Ancient History Excerpts from the Book of the Dead: An Egyptian Vision of Judgment Introduction

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From the beginning of their civilization, the Egyptians believed in a life after death. At first this afterlife was thought to be available only to kings. Over the centuries, however, the Egyptians came to believe that if a person led a moral life and the correct rituals were performed, anyone could attain immortality. The Egyptian vision of judgment pictured the god Osiris, ruler of the world of the dead, sitting in the Hall of Maat, or truth. The judge of the dead, Osiris met an individuals soul as it crossed over from the earthly world, and decided whether it deserved immortality. Many handbooks were written to advise people what they needed to say to Osiris at this final judgment. One of the most famous was written about 1500 B.C.E. and is known as the Book of the Dead. In the following excerpts, from the Book of the Dead, a persons soul faces Osiris and lists all of the sins this individual had avoided during life. The Hall of the Two Truths referred to here is the Hall of Maat. The majority of the forty-two gods mentioned are minor deities. Excerpt from the Book of the Dead Hail to you, great God, Lord of the Two Truths! I have come to you, my lord, I was brought to see your beauty. I know you, I know the names of the forty-two gods, Who are with you in the Hall of the Two Truths, Who live by warding off evildoers. Who drink of their blood, On that day of judging characters before Osiris I have not done crimes against people, I have not mistreated cattle, I did not rise in the morning and expect more than was due to me. I have not brought my name forward to be praised. I have not oppressed servants. I have not blasphemed1 a god, I have not robbed the poor. I have not done what the god abhors2, I have not maligned3 a servant to his master. I have not caused pain, I have not caused tears. I have not killed, I have not ordered to kill, I have not made anyone suffer. I have not damaged the offerings in the temples I have not added to the weight of the balance, I have not falsified the plummet4 of the scales. I have not taken milk from the mouth of children, I have not deprived cattle of their pasture. I have not snared5 birds in the reeds of the gods, I have not caught fish in their ponds, I have not held back water in its seasons, I have not dammed a flowing stream Useable definitions

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blasphemed: (verb) curse, or make inappropriate reference to a god abhor: (verb) hate maligned: (verb) spoken about in a critical manner

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Plummet: (noun) steep fall or drop

snared: (verb) trapped

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I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!... No evil shall befall me in this land, In this Hall of the Two Truths; For I know the names of the gods,

Below is a portion of the Book of the Dead. In the upper left corner is the deceased, kneeling before a row of gods. Below, the deceased is shown being judged at the scale of Maat, the goddess of truth. The deceased is then escorted to meet Osiris, god of the dead, seated on the throne at the right.

Analysis Questions Directions: Answer the following questions on a separate page. Be prepared to discuss in class. 1. Lines 9-31 detail what ancient Egyptians saw as sins. Paraphrase this section (make a list in your own words). Then determine general categories of sins and divide those listed in the Book of the Dead into these categories. 2. Given what they saw as sins, what kind of concerns did the ancient Egyptians have about their daily lives, and what did they value? 3. Based on this excerpt from the Book of the Dead, write at least a paragraph answering the following: a. Describe the society of ancient Egypt. b. Compare their values to values in the United States today. c. Determine which of the acts considered sinful by the ancient Egyptians would still be considered unacceptable behavior in the United States today.