The Book of the Dead is what we call an Egyptian funerary text placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased that contained spells that helped the deceased successfully pass into the afterlife, called the Duat. It was used from the beginning of the New Kingdom, around 1500 BCE, to around 50 BCE, when Egypt was incorporated into the Roman Empire.
It is an evolution of earlier Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom written on the walls of the burial chamber within pyramids to help the dead king to take his place alongside the gods in the sky, rather than in the underworld. In the Middle Kingdom, these were replaced by Coffin Texts that were painted on objects rather than written on papyrus but served the same purpose.
While we refer to it as a single text, it was developed by priests over 1,000 years, and no two copies are exactly the same. Some people seem to have commissioned personalized versions of the text that referred to the specifics of their lives. Although it was usually written on Papyri, it could also be written on other funerary objects, such as mummy wrappings. The Egyptians themselves called the text “Spells of Coming Forth by Day.”
Duat: The Egyptian Underworld
To understand the purpose of the Book of the Dead, it is important to first understand Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife, which also developed over time. The myth of the afterlife begins with the god Osiris, who was killed in jealousy by his brother Seth. His wife Isis used her magic to bring Osiris back to life, but what he achieved was a kind of half-life, which could not be sustained in the mortal world. Therefore, Isis also created the underworld, called the Duat, for him to live in and rule over.
While the underworld had many names, it was usually called the Duat, and it is described in the Book of the Dead, as well as other texts, including the Book of Gates, which depicts 100 scenes showing the transition of the soul into the afterlife.
The Duat was connected to the material world via burial chambers that acted as gateways. This is why necropolises were located on the west bank of the Nile, as the afterlife was believed to be in the west, where the sun sets. The world looked much like the world of the living, but with some fantastic features like lakes of fire and trees of turquoise.
To reach the Duat, the dead had to pass “The Road of the Secret Things of Re-stau” and pass several challenges to reach the Hall of Truth, where their heart was weighted against the feather of Ma’at in the weighing of the heart ceremony. This involved addressing 42 judges, called the Assessors of Ma’at, and confessing their sins.
Those who passed the test passed into the A’aru, or the “Field of Reeds,” which was the ideal part of the underworld where people could live in paradise alongside their loved ones and where the shabti figures they were buried with labored on their behalf. Those who were unsuccessful were devoured by the monster Ammit, and their souls were sent to oblivion.
Contents of the Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead is a compilation of texts, often described as spells because the Egyptians believed that ritual speech had magical powers. There are 192 known spells, though no single manuscript contains all of them. The book had no defined structure, but Egyptologists have developed an order to make the text more accessible today.
Spells 1-16 describe the deceased entering their tomb and descending into the underworld, where the body regains its power of movement and speech to facilitate the journey.
Spells 17-63 explain the mythical origins of the gods and the cosmos and describe how the deceased, once born again like the morning sun.
Spells 64-129 have the deceased travel across the sky in the sun barque with the gods. In the evening, as the barque descends into darkness, the dead are taken into the underworld
Spells 130-189 describe how the deceased assumes a form of divinity and also explain issues such as protective amulets and the provision of food for the dead.
Notable Spells in the Book of the Dead
Below are English translations of some of the notable spells that appear in the Book of the Dead.
Spell 6 enables Shabti figures to pass into the next life with the dead and labor on their behalf.
O shabti, allotted to me, if I be summoned or if I be detailed to do any work which has to be done in the realm of the dead, if indeed any obstacles are implanted for you therewith as a man at his duties, you shall detail yourself for me on every occasion of making arable the fields, of flooding the banks or of conveying sand from east to west; ‘Here I am’, you shall say.
Spell 17 describes the nature of the creator god Atum and is the longest text in the book.
All the evil which was on me has been removed.
What does that mean? It means that I was cleansed on the day of my birth in the two great and noble marshes which are in Heracleopolis on the day when the common folk make offerings to the Great God who is therein.
What are they? ‘Eternity’ is the name of one; ‘sea’ is the name of the other. They are the Lake of Natron and the Lake of Maat.
Otherwise said: ‘Eternity governs’ is the name of one; ‘Sea’ is the name of the other.
Otherwise said: ‘Seed of Eternity’ is the name of one; ‘sea’ is the name of the other. As for that Great God who is therein, he is Ra himself.
Spell 25 ensures that the dead remember their name, which was considered necessary for being revitalised.
I have put my name in the Upper Egyptian shrine, I [have] made my name to be remembered in the Lower Egyptian shrine, on this night of counting the years and of numbering the months…
Spell 30 beseeches the heart not to betray its owner during the weighing of the heart ceremony. As well as appearing on the papyri, it often appeared on scarab heart amulets.
O my heart of my mother! O my heart of my mother! O my heart of my different forms! Do not stand up as a witness against me, do not be opposed to me in the tribunal, do not be hostile to me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance, for you are my ka which was in my body, the protector who made my members hale. Go forth to the happy place whereto we speed, do not make my name stink to the Entourage who make men. Do not tell lies about me in the presence of the god. It is indeed well that you should hear!
Spell 42 lists the essential parts of the body and their divine parallels.
My hair is Nu; my face is Ra; my eyes are Hathor; my ears are Wepwawet; my nose is She who presides over her lotus leaf; my lips are Anubis; my molars are Selkis; my incisors are Isis the goddess; my arms are the Ram, the Lord of mendes; my breast is Neith, Lady of Sais; my back is Seth; my phallus is Osiris; my muscles are the Lords of Kheraha; my chest is he who is greatly majestic; my belly and my spine are Sekhmet; my buttocks are the Eye of Horus; my thighs and my calves are Nut; my feet are Ptah; my toes are living falcons; there is no member of mine devoid of a god, and Thoth is the protection of all my flesh.
Spell 134 helps the spirit be worthy to pass into the afterlife.
To be spoken over a falcon standing with the White Crown on his head; Atum, Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, Osiris and Isis, Seth and Nephthys being drawn in ochre on a new bowl placed in the sacred barque, together with an image of this spirit (ba) whom you wish to be made worthy, it being anointed with oil. Offer to them incense on the fire and roasted ducks, and worship Ra. It means that he for whom this is done will voyage and be with Ra every day in every place he desires to travel, and it means that the enemies of Ra will be driven off in very deed. A matter a million times true.
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