YvtW: More Info on Egypt
Jan. 27th, 2004 02:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanithryudoCame across something useful for the next YvtW setting in Egypt. Still nothing on those "trials" mentioned earlier, but there's some more description on the weighing of the heart process, which I gather is mucho important. Main points:
"Anubis then weighs the heart of the deceased (left tray) against the feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice (right tray). In some drawings, the full goddess Ma'at, not just her feather, is shown seated on the tray. Note that Ma'at's head, crowned by the feather, also appears atop the fulcrum of the scale. If the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather, then the deceased has a heart which has been made heavy with evil deeds. In that event, Ammit the god with the crocodile head and hippopotamus legs will devour the heart, condemning the deceased to oblivion for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, and then the deceased has led a righteous life and may be presented before Osiris to join the afterlife. Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom stands at the ready to record the outcome."
Another interesting source of the afterlife journey. With pictures, even. It gives a good idea of the basic journey process, but still no hints on the so-called trials.
Of course, if I wanna actually go into the nitty gritty details, I might yet have to read some parts out of the very long and tedious The Book of the Dead. Le sigh.
Background on the Bood of the Dead
"The Book of the Dead is the name given by Egyptologists to a group of mortuary spells written on sheets of papyrus covered with magical texts and accompanying illustrations called vignettes. These were placed with the dead in order to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld and attain an afterlife of bliss in the Field of Reeds."
"In the Coffin Texts, as in the Book of the Dead, the sun-god is no longer supreme with regard to the afterlife, as he was in the Pyramid Texts. Some spells in the Book of the Dead still praise the sun-god Ra as being all-important. But, now it is Osiris, the king of the underworld, under whom the blessed dead hope to spend eternity, and it is Osiris with whom the dead become assimiliated as "the Osiris X", where X is the name of the deceased. Osiris also became the judge of the dead, before whom a trial would take place to determine if the deceased was worthy to enter the realm of Osiris in the afterlife."
"The Coffin Texts also spoke of a belief in an afterlife spent in the Field of Reeds where agricultural tasks would be performed by the deceased for all eternity." (Note: Interesting idea of heaven there...)
Full Translation by Budge, Allen, Faulkner in html chapter format.
Different Translation
And Again
(1/30 Update: Analysis of Pyramids as related to the rites of The Book of the Dead. Pyramid of Khufu = Almost Ideal Pyramid)
More links to Egyptian/Near East mythology.
"Anubis then weighs the heart of the deceased (left tray) against the feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice (right tray). In some drawings, the full goddess Ma'at, not just her feather, is shown seated on the tray. Note that Ma'at's head, crowned by the feather, also appears atop the fulcrum of the scale. If the heart of the deceased outweighs the feather, then the deceased has a heart which has been made heavy with evil deeds. In that event, Ammit the god with the crocodile head and hippopotamus legs will devour the heart, condemning the deceased to oblivion for eternity. But if the feather outweighs the heart, and then the deceased has led a righteous life and may be presented before Osiris to join the afterlife. Thoth, the ibis-headed god of wisdom stands at the ready to record the outcome."
Another interesting source of the afterlife journey. With pictures, even. It gives a good idea of the basic journey process, but still no hints on the so-called trials.
Of course, if I wanna actually go into the nitty gritty details, I might yet have to read some parts out of the very long and tedious The Book of the Dead. Le sigh.
Background on the Bood of the Dead
"The Book of the Dead is the name given by Egyptologists to a group of mortuary spells written on sheets of papyrus covered with magical texts and accompanying illustrations called vignettes. These were placed with the dead in order to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld and attain an afterlife of bliss in the Field of Reeds."
"In the Coffin Texts, as in the Book of the Dead, the sun-god is no longer supreme with regard to the afterlife, as he was in the Pyramid Texts. Some spells in the Book of the Dead still praise the sun-god Ra as being all-important. But, now it is Osiris, the king of the underworld, under whom the blessed dead hope to spend eternity, and it is Osiris with whom the dead become assimiliated as "the Osiris X", where X is the name of the deceased. Osiris also became the judge of the dead, before whom a trial would take place to determine if the deceased was worthy to enter the realm of Osiris in the afterlife."
"The Coffin Texts also spoke of a belief in an afterlife spent in the Field of Reeds where agricultural tasks would be performed by the deceased for all eternity." (Note: Interesting idea of heaven there...)
Full Translation by Budge, Allen, Faulkner in html chapter format.
Different Translation
And Again
(1/30 Update: Analysis of Pyramids as related to the rites of The Book of the Dead. Pyramid of Khufu = Almost Ideal Pyramid)
More links to Egyptian/Near East mythology.
