Weidenbach that the hieroglyphic types which were restored for the
Berlin Academy under the superintendence of Lepsius, turned out to be
such models of beauty and style, that they are at present universally
employed. Even in Paris the types produced in the French government
printing office were set aside in their favor.
If at the present day we critically consider Lepsius’ edition of the
“Book of the Dead,” we must certainly regret that it had for a basis the
Turin copy, which is replete with errors of writing and defects arising
from hasty work, and which dates from a comparatively late period. But,
on the other hand, we must praise the industry, care and ability with
which its editor studied the text before the excellent “preface” was
written and the distribution of the whole into chapters was
accomplished. This distribution has stood till the present day, and when
we now speak of the first, seventeenth and hundred and twenty-fifth
chapters as the most important sections of the “Book of the Dead,” in so
doing we follow the construction given by Lepsius. In a few months there
will be published a collection of the finest texts of the “Book of the
Dead” from the best period, prepared by the excellent Genoese
Egyptologist, E. Naville, under the auspices of the Berlin Academy. It
was Lepsius, again, who gave the impulse to this great and useful
undertaking at the Oriental Congress in London, 1874; and even in this
most recent edition of the “Book of the Dead”[32] the classification
given by him will be preserved. It is precisely this which is wonderful
and unique in his works; that they are of lasting stability, and that
their substructure remains permanently fixed no matter what alterations
may be made in details by more recent acquisitions. There is almost no
edifice in the whole domain of Egyptology where the foundation stone
does not bear the name of “Lepsius.”
Let us here anticipate by mentioning that throughout his life Lepsius
did not cease to busy himself with the “Book of the Dead,” and that even
in 1867, in a large and excellent work,[33] he made an effort to trace
out the origin of the whole work collectively, and of its principal
parts. The sarcophagi of the ancient kingdom and the funereal texts
which cover them, constitute the foundation of this important
publication, which once more points out the path for research, and upon
which many special investigations have already been, and in the future
must be, based.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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