I live in my word, and my heart hath being. Let not my heart be taken away from me, let it not be wounded, and may neither wounds nor gashes be dealt upon me because it hath been taken away from me.
- Egyptian Book of the Dead
Ancient Egyptians imagined the afterlife as a kind of journey you had to make to get to paradise - but it was quite a hazardous journey so you would need help along the way. So spells and magic formulas written on papyrus were placed in coffins and burial chambers and believed to protect and aid the deceased in duat, or the underworld. These funerary texts were developed over many centuries into
individualized collections known as the Book of the Dead. One of the best-known
versions, the 'Papyrus of Ani', is featured here.
Some 192 spells are known, although no single manuscript contains them all. The
spells are designed to give the dead mystical knowledge in the afterlife, offer
incantations to help preserve different parts of the deceased, and protect the dead
from hostile forces. Some of the spells are to make sure you can control your own
body after death. The ancient Egyptians believed that a person was made up of
different elements: body, spirit, name, heart, all embodiments of a person, and they were afraid that these elements would disperse when you died.
Presented with accompanying illustrations, Egyptian Book of the Dead is an ideal
resource of esoteric wisdom for anyone interested in Ancient Egyptian notions of
death and the path to the afterlife.
