18 replies to this topic

[Rockhauler2k1]

I recently saw a copy of a book called the Egyptian book of the Dead.

Anyone ever read it?

Can any of you elaborate on it for me ?

I saw it in the most interesting place as well. It was in a furnace room of a building that has to be at least 100 years old. I noticed it while filling an 11,000 gallon tank with heating oil for furnaces that were converted from coal and wood burners to oil about 50 years ago. It was a creepy place , I wish I had taken my camera. I will do so next time.

[hurdingcats]

The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a Translation of The Papyrus of Ani. 1240 b.c.. Written by E.A. Wallis Bridge, 1895. It is translations of Egyptian beliefs of death and funeral practices. A reprint is available from Dover Books.

I'm not good with this, but here's a URL to a website on this. It covers the entire text.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/ebod . Hope this works for you.

[Persia]

You know with as much as i love ancient Egypt, you'd think i'd know the answer.  :

[GHIceman]

You can find it on Kazaa too, probably other multimedia sharing programs. I noticed it one day and had to download it. Interesting stuff..

[Persia]

really? thank you.  ;D

[Black_Knight]

Is that the same book thats mentiond in the movie The Mummy?

[Acacia]

Yes, the Egyptian Book of the Dead is mentioned in the Mummy, though it's..erm..the Hollywood version, lol.

The REAL Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) is basically a narrative "given" to the dead (in this case, Ani) to let them know the proper prayers to say to get to their judgement and then into "heaven".  There are lovely prayers in the book, though they are for Ani (if you use them, personalize them to yourself).  You can also get a good sense of Egyptian religious beliefs from the book.  It's frought with confusing language unless you can get a good translation (Budge is wonderful, but his translation isn't the best...I can tell you the name of the translator on my copy - which is wonderful - but I'll have to do it later, when I can think straight, lol...it's after 3am here right now).

I am an avid Egypt nut and would gladly waste my life away digging in the sand for the rest of my life in search of the next "king tut's tomb".    My "patron" deity is Anubis, as he is one of the only deities I know of that has given up his godly time just to help out humans and our souls.  He makes sure our souls don't fall prey to evil on the way to judgement, oversees the judgement scales to make sure our souls (hearts) are weighed properly (judged fairly), and helps us find the path to "heaven".  Not to mention, he guards our graves and the like.  He cares so much for people and our eternal well-being...and Hollywood treats him like some evil death god, lol.  I think Set got a bad rap, too (it was all politics, I tell you!)    But I guess I'm just kooky like that.  I just find it fascinating that a culture that never believed in good and evil (they believed in order and chaos; no evil people just evil/chaotic deeds) ended up having Set be an evil deity.  

Anyway, I feel the insomnia working my brain, lol  I better cut this post off now or I'll end up writing forever on the topic of ancient egypt

Many Blessings,
Acacia

[MoonChild]

The REAL Egyptian Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani) is basically a narrative "given" to the dead (in this case, Ani) to let them know the proper prayers to say to get to their judgement and then into "heaven".

one doubt please - is it only meant for the DEAD? Is there any section in the Book that can be made use by the LIVING?

[whispers_of_fire]

DANG..its been awhile since I've visited this board.

As Acacia says, many of the spells were engraved on the sarcauphagus as hints or spells to bypass/counter the perils
of a soul's journey to the Underworld or laid in the deceased's hands as a scroll.

There were also spells cast upon the Ba<physical body>which is prolly why the body took 70 days to be ready for proper burial*no quick hack and wrap as Hollywood would have us believe*To understand, one must also understand that the goal was for the body and Ka<soul>to be reunited to again walk this earth as they once did-think its after 3000 years in the Underworld, but this is but one interpretation.

In case anyone's wondering, the most severe punishment was death by impaling and NOT being mummified alive...I kinda wonder though since that was reserved for the most heinous criminals, grave robbers, if the priests of Anubis didn't happen to forget the sacred spells that would preserve the body and anchor the soul :o

[Acacia]

The book is meant for the dead/spirit, BUT it is full of great prayers should you want to use them while living.  The spells likely won't be that effective for the living - they are meant to aid in bypassing the perils of the afterlife, and, therefore, would serve no real purpose for anyone living.  Besides, spells are more effective if you write them yourself...

[bennubaby]

hello everyone. im kemetic by choice. that is the reteaching of theancient egyptian religion. we have now been estsablished world wide and located at kemet.org. so if you like egyptian stuff its free to learn about. in response to the book of the dead. i have owned that book for about 4 years now and it served many interests of mine.  its definately worth swiping from the furnace or buying:) if its te EA Wallis Budge translation like i have and is most reliable... it will have the stories of the gods mentioned in the rest of the book, it will define many apects of the religion. it also has te hieroglyphs and literall translations along with a more understandable translation. all three are very valuable.  besides being a book about the art of dying and burial and so forth, it also is a very good history lesson of their religion.  i was working in corporation with a team called the majestic, uncovering the secrets behind extraterrestriels. i gave them pages of quotes from the book of th dead in reference to things 99%of the time could only describe aliens or higher beings from elsewhere.  it teaches you to read hieroglyphics and speak their language. i also find the spells to be empowering. when confronted with a potential evil spirit i find myself reciting the "trasformation into the bennu(phoenix)" so theres many uses for the book.

[Willow]

Thank almighty Isis this thread is here, wish i'd of found it sooner, I am soon to be taking Egyptology and need all the help I can get, Sehedjet, the site you gave www.kemet.org was just what I needed, it had a Terms section which i'm sure i'll be using alot..even has a Pronounciation Key*YAY*Arabic is really challenging me to learn, does anyone else speak it? Any advice or shortcuts on making it easier :-/

[whispers_of_fire]

[smiley=cwm9.gif]Hey, Willow, I can say hello, call someone mean names or order in a restaurant, but its been awhile since I've used my conversation skills with Arabic. Its a difficult one as far as pronounciation goes, similar to German and Celtic as far as consonent heaviness and gutteral

Kifiq, Sehedjet Senuwi and welcome to GV

[Willow]

Shukran Drew...though the language is incredibly gutteral and not as romantic as learning French i'm sure i'll pick it up, i'm already up to counting and greetings and thats taken me all of two weeks, who knows, in a month I may be calling people mean names and cursing ;D

[whispers_of_fire]

Shukran, Becca, I have to say I am very impressed with your command of a very complicated language and I'm sure your instructor is also pleased [smiley=cwm12.gif] WOW...I have to say I want to see if he'll teach me or at least give me a refresher course...when I learned we started with the alphabet, effective but you really had to want to do it to get past the drudgery.