The Mystery of the Ancient Book of the Dead

The Mystery of the Ancient Book of the Dead

The world famous Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is a collection of magic spells and guidance was to be used by the deceased to guide them during the afterlife and the title the ‘Book of the Dead’ was actually a title that was given to the book by western scholars themselves. The ancient Egyptians called the book by the name ‘The Book of Coming Forth by Day’ or by another name, ‘Spells for Going Forth by Day’, but generally, it is referred to at the ancient Egyptian equivalent of the Bible. The texts themselves were written and compiled at different times and was eventually gathered today to form a book, however there was never any codification of the texts and no 2 copies were the same. They were tailor made texts made for the purpose of each individual, with spells and guidance according to their needs, and was a product created specifically and mainly for those who were able to afford to purchase one. The afterlife was seen as a continuation of the earthly life and after going through a series of obstacles, including judgement and difficulties which took place in the Hall of Truth, they would enter a paradise which was seen as a mirror image of their life on earth. After the trials and tribulations that they went through in the Hall of Truth, they passed through to the Lily Lake to rest in the Field of Reed and all that things that they lost and yearned for in life would return there and would be enjoyed eternally. But in order to reach that point of paradise, the deceased needed to know where to go and how to address different gods and what things to say at different times during their journey. There was also the need to know how to compose oneself and how to present themselves whilst being in the land of the dead, and it was for these purposes that the ancient Egyptians found the Book of the Dead as a useful tool of guidance.

Depictions on tomb paintings from the time period of the

Third Dynasty of Egypt (between 2670-2613 BC) were sources of the text of the Book of the Dead, and they were written on papyrus, along with illustrations, in the tombs and graves alongside the dead. Instructions in the Book of the Dead also included instructions on how to take on the form of mythical creatures, as well as details of passwords to enable them to get through to the different stages of the underworld. In the time period before the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, the Book of the Dead was something that was only available to the elite and royalty and the popularity of the Osiris myth during the period of the New Kingdom, meant that people thought that the spells were indispensable because of the fact that Osiris was featured constantly during the souls journey in the afterlife. Because the book eventually was in such demand by all peoples of ancient Egypt, book scribes then made them available to anyone and spells in the book could have been tailor made, according to the budget of the scribes’ customers.


It wasn't until 650 BC, when the Book of the Dead was fixed

at a 190 spells per book, but it was common that people would add or remove certain spells as they saw fit but its seemed like the most common spell, was Spell 125, which was a spell which talks about the judging of the heart of the deceased by the god Osiris in the Hall of Truth. PICTUREIt was important the soul passed the test, in order to gain paradise and knowing what to say and act when being presented before Osiris, Thoth, Anubis and the 42 judges was the most important piece of information that the deceased would need to move through the paradise.
On the event of death, it is said that the soul was guided by Anubis to the Hall of Truth where a declaration of innocence would be made, also called the Negative Confession. Once this was made, gods Osiris, Thoth, Anubis and the 42 judges would confer and if the confession was one of acceptance, then the heart of the deceased was weighed against the white feather of Ma’at, which was referred to at the feather of truth and of the heart weighed in lighter than the feather, then this meant that the soul has passed the judgement and was allowed to go into paradise. But on the other side of the scale, if they heart was heavier than the feather, is was thrown onto the floor where goddess Ammit would eat it and the soul of the deceased would disappear.


Take a look at the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead yourself, available here.