The Egyptian Book Of The Dead Essay - 1716 Words

The Egyptian Book of the Dead was used primarily from the establishment of the New Kingdom in 1550 BCE to 50 BCE. It consisted of the collection of texts and spells designed to assist the deceased in their journey to the next world. The book of the dead was part of a custom of memorial texts that consisted of the past Coffin Texts and the Pyramid Texts that were decorated on objects. Spells were drained from the past works and other Egyptian history courting to Third Intermediate Period (Budge, 2012:21). Some spells were combined to make a book which was continuously adorned into the tomb walls. Later on, the Book of the Dead was retained in the burial chambers of the dead person. Most of the people commissioned their copies of the books of the dead, and chose the spells that they opted to be most vital in their progression to the afterlife. There was no particular Book of the Dead as people had the freedom to decide what they thought was good for them. The spells were the determinant of how the life will be after death, thereby leaving them with the option of choosing those spells that they felt were most appropriate. The people were supposed to recite the chapters about the beautification of the dead for them to gain power and privileges of the new life. The pictorial presentation in the Book of the Dead played an important role in the magical ritual (Quirke, 2013:172). The pleasures of the dead were to sail to heaven using the boat of Ra and to secure this the deceasedShow MoreRelatedThe Egyptian Book of the Dead620 Words   |  3 PagesThe Egyptian Book of the Dead The Book was originally intended as a set of spells and incantations meant to insure safe passage for the soul of a deceased person into the Underworld. Some of the ending chapters include instructions on not dying a second time, meaning how not to die in the underworld and thus having no chance of being reborn or living a full afterlife. 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