Book of the Dead Essay Sample

CRITICAL AND THEORETICAL INTERPRETATION

Introduction

Papyrus with Last Judgment from The Book of the Dead speaks a lot about the ancient Egyptians and their belief systems. The Papyrus is not just a good example of how expressive were the Egyptians with their artwork and expression but also sheds light on what the Egyptians thought about the afterlife. This is a very good example from one of the many fine illustrations. The papyrus from the Book of the Dead highlights ancient Egyptian funerary literature, the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians and their thoughts on life after death.

Book of the Dead shows how the ancient Egyptians felt about the dead and their journey after death. The feeling of separation can be found in modern literature. The modern Egypt belief still believes that the “magic of the Pharaoh” protects the Egyptian tombs. Thus, it shows that some aspects of the ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs have survived the times and in the popular religion of Islamic Egypt. The ancient Egyptian belief allowed the dead to travel everywhere. The bodies carried mummy labels and there could be two reason behind, one could be to guard the dead body and avoid it from being mistaken for another mummy 1 and the other intention could be to enable the deceased to take care of his wishes and needs on journey after death. It is true that the ancient Egyptians must have not looked at their mummies the way as the visitors do in the museums today. They are an expression of the ancient culture in Egypt, where the dead had to be provided with food. Whatever the reason could be behind those mummy labels, they have proved to be an invaluable source leading to a better understandings of the rituals and beliefs followed by the ancient Egyptians.

____________________1 Reich, Nathaniel Julius. 1931. An abbreviated demotic book of the dead. A palaeographical study of papyrus british museum 10072. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 17, (1/2): 85-97

Life after Death

Book of the Dead provides a very valuable evidence of how the Egyptian thought about life, death, and region. The use of red and black ink and the calligraphic style of the manuscript make it comparable to papyri belonging to the 18th to the 21st Dynasties. Most parts of the Books of the Dead have been copied from earlier versions. However, care has been taken that so as to not make any changes in traditional sacred writings, so the magical spells 2 do not lose their power.

According to the ancient Egyptians, the universe was made of the earth, the sky, and a netherworld. What made them think of afterlife was the annual cycle they saw in Nile and the growth of plants. They believed that human life was like a cycle too, and the dead could become alive again. The sky and netherworld were inhabited by the gods, and the perfect afterlife was visions of the Egypt where they believed the dead would be reunited with their families. Clearly, Egyptians liked the idea of having life after death, and this shows their dislike of the impact death had in the world of living.The scene in the Last Judgment reads from left to right and offers step by step depiction of the complicated idea of life after death and the Last Judgment. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the spells gave special power to the dead person to keep himself safe from the hostile creatures. The dead person could turn into different animals or get the information he needed at certain points of the journey.

____________________1 Uranić, Igor. 2005. "Book of the dead" papyrus zagreb 601. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 33, : 357-371

It is essential to note here that during those times, there were very few cultures and civilization which has any views on the concept of life after death and Last Judgment. It is the Egyptians and the Hebrews who first gave this idea. Egyptians believed that when the dead person traveled as a spirit, his body had to be kept safe, so that the spirit could enter it for the perfect afterlife. The netherworld, where the dead traveled, was made of different terrains such as rivers, mountains, lakes, caves and fields. The spirit had to pass through many doors that were well guarded by gods.

Ancient Egyptian funerary papyrus

The papyri of the Book of the Dead offers valuable information on the funerary religion of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian funerary papyrus belongs to the 21 Dynasty and contains 142 magical spells written in Hieratic. Sometimes, the spells are explained with the help of illustrations.

The earliest of the texts related to the Book of the Dead are found about 2686–2181 BC. In the beginning, it was meant only for the King, but gradually, the text was made available to the other members of the royal family, nobles, and the middle classes. The experts on the Book of the Dead have reconstructed the fragments of papyri so that they can read them and get more information.

Egyptian funerary papyri are known to apply calcite, gypsum and huntite for the white pigment. However, Book of the Dead reveals the presence of lead white while the pink pigments are derived from mineral or mineral–organic mixtures. The characteristic range of pigments used in the funerary papyrus refers to the chronological perspective of the papyrus itself. The presence of lead white and its use as mixtures with other pigments 3, contribute to its uniqueness. About 200 spells from The Book of the Dead, ae supposed to help the dead to prepare for an afterlife and after the last judgment. Papyrus with Last Judgment describes the major step of weighing of the heart; that would judge if the soul was free of any evil and should be allowed to move on into the afterlife.

Last Judgment

The Book of the Dead explains with illustrations as to how the dead person was moved from the world of the living to the world of the dead. The afterlife of the dead could be different from one another. The dead person might be given an entry into the pastoral paradise or might join the gods. What kind of afterlife the dead person was given was judged by the gods. The Gods decided if the person deserved enter into the afterlife. This was done by weighing the heart of the dead against the feather of truth. If the dead person were found not be free of evil, his heart would get consumed by the monster, and he would cease to exist forever. The papyrus shows different scenes and gives an insight into how the ancient Egyptians believed. Hunefer before the gods shows the high esteem Egyptians had for the gods and the importance of attaining an immortal place and enter the kingdom of eternal happiness after death. For the ancient Egyptians, the heart was a very important part of the body and defined the character of the individual. His heart influences his deed and actions, and these in turn would decide his fate after death.

____________________3 Di Stefano, Luigi Maria, and Robert Fuchs. 2011. Characterisation of the pigments in a ptolemaic egyptian book of the dead papyrus. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 3, (3): 229-244

There is no information as to when the Last Judgment took place, but the belief in immortality was deeply rooted in the Egyptians. Each soul had to pass the judgment and was blessed or destroyed in the process. Those ancient beliefs have been derived traditionally, and the wicked were to be pushed and tormented. The Egyptian believed the heart to be the center of all consciousness and emotions. This was the only organ that was not removed during mummification.

Egyptians religion was strongly ritualistic and sacramental. There was a need to express those communal beliefs through rituals. The rites performed for the mummy, and the recitations of the beatifications were meant for the dead to assume a spiritual life after death 4. Egyptian religion was bound intimately to the concept of death and burial.

Genders in the papyri

One doesn’t find any specific evidence that the papyri of the Book of the Dead had any special features and selection of texts that pointed to the female members of the High Priest’s family. Thus, there is no special indication that special attention was given to gender. The funerary texts can be categorized as magical and ritual texts meant for the deceased. There were elaborated instructions that gave the effectiveness of the spell. The demons shown in the funerary literature are not an original creation but have been inspired by the demons of popular religion that are mentioned in the everyday magic. This reflects that Egyptians looked at men and women with parity, and there are several other art and contemporary manuscripts of the ancient Egyptians where one can see the concept. The male gods occasionally had female features while the female deities supported male features sometimes.

____________________4 Wente, Edward F. Funeral Beliefs of ancient Egyptians. Expedition. 17-26

Magic and Rituals

Magic and ritual were an important part for the ancient Egyptians religious practices that were used to overcome the challenges of life, such as sickness or injury. Magic was also used to help the dead to reach the afterlife. There is a collection of about 200 spells that helps the dead person to face dangers and tests in the netherworld and attain an eternal life. Many spells from the Book of the Dead are related to the transformation to the creator god or the flacon. These spells are purely magical and lack the humility of a prayer. They express the fear of humans for death, their imaginations and longing for an eternal life.

Ancient Egyptian followed the pious practice of supplying the dead with copies of the Book. The narrow bandages that bound round the entire body were made of strips of fabric 5 carrying the time-honored spells that were believed to be essential for one's welfare in the after-life. Egyptians were known to possess a higher sense of ethics and morality. The afterlife was not believed to be an easy one, and difficulties were expected in the netherworld that was guarded by the fierce demons. The dead could make use of the magic spells to mollify the demons. The last Judgment is an example of judging the righteousness boldly and before the soul could be admitted into the presence of Osiris, the Lords of the netherworld.

The spells offered a number of pleasurable activities for the dead. However, many have looked at the bold assumptions of becoming one with the Creator God with criticism. These spells were perhaps based on fears and imaginations and were an attempt to overcome the fear of death, and fulfill the longing of eternal life.

____________________5Caminos, Ricardo A. 1970. Fragments of the "book of the dead" on linen and papyrus. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 56, : 117-131

The religious convictions speak of a community that wanted to become unified with the cosmos. However, the Tomb robbers seemed to have no fear of the Gods, justice or the spirits. They robbed those tombs, taking away the gold, jewels, and the furnishings, and set fire to the coffins.

The communal beliefs were important for the Ancient Egyptians and these required certain ritual to be performed for an afterlife. The fate of the mummy was perhaps given lesser importance as compared to the spiritual existence. Thus, mummification continued and even spread 6 after the New Kingdom.

____________________6 Wente, Edward F. Funeral Beliefs of ancient Egyptians. Expedition. 17-26

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Caminos, Ricardo A. 1970. Fragments of the "book of the dead" on linen and papyrus. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 56, : 117-131

Di Stefano, Luigi Maria, and Robert Fuchs. 2011. Characterisation of the pigments in a ptolemaic egyptian book of the dead papyrus. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 3, (3): 229-244

Reich, Nathaniel Julius. 1931. An abbreviated demotic book of the dead. A palaeographical study of papyrus british museum 10072. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 17, (1/2): 85-97

Uranić, Igor. 2005. "Book of the dead" papyrus zagreb 601. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 33, : 357-371

Wente, Edward F. Funeral Beliefs of ancient Egyptians. Expedition. 17-26