![]() It rather reminds me of the movie, "Beetlejuice." The goal seems to be to navigate through the chaos and climb the social status ladder of the afterlife. The afterlife is a strange, chaotic world.The Book of the Dead is a guide for creating and maintaining order in literal and social ways. I, for one, see a theme of order and chaos throughout the Book of the Dead.Here are some observations that may be fundamental: It can be tricky to read the text without getting bogged down in obscure names and references. The text and images may have been understood as having a magical quality. It would have served as a guidebook of sorts to the afterlife, although it is not clear that literacy was required. The papyrus would have been on display at the funeral and then buried with Ani. The complete papyrus is 15" high and 78' long. Still, it would have cost half the annual salary of a laborer. These papyri were mass produced, and Ani's name was added later by a different scribe. The exact one we are reading belonged to Ani, around 1200 BCE. A papyrus book like the one we are reading would have been available by the 18th century. ![]() Sarcophagus texts existed by 2160, and would have been available to private individuals, but still extremely wealthy. The earliest pyramid texts come from around 2498 BCE, and were limited to kings. In fact, economics and politics are the most interesting aspect to me.Įgyptian eschatological writings developed from the top of society down, but not too far down. The ideas are very ancient, very developed, and were a huge part of the economy. TH7391, Egypt and Mesopotamia Reading Guide Egypt and Mesopotamia Reading Guide Egypt Egyptian Book of the DeadĪlthough ancient Babylon and Greece also had ideas about the afterlife, Egypt is in a class by itself.
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