as “words to be spoken.” Even the earliest inscribed texts of the Egyptian Book of the Dead contain portions indicating that they had been composed and revised long before the earliest known pharaohs.
The utterances were first carved on pyramid walls in Saqqara. Scholars agree that the “Pyramid Texts,” as they are called, belong to a much earlier people and that priests of the subsequent dynastic periods had received them orally as part of sacred lore. Only later had the words become inscribed on the walls of select pyramids. Of such antiquity were these utterances that the scribes carving the hieroglyphics were perplexed over the origin of the texts and their meaning. [Reported by Gaston Maspero, “La Religion Égyptienne,” 1884, in Revue de l’Histoire des Religions, t. xii. p. 125.] Yet, the scribes knew these texts were of vital importance and the priests overseeing the inscriptions expressed reverence concerning the texts. (See illustration 6.)
The pyramid texts were first discovered by French Egyptologist Sir Gaston Maspero in 1881. They are found in the pyramid of Unas (Fifth Dynasty; Unas likely ruled from 2375 to 2345 BC, but some date this pyramid to 3333 BC; Unas can also be written Unis). They are also found in the pyramid of Teti (Sixth Dynasty; Teti likely ruled from 2357? to 2332? BC and can also be written as Teta). They are found in the pyramids of Pepi I (2332 to 2283 BC) and Pepi II (2278 BC to 2184 BC) and in the pyramid of Merenra (2260 to 2254 BC). Each of these pyramids is located near the Step Pyramid of Djoser (pronounced zo-ser, dating to the Third Dynasty 2630 BC).
Who were the predynastic people that maintained the oral tradition? They may be those people who built and used the so-called “Egyptian Stonehenge,” an assembly of huge stone slabs in the southern Sahara Desert in an area known as Nabta and dates to about 6,500 years ago! (See illustration 7.) That’s 1,000 years before the Stonehenge in England. Since the first Egyptian dynastic period began in 3400 BC with Pharaoh Hsekiu in Lower Egypt (the northern Delta area) and Pharaoh Scorpion I in Upper Egypt (the southern mountainous area), the Nabta people would have been active for roughly 3,000 years before the Egyptian kingdoms. The Dynastic period began in 3400 BC and ended in 525 BC when Egypt was conquered by the Persian Empire, ending the reign of the last Egyptian pharaoh, Ankhkaenre Psamtik III. You may have thought that Cleopatra VII was the last pharaoh of Egypt, but by the time she came along, true Egyptians had been ruled and assimilated by Persians and Greeks for some 500 years.
One last detail about Nabta: We know that this predynastic “Stonehenge” complex once stood on the shoreline of an ancient lake that was formed roughly in 9000 BC when the African monsoon shifted north and tropical rainfall occurred. Then, the African monsoon began to drift to the southwest around 2800 BC, and the desertification that we see today began. Today Egypt is desert on the east, south, and west, except for a little irrigated area along both banks of the Nile River and canals that run off the great river. A high culture capable of building a Stonehenge would have had lush living conditions for nearly 6,000 years, and this would have included the first 1,600 years of the pharaonic dynasties. Interestingly, this means that the Sphinx could have existed in a time of tropical conditions. It would certainly explain the running-water erosion marks on the walls of the Sphinx Pit. But that’s another issue—one that we are not getting into here.
The earliest written papyruses of the Egyptian Book of the Dead date to between 1580 BC and 1350 BC, which would be the Eighteenth Dynasty—a long time after they were inscribed on early pyramid walls. However, records indicate that written copies existed as early as 2750 BC but none have been found.
No two copies of the Egyptian Book of the Dead contain the same text; presumably because they were produced individually by different scribes with their own and their client’s prejudices. The variations in content also reflect the time period in which they were written and are categorized according to these four main editions:
1. The Heliopolitan version written in hieroglyphics and edited by the priests of the college of Annu in Heliopolis, which began during the Fifth Dynasty (2498-2345 BC). However, these priests indicate in their records that there were previous editions dating back to 2750 BC (again, none have been found—yet).
2. The Theban version, which was commonly written on papyruses in hieroglyphics and was divided into chapter-like sections, each having a distinct title but no specific order to the sections. This version was from the Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties (1549-1064 BC).
3. Next there was a hieroglyphic and hieratic version that was closely related to the Theban version, which also had chapters but no fixed order of chapters and was used mainly in the Twentieth Dynasty (1187-1064 BC).
4. The Säite (Greek) version was used after the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty to the end of the Ptolemaic Period. This version had chapters that were arranged in a definite order. It is commonly written in hieroglyphics and in hieratic.
Much later, in 1805 AD, Napoleon’s staff created the first modern reproduction of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Of course no one could translate the Egyptian Book of the Dead until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 by a French soldier, Pierre-François Bouchard, of Napoleon’s expeditionary team, and then not until 1822 when Jean-François Champollions’ translation of the stone was published. From 1822 on Egyptian hieroglyphs could be deciphered.
The text of the Egyptian Book of the Dead was originally written in both red and black ink; in some cases it was highly illustrated, in others a single illustration opened a chapter, and in the Theban editions there were no illustrations at all. Red ink was usually reserved for the titles of the chapters, opening and closing sections of the utterances, the instructions on how to perform the incantations correctly, and for important names. Black ink was used for the overall text of the manuscript. (See illustrations 8, 9, 10.)
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is also found on the walls of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings in the mountains across from modern-day Luxor, ancient Thebes. (See illustration 11.)
Most of the texts in the Egyptian Book of the Dead begin with the word ro and may be translated as mouth, speech, utterance, spell, enchantment, or incantation. Some archaeologists consider these sections of the Egyptian Book of the Dead to be spells cast to guide and protect the soul on his or her journey through the underworld to the heavens. In the first chapters the “deceased” or initiate enters the “tomb,” descends into the “underworld,” and goes through a series of incantations to awaken its abilities to speak, hear, and move through various passages required for his or her successful transition through the realms of the dead—of course we are speaking of the living dead. The next chapters educate the initiate about the origins of the gods or creative forces and key places. Next are chapters guiding the dead or initiate through the sky in sunlight and in the sun boat, then by night descending again into the underworld to meet Osiris, judge of the souls. Final chapters assert the person’s right to be among the citizens of heaven and to be among the gods.
Here is a brief summary of the major sections of the Egyptian Book of the Dead:
Chapters 1-16: The deceased or initiate leaves the “House of the Dead” and enters the tomb. It descends into the underworld. Here the soul body regains its powers of movement without physical muscles and speech without vocal cords.
Chapters 17-63: The mythic origin of the gods and secret places are explained. Then the disembodied deceased or initiate is made to live again in order for it to arise and be reborn with the morning sun—not as physical bodies but as active spirit beings.
Chapters 64-129: The deceased or initiate travels across the sky in the Boat of the Sun as one of the blessed dead. In the evening, the deceased or initiate travels to the underworld to appear before Osiris and have its heart weighed in the balance against the “feather of truth.”
Chapters 130-189: Having been acknowledged and vindicated of all accusations, the deceased or initiate assumes power as one of the godlings among the gods. This section also includes assorted chapters on protective amulets, provision of “food,” and important places.
As we learned in the