Customer Reviews

The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day

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"I come with my heart bearing truth, and there are no lies in it..."

This is a visually and poetically beautiful book. The images from the papyrus are well imaged, the computerized restorations of the artwork were not (to me) obvious and did not detract from its beauty.

The translation is lyrical, and while not matched word for word with the original, the content is odd enough that I think it must be fairly close--no modern mind would make up this stuff. The papyrus text itself is clearly legible for anyone who wants to get obsessive about it (amazon also sells some books that allow you to learn middle egyptian--from which I gather that the word order in the language is very different from that in english. A word for word translation would therefore be very difficult to understand).

For someone with little familiarity with Middle Egyptian culture, the stories are a little difficult to understand on the first reading, but, inexplicably, they make more and more sense on re-reading. For example, the various afterlife characters have multiple 'epithets'--nicknames or titles--that can be difficult to keep straight, and there are references to stories that everyone in ancient Egypt probably knew but we today do not. (eg: 'He who is on his mound' probably evokes the egyptian tale of the beginning of the world--a mound rising out of a primordial ocean, upon which a falcon alighted--I'm guessing the expression refers to either Horus or Amun). Reading the text more than once allows you to pick up on some of the nicknames and blurring-together (syncretion) of the characters of the egyptian pantheon, which reduces the sense of 'having walked into the movie halfway through'.

The unusual verbal imagery is a property of the original work, and this translation does not attempt to 'interpret' these expressions for us, but leaves their ambiguities for our own minds to resolve, in my opinion making the text that much more interactive.

The commentaries at the end of the book do a good job of explaining how all this fit into the ancient Egyptian culture. The 'spells' meant to give power to the dead in the next life reveal what the ancient Egyptians valued in this one: truthfulness, 'effectiveness'/getting the job done, good food (and beer), and a safe and loving home (exemplified by the field of reeds). The basic values expressed in the text make these mysterious ancient people seem like people who could live next door today.

My only complaint is that the binding has proven not to be very secure; while I have not actually lost any pages from the book, some are loose and I fear that at some point soon, a few of them will fly out when someone opens the text. (My copy is about a year old.) Also note that the book is oversized, so you need more than a foot in height between your bookshelves in order to store it upright.

I would recommend this book for any coffee-table, because of its visual impact and beauty. I would also recommend it for anyone seriously interested in Egyptology, because of the excellent translations it contains. I recommend it for people who, like me, are new to Egyptology, because of the commentary it contains. Definitely worth the 20-odd bucks they charge for it--just don't manhandle the book spine.

It would hardly seem necessary to add another review, but it seems it would be helpful to make a few things clear. "The Book of the Dead" is not, as some reviewers seem to think, a (not very good) encyclopedia of Egyptian life. Nor is it a compendium of mythology (the narrative content is remarkably small). Nor is it (an early but durable misconception) "the Egyptian Bible". The name applies to a number of collections of spells, prayers, hymns, and instructions (the contents varying from copy to copy, and over time), which were included in tombs. They were intended to assist the deceased in achieving a happy existence (and avoiding destruction) in the afterlife. The contents are, in this context, quite utilitarian. To the Egyptians it was "Coming Forth by Day" (as a glorified spirit), and those who could afford it commissioned beautifully executed copies as essential equipment for their long-term future. Many copies, including the Papyrus of Ani, included numerous illustrations (some exquisite) of major and minor gods, the intended owner and his family, and scenes of the (very earthly) Next World. The collection emerged from earlier bodies of tomb and coffin literature during the New Kingdom, and versions continued to be produced into Roman times.

This particular edition reproduces (beautifully) the color edition of the New Kingdom "Papyrus of Ani" published by the British Museum in 1890. That version was edited by E.A.W. Budge -- who had purchased the scroll in Egypt -- in collaboration with another Victorian-era Egyptologist, Le Page Renouf. This modern presentation is actually an improvement, since computer manipulation has allowed the rejoining of material which Budge arbitrarily separated when preparing the brittle papyrus for shipment by pasting sections on wooden blocks. (The papyrus has, inevitably, deteriorated since it was unrolled. The few modern reproductions of images from it which I have seen were a letdown after the early descriptions. James Wasserman's Preface, which mentions this problem, refers to photographs in an Egyptological series, which I have not seen.)

That first edition was always rare and expensive, and hardly ever available today, and then at a very high price indeed. It was followed in 1895 by a popular edition, prepared by Budge, containing the text in a hieroglyphic transcription, interlinear transliterations and translations, a more polished translation, and an elaborate introduction and other apparatus, including supplementary material from roughly contemporary texts, and some black and white line-drawing versions of the illustrations. This latter edition has been reissued for decades by Dover Publications, and at first glance it looks like a wonderful bargain. The arrangement looks promising, and the hieroglyphic font was a brilliant example of nineteenth-century design.

Unhappily, Budge was not only writing in the nineteenth century, he was already behind the times even then. His transliteration is utterly obsolete, and his smooth translation misleading (although the interlinear translation is sometimes helpful figuring out the original word order when comparing translations by others). His introduction and commentary are full of errors (or then-current misconceptions), and he devotes a lot of space to almost-forgotten controversies (useful to the serious student, a waste of time to most readers). I enjoy looking at it, but have never trusted it.

Budge went on to edit a "complete" Book of the Dead, the hieroglyphic text of which is still cited, and a translation of that text, still (or recently) in print (under the Arkana and other imprints) and also misleading. (There are also other editions of the 1895 version of the Papyrus of Ani, with less lavish layout.)

For anyone who has longed for the color plates of Budge's original edition, and dreamed of a modern translation of what it says, this edition will meet most demands. It does not (alas!) have a modern transliteration, but that is its only real lack. It contains a limited, but useful, commentary. There are translations, based on critically edited versions of those "Chapters" found in the Papyrus of Ani, on the same pages as the facsimiles. Like Budge's popular edition, it also contains translations of important material from other copies of the collection from the same period (known in the scholarly literature as "The Theban Recension"). The translations are based on those by the late Raymond Faulkner, which also appear, with other material, in another "Book of the Dead" translation.

So, if you are looking for an outstanding example of Egyptian funerary literature and art from the New Kingdom, you will probably want this book. If you are looking for a general introduction to ancient Egypt, a reference work, or comprehensive anthology of ancient Egyptian literature, try something else. (You will probably want to return to this if what you find there interests you, but that is another matter.)

This book is an outstanding translation and presentation of the books that make up the Papyrus of Ani. Faulkner is far superior to Budge, and this book proves it out. In addition to the beautiful pictures and fine translations, the commentaries in the back, along with the explanations of the vignettes contained in the papyrus are well worth the money. A must for anyone interested in Ancient Egypt and their culture.

The Papyrus of Ani is a beauty by itself, and this wonderful translation of its texts only further enhances this splendor. I cannot compare it to works translated by Wallis Budge, being that I have never undertaken any because of his reputation as a somewhat out-of-date translator. However, all criticisms aside, this piece of literature makes one better understand the at times complicated mythology of Ancient Egypt and perhaps a better understanding of the Egyptians themselves, for they made their gods as human in quality as they. The chapters not illustrated are reproduced in the back of the book in their entirety, and I doubt that a more complete copy of the Book of the Dead exhists in the scholarly realm. The plates are breath-taking, though I must admit I am somehwat against the computer restoration of some of the images, as I believe they are most beautiful in their natural, albeit blemished, form. It's rather like seeing a restoration of the limestone bust of Nefertiti; it looses something in the translation, something that says for having passed through the Amenti of time, they are still this beautiful.

"As for any person who knows this spell, let him be like Re in the eastern sky, like Osiris in the midst of Duat" The Book of two Ways


Egyptian Funerary Texts:
The purpose of the Egyptian funerary texts was to provide the deceased with pass words (or magical spells) which could ensure him a safe passage into the afterlife. Egyptians used to cling to a firm belief, in an afterlife, without any shadow of doubt. The texts together with the illustrations have provided detailed information on timings and directions of the final journey. The papyrus amulets were placed on the dead body during embalming.
The funeral texts were written in Hieroglyphs, but books written in Hieratic and Demotic, were discovered in later historical epochs, that developed into three subsequent versions. The Dead came ultimately to be identified with, and referred to as Osiris, the god of the dead and afterlife, in a last step in the democratization of the right to eternal life!

The Pyramid Texts:
Most ancient surviving funerary texts, found included in the coffin are called the Pyramid Texts, were an exclusive privilege of the Kings of the Old Kingdom. An early attestation, were the Hieroglyphic inscriptions on the internal walls of the burial chamber of 'Unas Pyramid' in Memphis cemetery at Saquara. (Ca. 23rd century BC),

The Coffin Texts:
The Elite members of Pharaoh's administration, acquired a royal right to the protective texts, in the Middle Kingdom (mid 21st century BC). They were written on the inner surface of their internal wooden coffins, included with their burials, in rock-cut tombs. Few were recorded on sarcophagus, statues, tomb walls, or even grave markers or offering slabs. The book of the two ways, was a guide book to the afterlife, included detailed instructions, gathered from coffins from Hermoplis Magna, center of Toth scribes cult of wisdom.

Texts of the Dead:
'Book of the Dead' is the title given to a collection of texts containing religious utterances and magical spells, known to ancient Egyptians as, "The Chapter of Coming forth by Day." Those papyri contained a variety of chapters, selected to suit the needs of the deceased. The surviving papyri, show many examples, dating mostly from the 15th to the second century BC. Copies of The Book of the Dead inscribed on papyrus sheets, were carefully rolled and placed in the tombs of leading Egyptian officials, and high priests.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead:
Reproduced in the Ani papyrus, this meticulously written and illustrated volume, of striking beauty, set by scribes for the Royal Scribe Ani, (1250 BC) is in the British Museum. Its contents contributed to understanding Ancient Egyptian beliefs, and portrays their various concepts.
The text was translated by the late Dr. R. Faulkner, with amendments, and two extensive commentaries by Dr. O. Goelet, Jr., located in the end of the book.
The wonderful plates preserve the original color of the illustrations, produced earlier under supervision of the eminent Egyptologist Wallis Budge.

Theban Recension & Book Corpus:
This updated integral edition comprises 'The Theban Recension,' which did not appear in the papyrus of Ani, a treasure for the student of comparative religion.
Prof. Goelet commentary on the Corpus of the book (of going forth by day) and its study needs to be read carefully. It is a scholarly appreciative analysis of its canon, organization, and the manufacture of this royal papyrus.
Ogden mentions the Heliopolitan Cosmology, which Moses may have been well instructed. He interprets the names of Atum, its creator deity as: 'He Who is Eternity,' 'The Completed One,' or 'The undifferentiated One,' in close similarity to "I am Who I am," or "I am Whom I will Be."

Ahhh, what pleasure a good read brings. This book is stunningly superior to E.A. Wallis Budge's "translation" (if one may dare call such an aggregation of errors and blunders by such a name!). Please, do not waste money or time on THAT translation. This one, replete with high-detail photographs and digital renderings, is an excellent choice. The books are laid out attractively; the texts are excellent, and for the most part, exhibit poetic panache while maintaining clarity. If you wish for a reliable translation of the books (for such they are), this is a first-rate selection.

Faulkner is supposed to be a better translator than Budge. His text appears stilted, and does not have the line-for-line hieroglypic text with phonetic translation that I liked about Budge. I am not a professional Egyptologist, nor am I a master of linguistics, so I respect both versions of the so-called Book of the Dead for their attempt at rendering a cultural/religious document into my own modern day language. What is more important about this book than the translation is the notes and explanations offered in the beginning of the book. This allows one to see the ideas behind the translation so that we can understand the perspective of the translator. Overall, I would rank this as a necessary reference resource for any serious student of Egypt and her religion/culture. Dr. Constance Johnson, Ph.D.

The egyptian book of the dead is a guide to the perils that await the deceased on their journey towards immortality. It is also one of the earliest examples of literature, a book considered by many to be the starting point of the western canon.

Unfortunately, our knowledge of ancient Egypt is sketchy at best. As the egyptians began to convert to christianity, their ancient script was dropped in favour of greek, and by the fifth century of our era, was largely out of use. Close to 1500 years would pass before it would be decyphered again by the pioneering french egyptologist, Champollion.

Fifteen hundred years of abandonment is a long time, but more so in the case of a polytheistic culture who's essence was much at odds with the monotheistic, hellenized culture taking root in the land, a situation which would change little with the arrival of islam a couple of centuries later.

This historical context has contributed in no small measure to the destruction, over the centuries, of ancient egyptian archaelogical, cultural and linguistic evidence. To the point that by the time the study of ancient Egypt first began in ernest two hundred years ago, much had been lost, and what had survived had to go through the ham-fisted methods of 19th century archaelogy (the Ani papyrus itself was cut into some three dozen fragments after its discovery by british anthropologist Wallis Budge).

Given this situation, it is hardly surprising that the book of the dead is a difficult manuscript even to seasoned egyptologists. The text is not only incorrectly transcribed at times (good scribes were a rarity in a largely illiterate society), but it is also full of obscure religious and cultural references. The commentary at the end of the book helps elucidate some passages, but comes far short of clarifying such a difficult book.

This being said, the book, despite these shortcomings, is really quite beautiful. The text has a poetic, almost musical, quality that reminds one of modern authors such as Borges (a declared admirer of the text). So, despite the difficulty understanding the book fully, one can appreciate its intrinsic aescetic qualities. In addition, the color illustrations are fantastic, and are faithfully reproduced in this edition thanks to computer editing.

Overall, a great addition to anyones library. A titanic witness to that other never-ending journey which is mankind's pursuit of knowledge.

This is book is a wonderful piece to just look at. The plates of the papyri are gorgeous and are able to hold one in an almost trancelike state just looking into them. However, the texts of the papyri are not easily understood. So, this book is also amazingly helpful by the way it is put together for those of us who are non-specialists.

The book beings with a foreword, preface, and an introduction. The bulk of the book consists of thirty-seven beautiful plates of the papyri with a translation in English below. According to the other text in the book, this translation by Raymond Faulkner has many qualities that make it superior to any previous English version. Pages 94-97 provide thumbnail black and white versions of each text of papyri as a key to how to read them and other features.

Pages 101-135 contain chapters of the Theban Recension of "The Book of Going Forth by Day" that do not appear in the Ani Papyri that are the subject of this book. I suspect that this will be of more interest to those who are well versed in this subject than the general reader.

The next section is where I recommend any reader not already familiar with the context of this book in Egyptian culture begin their reading. It runs from page 139-154. The remainder of the book provides extra information about each plate and is also quite useful, but the reader should be already familiar with each plate in order for this material to be of most value.

A valuable and rich resource that is also very beautiful. What a bonus!

What an absolute miracle we have these texts today, some four millennia after many of them were first conceived of in an ancient desert land! The story of the re-discovery in the nineteenth-century, after the last known copies were believed destroyed in Alexandria, is the recounting of an archeological miracle, and the fact that they survived the circumstances of their discovery at all amid corruption and mistrust in the black markets of Cairo is even more amazing.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is both a how-to tome for making the journey from the physical world to the eternal lands, and also an invaluable record of the belief system and psychology of a remarkable ancient people. Unlike the Tibetan Book of the Dead with its (apparent) universal application, the information in its far-older Egyptian counterpart is peculiar to the culture of Pharonic times. A highly devout, ritual-embracing, death-oriented civilization, ancient Egyptians were instructed via this information in the use of proper spells, attitudes, and the location of the paths to take as they faced the arduous and daunting trek from their burial sites to the "Land of Reeds" an unending paradise in the world beyond.

Unlike most cosmologies, the ancients of the Nile valley did not view the arrival after death at a final destination as an automatic event. They held that it was but the start of a long process, a too-often failed journey undertaken toward an end-point of a spectacular judgment that determined the worthiness of their souls. Egyptian religion taught that all human beings initially survived death, but that only those of purity and worth (and those educated in the lore of the Book of the Dead) would in fact enjoy long-term postmortem consciousness. Hell to Egyptians was an ending, not an ongoing torment. The fate of the `damned' was the cessation of being, and it was arrived at in the form of being devoured by a frightening creature that was part hippopotamus and part crocodile.

After making the arduous journey from tomb to place of judgment, the pilgrim on the voyage toward eternity, having passed a series of tests, arrived at a last evaluation. In the presence of the great jackal-headed god Anubis, the deceased would hand over to a goddess a sacred heart-stone he had carried with him on his journey from the tomb, and this heart-stone would be weighed on a scale against a single white feather. If the stone outweighed the feather, then the person in question would be ripped to pieces by the hippo-croc monster, and cease to be (ultimate horror to ancients) but if the stone was found to balance out equal to the feather, as the heart-stone of a righteous soul would, then that person passed on into a the Land of Reeds, where eternal bliss awaited.

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is translated in such a way that its already ancient phrases, incantations, and prayers sound deliberately archaic in a sort of King James Bible fashion, and it is not a downstream type of read. For those who persevere to the work's conclusion, though, the experience of reading these sacred texts, which by all rights should long ago have been lost to knowledge, will find the scholarly experience to be rewarding. Plus, if we happen to one day find ourselves in the Egyptian afterlife, we'll know what to do, right?