Egyptian Ideas of the Future LifeBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
ReligionComparative
Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egypt -- Religion; Eschatology, Egyptian; Future life
The existence of the non-historic inhabitants of Egypt has been revealed
to us in recent years by means of a number of successful excavations
which have been made in Upper Egypt on both sides of the Nile by several
European and native explorers, and one of the most striking results has
been the discovery of three different kinds of burials, which
undoubtedly belong to three different periods, as we may see by
examining the various objects which have been found in the early graves
at Nak[=a]dah and other non-historic sites of the same age and type. In
the oldest tombs we find the skeleton laid upon its left side, with the
limbs bent: the knees are on a level with the breast, and the hands are
placed in front of the face. Generally the head faces towards the south,
but no invariable rule seems to have been observed as to its
"orientation." Before the body was laid in the ground it was either
wrapped in gazelle skin or laid in loose grass; the substance used for
the purposes of wrapping probably depended upon the social condition of
the deceased. In burials of this class there are no traces of
mummification, or of burning, or of stripping the flesh from the bones.
In the next oldest graves the bodies are found to have been wholly or
partly stripped of their flesh; in the former case all the bones are
found cast indiscriminately is the grave, in the latter the bones of the
hands and the feet were laid together, while the rest of the skeleton is
scattered about in wild confusion. Graves of this period are found to be
oriented either north or south, and the bodies in them usually have the
head separated from the body; sometimes it is clear that the bodies have
been "jointed" so that they might occupy less space. Occasionally the
bodies are found lying upon their backs with their legs and arms folded
over them; in this case they are covered over with clay casings. In
certain graves it is clear that the body has been burnt. Now in all
classes of tombs belonging to the prehistoric period in Egypt we find
offerings in vases and vessels of various kinds, a fact which proves
beyond all doubt that the men who made these graves believed that their
dead friends and relatives would live again in some place, of the
whereabouts of which they probably had very vague ideas, in a life which
was, presumably, not unlike that which they had lived upon earth. The
flint tools, knives, scrapers and the like indicate that they thought
they would hunt and slay their quarry when brought down, and fight their
foes; and the schist objects found in the graves, which M. de Morgan
identifies as amulets, shows that even in those early days man believed
that he could protect himself against the powers of supernatural and
invisible enemies by talismans. The man who would hunt and fight in the
next world must live again; and if he would live again it must be either
in his old body or in a new one; if in the old body, it must be
revivified.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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