The Egyptian Book of the Dead - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1609421698 ISBN 13: 9781609421694

Publisher: Fab, 2016

Synopsis

The Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE. It is a collection of texts intended to assist a dead person's journey through the underworld, and into the afterlife, which were written by many Egyptian priests over a period of about 1000 years. The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, which were painted onto objects.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

"The Egyptian Book of the Dead" is unquestionably one of the most influential books in all history. Embodying a ritual to be performed for the dead, with detailed instructions for the behaviors of the disembodied spirit in the Land of the Gods, it served as the most important repository of religious authority for some three thousand years. Chapters were carved on the pyramids of the ancient 5th Dynasty, texts were written in papyrus, and selections were painted on mummy cases well into the Christian Era. In a certain sense it stood behind all Egyptian civilization.In the year 1888, Dr. E. Wallis Budge, then purchasing agent for the British Museum, followed rumors he heard of a spectacular archeological find in Upper Egypt, and found in an 18th Dynasty tomb near Luxor "the largest roll of papyrus I had ever seen, tied with a thick band of papyrus, and in a perfect state of preservation." It was a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written around 1500 B.C. for Ani, Royal Scribe of Thebes, Overseer of the Granaries of the Lords of Abydos, and Scribe of the Offerings of the Lord of Thebes.This Papyrus of Ani, a full version of the Theban recension, is presented here by Dr. Budge, who later became perhaps the world's most renowned Egyptologist. Reproduced in full are a clear copy of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, an interlinear transliteration of their sounds (as reconstructed), a word-for-word translation, and separately a complete smooth translation. All this is preceded by an introduction of more than 150 pages. As a result of this multiple apparatus the reader has a unique opportunity to savor all aspects of the Book of the Dead, or as it is otherwise known, The Book of the Great Awakening.

About the Author:

E. A. Wallis Budge, the author of numerous books, was once the Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiques in the British Museum.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fab
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1609421698
• ISBN 13: 9781609421694
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 120