The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 83

The oldest religious texts suggest that the Egyptians always associated the Last Judgment with the weighing of the heart in a pair of scales, and in the illustrated papyri of the Book of the Dead great prominence is always given to the vignettes in which this weighing is being carried out. The heart, ab, was taken as the symbol of all the emotions, desires, and passions, both good and evil, and out of it proceeded the issues of life.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 63

But before Osiris became King of the Under World he suffered further persecution from Set. Piecing together a number of disconnected hints and brief statements in the texts, it seems pretty clear either that Osiris appealed to the "Great Gods" to take notice that Set had murdered him, or that Set brought a series of charges against Osiris. At all events the "Great Gods" determined to investigate the matter.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 89

In the second part of Chapter CXXV Osiris is seen seated at one end of the Hall of Maati accompanied by the two goddesses of Law and Truth, and the Forty-Two gods who are there to assist him. Each of the Forty-Two gods represents one of the nomes of Egypt and has a symbolic name. When the deceased had repeated the magical names of the doors of the Hall, he entered it and saw these gods arranged in two rows, twenty-one on each side of the Hall.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 20

10477) states that the text of the work called "PER-T EM HRU," i.e., "Coming Forth (or, into) the Day," was discovered by a high official in the foundations of a shrine of the god Hennu during the reign of Semti, or Hesepti, a king of the Ist dynasty. Another rubric in the same papyrus says that the text was cut upon the alabaster plinth of a statue of Menkaura (Mycerinus), a king of the IVth dynasty, and that the letters were inlaid with lapis lazuli.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 161

Chapters XIX and XX are variant forms of Chapter XVIII. Chapters XXI-XXIII secured the help of Thoth in "opening the mouth" of the deceased, whereby he obtained the power to breathe and think and drink and eat. Thoth recited spells over the gods whilst Ptah untied the bandages and Shu forced open their mouths with an iron (?) knife.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 52

Osiris owed his triumph over Set in the Great Judgment Hall of the Gods entirely to the skill of Thoth of the "wise mouth" as an Advocate, and to his influence with the gods in heaven. And every follower of Osiris relied upon the advocacy of Thoth to secure his acquittal on the Day of Judgment, and to procure for him an everlasting habitation in the Kingdom of Osiris.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 181

Chapters CXLIV and CXLVII deal with the Seven Great Halls (Arit) of the Kingdom of Osiris. The gate of each Hall was guarded by a porter, a watchman, and a messenger; the first kept the door, the second looked out for the arrival of visitors, and the third took their names to Osiris. No one could enter a Hall without repeating the name of it, of the porter, of the watchman, and of the messenger.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 185

A few contain hymns that are not older than the XVIIIth dynasty, and one is an extract from the text on the Pyramid of Unas (lines 379-399). The most interesting is, perhaps, Chapter CLXXV, which describes the Tuat as airless, waterless, and lightless. In this chapter the deceased is assured of immortality in the words, "Thou shalt live for millions of millions of years, a life of millions of years."

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 12

But these were not the only enemies of the dead against which precautions had to be taken, for both the mummified body and the spiritual elements which had inhabited it upon earth had to be protected from a multitude of devils and fiends, and from the powers of darkness generally.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 40

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.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 103

I have performed the behests of men, and the things that satisfy the gods. [10] I have propitiated the God [by doing] His will. I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, raiment to the naked, and a boat to him that needed one. I have made holy offerings to the gods, and sepulchral offerings to the beautified dead. Be ye then my saviours, be ye my protectors, and make no accusation against me before the Great God.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 120

This suggests that the gods did not expect the heart of the deceased to "kick the beam," but were quite satisfied if it exactly counterbalanced Truth. They demanded the fulfilment of the Law and nothing more, and were content to bestow immortality upon the man on whom Thoth's verdict was "he hath done no evil."

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 29

Early in the XVIIIth dynasty scribes began to write the titles of the Chapters, the rubrics, and the catchwords in red ink and the text in black, and it became customary to decorate the vignettes with colours, and to increase their size and number. The oldest codex of this class is the Papyrus of Nu (Brit. Mus. No. 10477) which is 65 feet 3 1/2 inches in length, and 1 foot 1 1/2 inches in breadth.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 195

[4] The longest papyrus in the world is Papyrus Harris No. 1 (Brit. Mus. No. 9999); it measures 133 feet by 1 foot 4 1/2 inches.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 189

3. Collotype reproduction of the Papyrus of Queen Netchemet, XXIst dynasty, with hieroglyphic transcript and translation. 12 plates, large folio.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 16

Since then the "great gods," even though benevolently disposed towards them, were not able to deliver the dead from the devils that lived upon the "bodies, souls, spirits, shadows and hearts of the dead," the Egyptians decided to invoke the aid of Thoth on behalf of their dead and to place them under the protection of his almighty spells.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 38

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.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 7

The Preservation of the Mummified Body in the Tomb by Thoth.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 124

According to the Book of Gates and the other "Guides" to the Egyptian Under World, the Kingdom of Osiris formed the Sixth Division of the Tuat; in very early times it was situated in the Western Delta, but after the XIIth dynasty theologians placed it near Abydos in Upper Egypt, and before the close of the Dynastic Period the Tuat of Osiris had absorbed the Under World of every nome of Egypt.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 74

The Egyptians "hated death and loved life," and when the belief gained ground among them that Osiris, the God of the Dead, had himself risen from the dead, and had been acquitted by the gods of heaven after a searching trial, and had the power to "make men and women to be born again," and "to renew life" because of his truth and righteousness, they came to regard him as the Judge as well as the God of the Dead.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 105

The deceased then addresses Osiris, and says, "Hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard, thou Lord of the Atefu Crown, whose name is 'Lord of Winds,' save me from thy Messengers (or Assessors) with uncovered faces, who bring charges of evil and make shortcomings plain, because I have performed the Law (or Truth) for the Lord of the Law (or Truth). I have purified myself with washings in water, my back hath been cleansed with salt, and my inner parts are in the Pool of Truth.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 53

The Egyptians were not satisfied with the mere possession of the texts of Thoth, when their souls were being weighed in the Great Scales in the Judgment Hall of Osiris, but they also wished Thoth to act as their Advocate on this dread occasion and to prove their innocence as he had proved that of Osiris before the great gods in prehistoric times.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 59

When Horus arrived at years of maturity, he set out to find Set and to wage war against his father's murderer. At length they met and a fierce fight ensued, and though Set was defeated before he was finally hurled to the ground, he succeeded in tearing out the right eye of Horus and keeping it. Even after this fight Set was able to persecute Isis, and Horus was powerless to prevent it until Thoth made Set give him the right eye of Horus which he had carried off.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 28

At first the texts were written in hieroglyphs, the greater number of them being in black ink, and an attempt was made to illustrate each text by a vignette drawn in black outline. The finest known example of such a codex is the Papyrus of Nebseni (Brit. Mus. No. 9900), which is 77 feet 7 1/2 inches in length and I foot I1/2 inches in breadth.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 164

Chapters XXXI-XLII were written to deliver the deceased from the Great Crocodile Sui, and the Serpents Rerek and Seksek, and the Lynx with its deadly claws, and the Beetle Apshait, and the terrible Merti snake-goddesses, and a group of three particularly venomous serpents, and Aapep a personification of Set the god of evil, and the Eater of the Ass, and a series of beings who lived by slaughtering the souls of the dead.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 153

Chapter I was recited by the priest who accompanied the mummy to the tomb and performed the burial ceremonies there. In it the priest (kher heb) assumed the character of Thoth and promised the deceased to do for him all that he had done for Osiris in days of old. Chapter IB gave the sahu, or "spirit-body," power to enter the Tuat immediately after the burial of the material body, and delivered it from the Nine Worms that lived on the dead.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 1

"Book of the Dead" is the title now commonly given to the great collection of funerary texts which the ancient Egyptian scribes composed for the benefit of the dead. These consist of spells and incantations, hymns and litanies, magical formulae and names, words of power and prayers, and they are found cut or painted on walls of pyramids and tombs, and painted on coffins and sarcophagi and rolls of papyri.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 175

The Bebait, or mantis, led him to the great gods (Chapter CIV), and the Uatch amulet from the neck of Ra provided his double (ka) and his heart-soul (ba) with offerings (Chapters CV, CVI). Chapters CVII-CIX made him favourably known to the spirits of the East and West, and the gods of the Mountain of Sunrise. In this region lived the terrible Serpent-god Ami-hem-f; he was 30 cubits (50 feet) long.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 43

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.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 152

"Let me follow thy Majesty as when I was on earth, let my soul be summoned, and let it be found near the Lords of Truth. I have come to the City of God, the region that is eternally old, with my soul (ba), double (ka) and spirit-soul (aakhu), to be a dweller in this land. Its God is the Lord of Truth ... he giveth old age to him that worketh Truth, and honour to his followers, and at the last abundant equipment for the tomb, and burial in the Land of Holiness. I have come unto thee, my hands hold Truth, and there is no falsehood in my heart ... Thou hast set Truth before thee: I know on what thou livest. I have committed no sin in this land, and I have defrauded no man of his possessions." (Chapter CLXXXIII.)

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 78

Meanwhile death had come into the world, and since the religion of Osiris gave man a hope of escape from death, and the promise of everlasting life of the peculiar kind that appealed to the great mass of the Egyptian people, the spread of the cult of Osiris and its ultimate triumph over all forms of religion in Egypt were assured.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 56

Isis, accompanied by her sister Nephthys, went to Netat and rescued the body of her lord, and the two sisters, with the help of Anpu, a son of Ra the Sun-god, embalmed it. They then laid the body in a tomb, and a sycamore tree grew round it and flourished over the grave.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 42

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 Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 158

Chapter XV has several forms, and each of them contains Hymns to Ra, which were sung daily in the morning and evening; specimen paragraphs are given above (pp. 33, 34). Chapter XVI is only a vignette that illustrates Chapter XV, Chapter XVII is a very important chapter, for it contains statements of divine doctrine as understood by the priests of Heliopolis. The opening words are, "I am Tem in rising. I am the Only One. I came into being in Nu (the Sky).

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 86

I have not oppressed [my] kinsfolk. I have done no wrong in the place of truth. I have not known worthless folk. I have not wrought evil. I have not defrauded the oppressed one of his goods. I have not done the things that the gods abominate. I have not vilified a servant to his master. I have not caused pain. I have not let any man hunger. I have made no one to weep. I have not committed murder. I have not commanded any to commit murder for me. I have inflicted pain on no man.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 131

In the texts that accompany these scenes the ears of wheat are said to be the "members of Osiris," and the wheat plant is called the maat plant. Osiris was the Wheat-god and also the personification of Maat (i.e., Truth), and the beautified lived upon the body of their god and ate him daily, and the substance of him was the "Bread of Everlastingness," which is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 141

Thou art the lord of heaven and earth, and didst create beings celestial and beings terrestrial. Thou art the God One, who camest into being in the beginning of time. Thou didst create the earth, and man, thou didst make the sky and the celestial river Hep; thou didst make the waters and didst give life unto all that therein is. Thou hast knit together the mountains, thou hast made mankind and the beasts of the field to come into being, and hast made the heavens and the earth.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 61

Under the direction of Thoth Horus recited a series of formulas as he presented offerings to Osiris, and he and his sons and Anubis performed the ceremonies which opened the mouth, and nostrils, and the eyes and the ears of Osiris. He embraced Osiris and so transferred to him his ka, i.e., his own living personality and virility, and gave him his eye which Thoth had rescued from Set and had replaced in his face.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 49

Thoth, in Egyptian Tchehuti or Tehuti, who has already been mentioned as the author of the texts that form the PER-T EM HRU, or Book of the Dead, was believed by the Egyptians to have been the heart and mind of the Creator, who was in very early times in Egypt called by the natives "Pautti," and by foreigners "Ra." Thoth was also the "tongue" of the Creator, and he at all times voiced the will of the great god, and spoke the words which commanded every being and thing in heaven and in earth to come into existence.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 98

"O Nekhen, comer forth from Heqat, I have not turned a deaf ear to the words of the Law (or Truth)."

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 76

When the power of Osiris became predominant in the Under World, and his fame as a just and righteous judge became well established among the natives of Lower and Upper Egypt, it was universally believed that after death all men would appear before him in his dread Hall of Judgment to receive their reward or their sentence of doom.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 22

This composition was greatly reverenced, for it "would make a man victorious upon earth and in the Other World; it would ensure him a safe and free passage through the Tuat (Under World); it would allow him to go in and to go out, and to take at any time any form he pleased; it would make his soul to flourish, and would prevent him from dying the [second] death." For the deceased to receive the full benefit of this text it had to be recited by a man "who was ceremonially pure, and who had not eaten fish or meat, and had not consorted with women." On coffins of the XIth dynasty and on papyri of the XVIIIth dynasty we find two versions of the PER-T EM HRU, one long and one short.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 165

In Chapter XLII every member of the deceased is put under the protection of, or identified with, a god or goddess, e.g., the hair with Nu, the face with Aten (i.e., the solar disk), the eyes with Hathor, and the deceased exclaims triumphantly, "There is no member of my body which is not the member of a god." Chapter XLIII. A spell to prevent the decapitation of the deceased, who assumes in it the character of Osiris the Lord of Eternity. Chapter XLIV.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 168

The recital of Chapter LXIII enabled the deceased to avoid drinking boiling water in the Tuat. The water in some of its pools was cool and refreshing to those who were speakers of the truth, but it turned into boiling water and scalded the wicked when they tried to drink of it. Chapter LXIV is an epitome of the whole Book of the Dead, and it formed a "great and divine protection" for the deceased.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 154

Chapters II-IV are short spells written to give the deceased power to revisit the earth, to join the gods, and to travel about the sky. Chapters V and VI provided for the performance of agricultural labours in the Other World. The text of Chapter VI was cut on figures made of stone, wood, etc. (ushabtiu), which were placed in the tomb, and when the deceased recited it these figures became alive and did everything he wished.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 47

In the space here available it is impossible to describe in detail the various Recensions of this work, viz., (1) the Heliopolitan, (2) the Theban and its various forms, and (3) the Saïte; but it is proposed to sketch briefly the main facts of the Egyptian Religion which may be deduced from them generally, and especially from the Theban Recension, and to indicate the contents of the principal Chapters.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead, passage 138

All the great papyri of the Book of the Dead begin with a HYMN TO RA, who from the period of the IVth dynasty was the "King of the Gods" of Egypt. His cult was finally "established" under the Vth dynasty when the king of Egypt began to call himself in official documents and monuments "Son of the Sun," Sa Ra. This Hymn is supposed to be sung by the deceased, who says:--