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
made to speak tautologically so that the most unlettered man may not
miss their meaning. A little later in the Chapter the deceased says, "O
my father Osiris, thou hast done for me that which thy father R[=a] did
for thee. So shall I abide on the earth lastingly, I shall keep
possession of my seat; my heir shall be strong; my tomb and my friends
who are upon earth shall flourish; my enemies shall be given over to
destruction and to the shackles of the goddess Serq. I am thy son, and
R[=a] is my father; for me likewise thou shalt make life, and strength,
and health!" It is interesting to note that the deceased first
identifies Osiris with R[=a], and then he identifies himself with
Osiris; thus he identifies himself with R[=a].
With the subjects of resurrection and immortality must be mentioned the
frequent references in the religious texts of all periods to the meat
and drink on which lived the beings who were believed to exist in the
world beyond the grave. In prehistoric days if was natural enough for
the dead man's friends to place food in his grave, because they thought
that he would require it on his journey to the next world; this custom
also presupposed that the deceased would have a body like unto that
which he had left behind him in this world, and that it would need food
and drink. In the Vth dynasty the Egyptians believed that the blessed
dead lived upon celestial food, and that they suffered neither hunger
nor thirst; they ate what the gods ate, they drank what they drank, they
were what they were, and became in such matters as these the
counterparts of the gods. In another passage we read that they are
apparelled in white linen, that they wear white sandals, and that they
go to the great lake which is in the midst of the Field of Peace whereon
the great gods sit, and that the gods give them to eat of the food (_or_
tree) of life of which they themselves eat that they also may live. It
is certain, however, that other views than these were held concerning
the food of the dead, for already in the Vth dynasty the existence of a
region called Sekhet-Aaru, or Sekhet-Aanru had been formulated, and to
this place the soul, or at least some part, of the pious Egyptian hoped
to make its way. Where Sekhet-Aaru was situated we have no means of
saying, and the texts afford us no clue as to its whereabouts; some
scholars think that it lay away to the east of Egypt, but it is far more
likely to represent some district of the Delta either in its northern or
north-eastern portion. Fortunately we have a picture of it in the
Papyrus of Nebseni, [Footnote: Brit. Mus., No. 9900; this document
belongs to the XVIIIth dynasty.] the oldest probably on papyrus, and
from this we may see that Sekhet-Aaru, _i.e._, the "Field of Reeds,"
typified some very fertile region where farming operations could be
carried on with ease and success. Canals and watercourses abound, and in
one section, we are told, the spirits of the blessed dwelt; the picture
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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