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
One of the most remarkable texts written at this period is found in
the Papyrus of Nesi-Khensu, which is now in the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo. This is really the copy of a contract which is declared to have
been made between Nesi-Khensu and Amen-Ra, "the holy god, the lord of
all the gods." As a reward for the great piety of the queen, and her
devotion to the interests of Amen-Ra upon earth, the god undertakes to
make her a goddess in his kingdom, to provide her with an estate there
in perpetuity and a never-failing supply of offerings, and happiness
of heart, soul and body, and the [daily] recital upon earth of the
"Seventy Songs of Ra" for the benefit of her soul in the Khert-Neter,
or Under World. The contract was drawn up in a series of paragraphs
in legal phraseology by the priests of Amen, who believed they had
the power of making their god do as they pleased when they pleased.
Little is known of the history of the PER-T EM HRU after the downfall
of the priests of Amen, and during the period of the rule of the
Nubians, but under the kings of the XXVIth dynasty the Book enjoyed a
great vogue. Many funerary rolls were written both in hieroglyphs and
hieratic, and were decorated with vignettes drawn in black outline;
and about this time the scribes began to write funerary texts in
the demotic character. But men no longer copied long selections
from the PER-T EM HRU as they had done under the XVIIIth, XIXth and
XXth dynasties, partly because the religious views of the Egyptians
had undergone a great change, and partly because a number of Books
of the Dead of a more popular character had appeared. The cult of
Osiris was triumphant everywhere, and men preferred the hymns and
litanies which dealt with his sufferings, death and resurrection to
the compositions in which the absolute supremacy of Ra and his solar
cycle of gods and goddesses was assumed or proclaimed. Thus, in the
"Lamentations of Isis" and the "Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys,"
and the "Litanies of Seker," and the "Book of Honouring Osiris," etc.,
the central figure is Osiris, and he alone is regarded as the giver
of everlasting life. The dead were no longer buried with large rolls
of papyrus filled with Chapters of the PER-T EM HRU laid in their
coffins, but with small sheets or strips of papyrus, on which were
inscribed the above compositions, or the shorter texts of the "Book
of Breathings," or the "Book of Traversing Eternity," or the "Book of
May my name flourish," or a part of the "Chapter of the Last Judgment."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account