The Book of the DeadBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Religion
The Book of the Dead
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Book of the dead; Death; Egypt -- Religion; Future life
Chapters CXLIV and CXLVII deal with the Seven Great Halls (Arit) of
the Kingdom of Osiris. The gate of each Hall was guarded by a porter,
a watchman, and a messenger; the first kept the door, the second looked
out for the arrival of visitors, and the third took their names to
Osiris. No one could enter a Hall without repeating the name of it,
of the porter, of the watchman, and of the messenger. According to a
late tradition the Gates of the Kingdom of Osiris were twenty-one in
number (Chapters CXLV and CXLVI), and each had a magical name, and
each was guarded by one or two gods, whose names had to be repeated
by the deceased before he could pass. Chapter CXLVIII supplied the
deceased with the names of the Seven Cows and their Bull on which the
"gods" were supposed to feed. Chapters CXLIX and CL give the names
of the Fourteen Aats, or districts, of the Kingdom of Osiris. Chapter
*CLI-A and *CLI-B give a picture of the mummy chamber and the magical
texts that were necessary for the protection of both the chamber and
the mummy in it. Chapter CLII provided a house for the deceased in
the Celestial Anu, and Chapter *CLIII-A and *CLIII-B enabled his soul
to avoid capture in the net of the snarer of souls. Chapter CLIV is
an address to Osiris in which the deceased says, "I shall not decay,
nor rot, nor putrefy, nor become worms, nor see corruption. I shall
have my being, I shall live, I shall flourish, I shall rise up
in peace." Chapters CLV-CLXVII are spells which were engraved on
the amulets, giving the deceased the protection of Ra, Osiris, Isis,
Horus, and other gods. The remaining Chapters (CLXVIII-CXC) are of a
miscellaneous character, and few of them are found in more than one
or two papyri of the Book of the Dead. A few contain hymns that are
not older than the XVIIIth dynasty, and one is an extract from the
text on the Pyramid of Unas (lines 379-399). The most interesting is,
perhaps, Chapter CLXXV, which describes the Tuat as airless,
waterless, and lightless. In this chapter the deceased is assured
of immortality in the words, "Thou shalt live for millions of millions
of years, a life of millions of years."
E. A. Wallis Budge.
Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum.
April 15, 1920.
Note.
The Trustees of the British Museum have published:--
1. Coloured facsimile of the Papyrus of Hunefer, XIXth dynasty,
with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 11 plates, large folio.
2. Coloured facsimile of the Papyrus of Anhai, XXIst dynasty, with
hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 8 plates, large folio.
3. Collotype reproduction of the Papyrus of Queen Netchemet, XXIst
dynasty, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 12 plates,
large folio.
4. Coloured reproduction of the hieratic text of the Book of
Breathings, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. With 2
collotypes of the vignettes, large folio.
5. Hieroglyphic transcript of the Papyrus of Nu, with one collotype
plate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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