglyphique (t. ii.), ed. Leemans, Leyden, 1882.]

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The text.

The text may be divided into two parts. The first part contains unusual versions of two hymns to Ra and Osiris, the vignette of the sunrise (Chapter XVIA.), and the judgment Scene accompanied by texts, some of which occur in no other papyrus. The second part comprises about sixty-two Chapters of the Theban edition of the Book, in the following order:--I., XXII. LXXII., rubric, XVII., CXLVII., CXLVI., XVIII., XXIII., XXIV., XXVI. XXXB., LXI., LIV., XXIX., XXVII., LVIII., LIX., XLIV., XLV., XLVI., L., XCIII., XLIII., LXXXIX., XCI., XCII., LXXIV., VIII., II., IX., CXXXII., X., [XLVIII.], XV., CXXXIII., CXXXIV., XVIII., CXXIV., LXXXVI., LXXVII., LXXVIII., LXXXVII., LXXXVIII., LXXXII., LXXXV., LXXXIII., LXXXIV., LXXXIA., LXXX., CLXXV., CXXV. Introduction and Negative Confession, XLII., CXXV., Rubric, CLV., CLVI., XXIXB., CLXVI., CLI., VI., CX., CXLVIII., CLXXXV., and CLXXXVI. The titles of these Chapters arranged according to the numeration introduced by Lepsius are as follows :--

List of Chapters.

Chapter I. "Here begin the chapters of 'coming forth by day,' and of the songs of praise and of glorifying, and of coming forth from and of going into the glorious Neter-khert in the beautiful Amenta; to be said on the day of the burial going in after coming forth." (See pp. 19, 270 and pll. 5, 6.)

The papyri belonging to the early part of the XVIIth dynasty call this Chapter the "Chapter of going in to the divine chiefs of Osiris," ###. The large numbers of the men attending the bier and of the weeping women are peculiar to the Ani papyrus.

Chapter II. "The Chapter of coming forth by day and of living after death." (See pp. 120, 321, and pl. 18.)

This Chapter is found only in one other papyrus of the Theban period (British Museum, No. 9964). Another copy of it is inscribed upon a mummy bandage preserved in the Louvre, No. 3097.'

Chapter VI.--[See Chapter CLI., of which it forms a part, pp. 233, 362, and pl. 32.] In the papyrus of Nebseni (British Museum, No. 9900) this Chapter stands by itself, and is entitled "Chapter of making the ushabti figures to perform work for a man in the Neter-khert,"

[1. See Naville, Einleitung, p. 103.]

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