1these Funerary Texts: The Egyptian Book Of The Dead

The Egyptian Book of The Dead is the 9th century name for a compilation of spells. These spells were used to ensure that when the Egyptians died they had sufficient knowledge and power to guide them through the afterlife or Duat. A Duat is a journey that had to be made to reach eternal life, or paradise. These texts have been around for a very long time, and have been in practice for thousands of years, “1These funerary texts were first produced at the beginning of the New Kingdom, and were still in use 15,000 years later” (British Museum 1). Many of our ancestors were very religious, and believed in many different practices; the Book of the Dead shows this. Many of these texts, or spells, have been found inscribed on tomb walls, and they

The Book of the Dead contained spells aimed at preserving the body of the deceased. These spells may have been recited during the process of mummification. The heart was regarded as the aspect of being which included intelligence and memory. The heart was also protected with spells; if anything happened to the physical heart it was common to bury jewelled heart scarabs with a body to serve as its replacement. The name of the deceased constituted their individuality, and it was required for their continued existence on into the afterlife. Spell 25 ensured the deceased would remember their name. If all aspects of the person could be preserved the dead person would live on as an akh. An akh was a blessed spirit with magical powers that would dwell with the

It is written in horizontal lines across wide columns. The text was written in both black and red ink, regardless if it was hieroglyphics or hieratic. The body of the text was often in black, and titles of the spells were in the red ink. Red ink was also used in the opening and closing sections of spells, the instructions to perform spells correctly in rituals, and also for the names of dangerous creatures. This ink was often mixed with water for ease of use. The style of these texts varied widely, some were lavish in color and illustrations. Others were simple line drawings, or even one simple illustration. Some contained a complete text with no illustration whatsoever, there was no specification to these texts as to whether they should use illustrations or not. The papryi were often works of many different artists and scribes, these were pasted