Objects and Spells: The Book of the Dead
Introduction
If one should mention The Book of the Dead, what comes to mind? If you are like me, the first initial thought is the 1999 movie, The Mummy, in which the Book of the Dead is used to unleash a 3,000-year-old Egyptian priest who wreaks havoc on the living world. While a famous quote from the film “one mustn’t read from the book!” I assure you; it is certainly safe -and encouraged- to do so.
What is the Book of the Dead?
Ancient Egyptians believed that an essential part of every human personality is its life force, or soul, called the “ka,” which lived on after the death of the body, forever engaged in the activities it had enjoyed in its former existence. But the “ka” needed a body to live in, either the mummified body of the deceased or, as a substitute, a sculpted likeness in the form of a statue. The Egyptians developed elaborate funerary practices to ensure that their deceased moved safely and effectively into the afterlife. By the time of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 BCE), the Egyptians had come to believe that only a person free from wrongdoing could enjoy an afterlife. The dead were thought to undergo a last judgment consisting of two tests presided over by Osiris, the god of the underworld, and supervised by the jackal-headed god of embalming and cemeteries, Anubis. After the deceased were questioned about their behavior in life, their hearts—which the Egyptians believed to be the seat of the soul-were weighed on a scale against an ostrich feather, the symbol of Ma'at, goddess of truth, order, and justice. Family members commissioned papyrus scrolls containing magical texts or spells, which the embalmers sometimes placed among the wrappings of the mummified bodies. Early collectors of Egyptian artifacts referred to such scrolls, often beautifully illustrated, as "Books of the Dead." (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011, p. 49 & pp.76-77)
Although ancient Egyptians referred to these scrolls as "Spells of Emerging in Daytime,” the modern title “The Book of the Dead” is also misleading because the texts are not about death but life: specifically, eternal life as a spirit. The purpose of the Book of the Dead is to aid the deceased in making a successful transition from death to eternal life as an “akh.” The newly revivified spirit was thought to live not in some distant paradise but in the world, it knew during life, though on a higher plane of existence. It could enjoy the best that the world had to offer without any of the attendant discomforts. Since it no longer had a physical body, it did not have to endure the heat or cold, sickness or death. It could enjoy food and drink, and even sex, and whatever work it might undertake-such as plowing or harvesting in the fields- would be done in comfort and without exertion. Furthermore, the book was meant to be read by the spirit and the “spells” within the scrolls were available in the deceased’s tomb to make a tranquil and comfortable eternal life. (Allen, 2010, pp.12-13)
Permanent Collection at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science
Since Egyptians followed a fairly strict set of artistic conventions, often based on conceptual principles rather than on the observation of the natural world, the underlying conventions that govern ancient Egyptian art appear early, however, and are maintained with subtle but significant variations, over almost three millennia of its history. (Stokstad & Cothren, 2011, pp.51-53) Due to this, when similar artifacts in the Evansville Museum’s Egyptian collection are referenced in the Book of the Dead, our objects would be accurate depictions regardless of the particular scroll’s date. With this in mind, I will present four types of artifacts from the museum’s collection that appear in the Book of the Dead. Also, I will add the accompanying spells, translated by Dr. Raymond O. Faulkner, Egyptologist, that correspond to the artifact. Please note, “N” is used in the spells as a placeholder for the deceased person’s name.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about the Book of the Dead, its spells, and the objects represented in the text. While imagery from The Mummy is still welcomed, I am optimistic that this blog will allow for a new or strengthened interpretation of the scrolls and objects that were essential in the creation and preservation of the “Spells of Emerging in Daytime.”
Tory Schendel Cox
The Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Art
Works Cited
Augustyn, A. (n.d.). Eye of Horus. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Eye-of-Horus
Faulkner, R. O., & Allen, J. P. (2010). The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. New York, NY: Fall River Press.
Glenn, J. (2020, July 14). Headrests in GLENCAIRN'S EGYPTIAN Collection: Practicality and protection. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2018/7/25/headrests-in-glencairns-egyptian-collection-practicality-and-protection
Gorlinski, V. (n.d.). Scarab. Retrieved April 01, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/scarab
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. W. (2011). Ancient Egypt. In Art history (pp. 49-77). Upper Saddle River, UK: Pearson.