Book of the Dead: Did you mean...?

The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys is an ancient Egyptian text in which the two goddess-sisters call the soul of the god Osiris to rejoin the living. The poem takes the form of a call-and-response liturgy and the dual entreaties of the...

Howard Carter's 1922 CE discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was world-wide news but, following fast upon it, the story of the mummy's curse (also known as The Curse of the Pharaoh) became even more popular and continues to be in the present...

For the ancient Egyptians, life on earth was only one part of an eternal journey which continued after death. One's purpose in life was to live in balance with one's self, family, community, and the gods. Any occupation in Egypt was considered...

Often misconstrued as a culture obsessed with death, the ancient Egyptians viewed death and the afterlife as an intimately connected continuance to life itself. Though funerary processions and burial rites changed over the years - as seen...

A detail from a Book of the Dead, on papyrus showing hieratic writing of Hornefer, Ptolemaic Period, provenance unknown. (Museo Castello Sforzesco, Milan)

From Thebes, Egypt 19th Dynasty, c. 1275 BCE The judgement of the dead in the presence of Osiris This is an excellent example of one of the many fine vignettes (illustrations) from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer. The scene reads...

Hieratic Book of the Dead of Padimin written on linen; mummy wrapping. From Akhmim, Egypt. Late Period, after 664 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

Weighing of the heart scene, with en:Ammit sitting, from the book of the dead of Hunefer.

A detail from the Book of the Dead of Aaneru from Thebes, Third Intermediate Period, XXI Dynasty, 1070-946 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Turin)

A detail from the Book of the Dead of Tayesnakht from Thebes, Ptolemaic Period, 332-30 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Turin)