{ "meta": { "schema_version": "1.2", "endpoint": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/index.json" }, "work": { "slug": "book-of-the-dead", "name": "Egyptian Book of the Dead", "stream": "egyptian-hebrew", "epoch_reflected": "egypto-chaldean", "epoch_written": "egypto-chaldean", "form": "ritual text", "tradition": "Egyptian", "author": "Anonymous (Egyptian priests)", "year_approx": -1550, "note": "Egyptian funerary papyri of the New Kingdom — spells, hymns, and judgment-scene declarations for the deceased's journey through the Duat. E.A. Wallis Budge's 1895 British Museum edition, based primarily on the Papyrus of Ani.", "books_slug": "budge--the-book-of-the-dead", "books_slugs": null, "has_project_translation": false, "steiner_loci": [ "GA 106: Egyptian Myths and Mysteries (1908)", "GA 105: Universe, Earth and Man — Egyptian-section lectures", "GA 60: Lectures on Hermes / Mercury" ] }, "parents": [], "translation": { "title": null, "author": null, "source": null }, "chapters": [ { "num": 1, "slug": "00-the-book-of-the-dead", "title": "Preface", "words": 449, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/00-the-book-of-the-dead/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/00-the-book-of-the-dead.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Budge's Preface", "blurb": "E. A. Wallis Budge's preface to the 1895 first edition of the *Book of the Dead* — the British Museum keeper of Egyptian antiquities introducing his translation of the Papyrus of Ani, the most beautiful and best-preserved of the Theban recensions." }, { "num": 2, "slug": "02-the-versions-of-the-book-of-the-dead", "title": "The Versions Of The Book Of The Dead.", "words": 17479, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/02-the-versions-of-the-book-of-the-dead/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/02-the-versions-of-the-book-of-the-dead.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The recensions — Heliopolitan, Theban, Saïte", "blurb": "On the long history of the *pyr-em-hru* — the *Coming Forth by Day*. The Heliopolitan recension on the Old Kingdom pyramid walls; the Theban recension on Middle and New Kingdom papyri (including Ani); the Saïte recension that fixed the canonical chapter-order in the 26th Dynasty." }, { "num": 3, "slug": "03-the-legend-of-osiris", "title": "The Legend Of Osiris.", "words": 3865, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/03-the-legend-of-osiris/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/03-the-legend-of-osiris.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The legend of Osiris — Plutarch and the Pyramid Texts", "blurb": "The myth that underlies the entire *Book of the Dead*. Osiris betrayed and dismembered by Set; Isis the lamenting wife who gathers his body; Horus the avenging son who battles Set; Osiris reigning as king of the dead. The pattern after which every deceased Egyptian becomes *Osiris N* — Osiris-So-and-so." }, { "num": 4, "slug": "04-the-doctrine-of-eternal-life", "title": "The Doctrine Of Eternal Life.", "words": 10442, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/04-the-doctrine-of-eternal-life/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/04-the-doctrine-of-eternal-life.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The doctrine of eternal life — *ankh djet*", "blurb": "The Egyptian doctrine of eternal life — *ankh djet*, *living forever*. The components of the human being (ka, ba, akh, khaibit, sahu) and what becomes of each after death; the necessity of the preserved body for the survival of the spiritual elements; the goal of becoming an *akh*, a luminous spirit." }, { "num": 5, "slug": "05-the-egyptians-ideas-of-god", "title": "The Egyptians' Ideas Of God.", "words": 2118, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/05-the-egyptians-ideas-of-god/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/05-the-egyptians-ideas-of-god.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The Egyptians' ideas of God", "blurb": "On the Egyptian conception of *neter* (god). Budge's much-debated claim of underlying monotheism beneath the polytheistic surface; the *neteru* (gods) as manifestations of one *neter*. Whatever the scholarly verdict, the chapter records the ancient Egyptian theological vocabulary." }, { "num": 6, "slug": "06-the-legend-of-ra-and-isis", "title": "The Legend Of Ra And Isis.", "words": 6068, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/06-the-legend-of-ra-and-isis/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/06-the-legend-of-ra-and-isis.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Ra and Isis — the legend of the divine name", "blurb": "The myth of how Isis obtained the secret name of Ra by causing him pain. The doctrine of the *secret name* — knowing the name is having power over the named. The pattern for the great chapter (125) where the deceased names the forty-two assessors of judgment to neutralise them." }, { "num": 7, "slug": "07-the-abode-of-the-blessed", "title": "The Abode Of The Blessed.", "words": 2130, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/07-the-abode-of-the-blessed/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/07-the-abode-of-the-blessed.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The Field of Reeds — Sekhet-Iaru", "blurb": "On the Egyptian paradise — the Field of Reeds (Sekhet-Iaru) and the Field of Offerings (Sekhet-Hetepet). Not abstract bliss but transfigured continuation of the best of earthly life: ploughing, reaping, sailing, in a land of incorruption." }, { "num": 8, "slug": "08-the-gods-of-the-book-of-the-dead", "title": "The Gods Of The Book Of The Dead.", "words": 10982, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/08-the-gods-of-the-book-of-the-dead/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/08-the-gods-of-the-book-of-the-dead.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The principal gods of the Book of the Dead", "blurb": "Catalogue of the chief gods who appear in the funerary literature: Ra, Atum, Ptah, Khepera, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set, Anubis, Thoth, Ma'at, Hathor, Nut, Geb, Tefnut, Shu — with iconography and principal functions of each." }, { "num": 9, "slug": "09-the-principal-geographical-and-mythological-places-in-the", "title": "The Principal Geographical And Mythological Places In The Book Of The Dead.", "words": 1511, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/09-the-principal-geographical-and-mythological-places-in-the/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/09-the-principal-geographical-and-mythological-places-in-the.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Geographical and mythological places", "blurb": "On the geography of the underworld and of the mythological topography. Heliopolis, Memphis, Abydos, Busiris — the great cult-centres. The Duat (the underworld), the gates of the West, the seven mansions and the twenty-one pylons through which the deceased must pass." }, { "num": 10, "slug": "10-funeral-ceremonies", "title": "Funeral Ceremonies.", "words": 2209, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/10-funeral-ceremonies/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/10-funeral-ceremonies.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Egyptian funerary ceremonies — embalming, opening of the mouth", "blurb": "The seventy days of embalming; the procession to the tomb; the great *opening of the mouth* ceremony in which the priest restores the senses and faculties to the mummy. The ritual sequence into which the *Book of the Dead* text is embedded." }, { "num": 11, "slug": "11-the-papyrus-of-ani", "title": "The Papyrus Of Ani.", "words": 4239, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/11-the-papyrus-of-ani/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/11-the-papyrus-of-ani.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "The Papyrus of Ani — provenance and physical description", "blurb": "On the principal papyrus that Budge translates: the Papyrus of Ani, acquired by the British Museum in 1888, 78 feet long, dating to the 19th Dynasty (c. 1250 BC). The Royal Scribe Ani is the deceased for whose journey through the underworld the spells were copied." }, { "num": 12, "slug": "12-plate-i", "title": "Plate I.", "words": 4047, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/12-plate-i/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/12-plate-i.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate I — Ani's adoration of Ra; the Hymn to Ra at rising", "blurb": "Opens the papyrus. Ani and his wife Tutu adoring the rising sun-god Ra-Harakhty. The great hymn to Ra at his rising — *Adoration to thee, O Ra, when thou risest as Khepera, the self-created* — the first of the canonical opening hymns." }, { "num": 13, "slug": "13-plate-ii", "title": "Plate II.", "words": 1302, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/13-plate-ii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/13-plate-ii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate II — Hymn to Osiris; the Great Company of Gods", "blurb": "The hymn to Osiris (chapter 15 of the canonical numbering). Praises of Osiris as Lord of the West, Khent-Amenti; the recitation of his epithets and the description of his realm. The Ennead of Heliopolis enumerated." }, { "num": 14, "slug": "14-plate-iii", "title": "Plate III.", "words": 1641, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/14-plate-iii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/14-plate-iii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate III — *The Coming Forth by Day*; opening declarations", "blurb": "The famous opening declarations — chapter 1 of the canonical sequence: *I am yesterday; I know tomorrow.* Words to be said by Osiris-Ani on coming forth into the day. The first proclamation in which the deceased asserts identity with the cosmic powers." }, { "num": 15, "slug": "15-plate-iv", "title": "Plate IV.", "words": 1903, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/15-plate-iv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/15-plate-iv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate IV — The Negative Confession (chapter 125)", "blurb": "The single most famous chapter of the *Book of the Dead*: chapter 125, the **Negative Confession**. The deceased before the forty-two assessors in the Hall of Two Truths, declaring: *I have not committed iniquity… I have not slain men… I have not stolen…* The forty-two negations corresponding to the forty-two nomes of Egypt." }, { "num": 16, "slug": "16-plates-v-and-vi", "title": "Plates V. and VI.", "words": 5713, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/16-plates-v-and-vi/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/16-plates-v-and-vi.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates V-VI — The Weighing of the Heart", "blurb": "The great iconic scene of the *Book of the Dead*: the **Weighing of the Heart** in the Hall of Two Truths. Anubis adjusts the balance; the heart of Ani in one pan, the feather of Ma'at (Truth) in the other; Thoth records the result; the monster Ammit waits to devour those whose hearts prove heavy with sin." }, { "num": 17, "slug": "17-plates-vii-x", "title": "Plates VII.-X.", "words": 5883, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/17-plates-vii-x/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/17-plates-vii-x.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates VII-X — Hymns and acclamations after judgment", "blurb": "Following the successful judgment, Ani enters the realm of the blessed. The chapters of triumphant hymns and acclamations — the deceased now justified before Osiris, taking his place among the company of the gods." }, { "num": 18, "slug": "18-plates-xi-and-xii", "title": "Plates XI. and XII.", "words": 4323, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/18-plates-xi-and-xii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/18-plates-xi-and-xii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XI-XII — Spells for transformation", "blurb": "Chapters 76-88 — the great series of transformation-spells. The deceased takes on the form of various powerful creatures and gods — the falcon, the lotus, the swallow, the *bennu* (phoenix), the heron, the serpent, the crocodile, the divine soul of Atum. The power to assume any form is the power to escape all confinement." }, { "num": 19, "slug": "19-plate-xiii", "title": "Plate XIII.", "words": 753, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/19-plate-xiii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/19-plate-xiii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XIII — Spells for the soul's freedom", "blurb": "Chapters on the soul's freedom of movement and reunion. The deceased not bound to the tomb but able to come forth, to go where he wills, to be united with his ba (soul) which can fly free from the body. The Egyptian doctrine of resurrection-mobility." }, { "num": 20, "slug": "20-plate-xiv", "title": "Plate XIV.", "words": 772, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/20-plate-xiv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/20-plate-xiv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XIV — Spells against the dangers of the underworld", "blurb": "Chapters of protection against the snakes, the crocodiles, the demons, the beheading-knives of the underworld. The journey through the Duat is hazardous; each peril has its own counter-spell." }, { "num": 21, "slug": "21-plate-xv", "title": "Plate XV.", "words": 2894, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/21-plate-xv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/21-plate-xv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XV — The chapters of the heart", "blurb": "The famous chapters relating to the heart (ib) — chapters 26-30B. Spells to prevent the heart from being taken away, from speaking against the deceased at judgment, from being eaten by Ammit. The amuletic chapters that travelled inscribed on heart-scarabs placed within the mummy-wrappings." }, { "num": 22, "slug": "22-plate-xvi", "title": "Plate XVI.", "words": 2185, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/22-plate-xvi/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/22-plate-xvi.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XVI — Vignettes of the under-world journey", "blurb": "Painted vignettes of the under-world journey accompanying their spells. The deceased makes the offerings, propitiates the gods, receives the food and drink, opens the gates, advances through the regions of the West." }, { "num": 23, "slug": "23-plate-xvii", "title": "Plate XVII.", "words": 1297, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/23-plate-xvii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/23-plate-xvii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XVII — *I am Yesterday and I know Tomorrow* expanded", "blurb": "A return to the great opening declaration in expanded form. The deceased identifies himself with successive cosmic principles — *I am yesterday; I know tomorrow; I am the great phoenix in Heliopolis*. The expanded litany of self-identification with the powers." }, { "num": 24, "slug": "24-plate-xviii", "title": "Plate XVIII.", "words": 1033, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/24-plate-xviii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/24-plate-xviii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XVIII — Hymns of approach to Osiris", "blurb": "Hymns by which the deceased approaches Osiris in his hall. The praises of Osiris's epithets; the deceased's plea for inclusion among the *imakhu* (the venerated dead) before the throne." }, { "num": 25, "slug": "25-plate-xix", "title": "Plate XIX.", "words": 1058, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/25-plate-xix/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/25-plate-xix.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XIX — The opening of the mouth in textual form", "blurb": "The *opening of the mouth* spell — the chapter by which the funerary ritual performed on the mummy is enacted again textually in the underworld journey. The restoration of the senses and the freeing of the speech." }, { "num": 26, "slug": "26-plate-xx", "title": "Plate XX.", "words": 807, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/26-plate-xx/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/26-plate-xx.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XX — Chapters of food, drink, and air in the underworld", "blurb": "Spells to ensure that the deceased receives food, drink, and air in the underworld. The fear of dying of thirst or suffocating in the tomb is met by the spells that guarantee provision." }, { "num": 27, "slug": "27-plate-xxi", "title": "Plate XXI.", "words": 1041, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/27-plate-xxi/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/27-plate-xxi.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXI — Hymn to Hathor and the western mountain", "blurb": "Hymns to Hathor as Mistress of the West — the goddess in cow-form who receives the deceased into the western mountain. The Theban interpretation of Hathor as the receptive feminine guardian of the entrance to the realm of the dead." }, { "num": 28, "slug": "28-plate-xxii", "title": "Plate XXII.", "words": 784, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/28-plate-xxii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/28-plate-xxii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXII — Spells against the second death", "blurb": "The great Egyptian fear: the *second death* — the annihilation of the soul itself after the body's mortal death. Spells to ensure that the soul, having survived the body's dying, does not undergo this final extinction in the underworld's pits." }, { "num": 29, "slug": "29-plate-xxiii-and-plate-xxiv", "title": "Plate XXIII. and Plate XXIV.", "words": 608, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/29-plate-xxiii-and-plate-xxiv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/29-plate-xxiii-and-plate-xxiv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XXIII-XXIV — The mansions of the West", "blurb": "On the seven mansions and twenty-one pylons of the realm of Osiris. The deceased must name each gate-keeper, name each guardian, give the proper words at each threshold — the elaborate protocol of admission to the divine presence." }, { "num": 30, "slug": "30-plate-xxv", "title": "Plate XXV.", "words": 1155, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/30-plate-xxv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/30-plate-xxv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXV — The deceased in the Field of Reeds", "blurb": "The deceased now established in *Sekhet-Iaru*, the Field of Reeds. Vignettes of the deceased ploughing, sowing, reaping the grain of the underworld — the agricultural life of the blessed." }, { "num": 31, "slug": "31-plate-xxvi", "title": "Plate XXVI.", "words": 1109, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/31-plate-xxvi/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/31-plate-xxvi.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXVI — Companions of the journey", "blurb": "The companions of the deceased's journey — his ka, his ba, his shadow (khaibit), his name (ren). The five components of the Egyptian person, each of which must be preserved for the dead to fully *live*." }, { "num": 32, "slug": "32-plate-xxvii", "title": "Plate XXVII.", "words": 2091, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/32-plate-xxvii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/32-plate-xxvii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXVII — Boats and barques of the underworld", "blurb": "On the boats of the underworld. The night-barque of Ra (the *meseket-et*) and the day-barque (the *manjet*); the boat in which the deceased crosses celestial waters; the *bull of millions* who tows the deceased's craft through the night-hours of the Duat." }, { "num": 33, "slug": "33-plate-xxviii", "title": "Plate XXVIII.", "words": 940, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/33-plate-xxviii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/33-plate-xxviii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXVIII — Final hymns and acclamations", "blurb": "Closing hymns of triumph: the deceased, now established as Osiris-Ani in the realm of the blessed, joins the eternal company of the *imakhu*. The Egyptian closing-doxology of the funerary book." }, { "num": 34, "slug": "34-plates-xxix-and-xxx", "title": "Plates XXIX. and XXX.", "words": 2489, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/34-plates-xxix-and-xxx/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/34-plates-xxix-and-xxx.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XXIX-XXX — Special chapters of magical efficacy", "blurb": "The shorter spells of specifically magical-protective efficacy: chapters that act as amulets when written on linen, gold, or papyrus and placed within the wrappings of the mummy. The amuletic dimension of the *Book of the Dead*." }, { "num": 35, "slug": "35-plates-xxxi-and-xxxii", "title": "Plates XXXI. and XXXII.", "words": 857, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/35-plates-xxxi-and-xxxii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/35-plates-xxxi-and-xxxii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XXXI-XXXII — Tutu's chapters", "blurb": "Plates devoted to the deceased's wife Tutu — a parallel set of spells in feminine form. The Papyrus of Ani is unusual in including the wife as a parallel beneficiary; most surviving papyri concern only one deceased." }, { "num": 36, "slug": "36-plate-xxxii", "title": "Plate XXXII.", "words": 3963, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/36-plate-xxxii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/36-plate-xxxii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXXII (continued)", "blurb": "Continuation of the wife-Tutu section. The intercessory dimension: Ani prays for his wife as the wife prays for him, both seeking together to enter the company of Osiris." }, { "num": 37, "slug": "37-plate-xxxiii", "title": "Plate XXXIII.", "words": 1297, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/37-plate-xxxiii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/37-plate-xxxiii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXXIII — The seven Hathors and the seven Khnums", "blurb": "On the seven Hathors who attend the destiny of every child, and the seven Khnums who fashion the body. The dual seven-fold company that shapes both fate and form — the Egyptian doctrine of multiple-creator divinities." }, { "num": 38, "slug": "38-plates-xxxiii-and-xxxiv", "title": "Plates XXXIII and XXXIV.", "words": 2593, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/38-plates-xxxiii-and-xxxiv/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/38-plates-xxxiii-and-xxxiv.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XXXIII-XXXIV — Closing series", "blurb": "The closing series of spells. Final assertions of the deceased's establishment among the blessed; the last hymns to Osiris; the colophons identifying scribes and dating the papyrus." }, { "num": 39, "slug": "39-plates-xxxv-and-xxxvi", "title": "Plates XXXV. and XXXVI.", "words": 838, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/39-plates-xxxv-and-xxxvi/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/39-plates-xxxv-and-xxxvi.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plates XXXV-XXXVI — Catalogue of offerings", "blurb": "The catalogue of offerings the deceased is to receive: bread, beer, oxen, fowl, alabaster vases, linen — the standard funerary menu, secured eternally by the inscribed catalogue itself." }, { "num": 40, "slug": "40-plate-xxxvii", "title": "Plate XXXVII.", "words": 412, "url": "/sources/book-of-the-dead/40-plate-xxxvii/", "api": "/api/sources/book-of-the-dead/40-plate-xxxvii.json", "project_translation": false, "subtitle": "Plate XXXVII — Closing prayers", "blurb": "The last plate of the papyrus. Closing prayers and acclamations; the deceased's final declaration of his standing before Osiris and his entry into the eternal life *ankh djet*." } ] }