The Egyptian Book of the Dead
When I was in College in England I had an American friend who was an enthusiast of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This was slightly unusual, but as a result I learnt a lot about it (I had another friend who was interested in premature burials, but that's another story).
In 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion was the first to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics using the famous Rosetta stone. This stone was found by French sailors near the port of Rosetta during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt in 1798, and was crated to be shipped to Paris. But the British navy under Horatio Nelson defeated the French at the Battle of the Nile that year, and so the stone was captured and shipped to London instead, where it resides in the British Museum. The unique property of the Rosetta Stone, that dates from 196 bce, is that it contains the same proclamation in three languages, hieroglyphics, demotic (a simplified form of hieroglyphics) and Greek. Since the Greek could be read, Champollion was able after two years of work to show that the hieroglyphics represented a spoken language similar to modern Coptic.
In 1888, Desmond Budge, an Egyptologist working for the British Museum, discovered a long papyrus in Thebes that was a collection of stories in hieroglyphics that constituted the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This had been written by a scribe named Ani in 240 bce to guide the "souls" of people after death. The Egyptians believed that the spirit of a person after death went on a journey full of challenges, and the Book of the Dead was a guide to the spirit how to overcome these challenges and eventually to arrive at the Hall of Judgement (so the book had to be buried with the dead). Budge stole the papyrus (supposedly to protect it) and took it to London, where it also resides in the British Museum. Although other versions of this funerary story were known, this was the most complete version discovered, and Budge published his translation of it in 1895. (For more information see: http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ )
One interesting feature of the Book is that in the Hall of Judgement, Ani (representing the dead spirit) is required to surrender his heart (in which all emotions lie) in the form of a sacred scarab stone that will be weighed on a balance against the white feather of truth. If the heart is too heavy or too light (hence the term lighthearted and heavyhearted), then he will be eaten by a terrible monster which is half crocodile and half jackal, and in this case he will be finally and irrevocably dead. However, if he or she has lead a righteous life, his or her heart will balance exactly and so the spirit will be lead into the "abode of reeds," where it will live forever in harmony.
How does one ensure that the heart will balance exactly? By carrying out virtuous deeds in life, such as not killing, not stealing, and honoring thy father and mother. Note that Moses, who we believe was given the tablets of the Ten Commandments in Sinai, was of Egyptian origin.
In 1822, Jean-Francois Champollion was the first to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics using the famous Rosetta stone. This stone was found by French sailors near the port of Rosetta during Napoleon Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt in 1798, and was crated to be shipped to Paris. But the British navy under Horatio Nelson defeated the French at the Battle of the Nile that year, and so the stone was captured and shipped to London instead, where it resides in the British Museum. The unique property of the Rosetta Stone, that dates from 196 bce, is that it contains the same proclamation in three languages, hieroglyphics, demotic (a simplified form of hieroglyphics) and Greek. Since the Greek could be read, Champollion was able after two years of work to show that the hieroglyphics represented a spoken language similar to modern Coptic.
In 1888, Desmond Budge, an Egyptologist working for the British Museum, discovered a long papyrus in Thebes that was a collection of stories in hieroglyphics that constituted the Egyptian Book of the Dead. This had been written by a scribe named Ani in 240 bce to guide the "souls" of people after death. The Egyptians believed that the spirit of a person after death went on a journey full of challenges, and the Book of the Dead was a guide to the spirit how to overcome these challenges and eventually to arrive at the Hall of Judgement (so the book had to be buried with the dead). Budge stole the papyrus (supposedly to protect it) and took it to London, where it also resides in the British Museum. Although other versions of this funerary story were known, this was the most complete version discovered, and Budge published his translation of it in 1895. (For more information see: http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod/ )
One interesting feature of the Book is that in the Hall of Judgement, Ani (representing the dead spirit) is required to surrender his heart (in which all emotions lie) in the form of a sacred scarab stone that will be weighed on a balance against the white feather of truth. If the heart is too heavy or too light (hence the term lighthearted and heavyhearted), then he will be eaten by a terrible monster which is half crocodile and half jackal, and in this case he will be finally and irrevocably dead. However, if he or she has lead a righteous life, his or her heart will balance exactly and so the spirit will be lead into the "abode of reeds," where it will live forever in harmony.
How does one ensure that the heart will balance exactly? By carrying out virtuous deeds in life, such as not killing, not stealing, and honoring thy father and mother. Note that Moses, who we believe was given the tablets of the Ten Commandments in Sinai, was of Egyptian origin.
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:51 PM
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