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© Bruce M. White, 2011.
ClassificationsAncient Egyptian Art

Section of the Book of the Dead

AAT Object Form/FunctionReligious Texts
AAT Object Form/FunctionManuscripts (Documents)
Place FoundEgypt, Africa
CultureEgyptian
PeriodNew Kingdom, early Dynasty 18
Date1539-1479 BCE
MediumLinen, pigment
Credit LineCollected by William A. Shelton, funded by John A. Manget
Dimensions31 3/4 in. (80.6 cm)
Object number1921.064
Label TextWhat is commonly referred to as the "Egyptian Book of the Dead" is a collection of spells dealing with the passage of the deceased through the Underworld. Incantations of this type were first found carved on the walls of burial chambers in the royal pyramids in the late 5th and 6th Dynasties. Later, in the Middle Kingdom, similar inscriptions for non-royal individuals were written on the interior of rectangular wooden caskets and are known as the "Coffin Texts".

With the advent and increasing popularity of mummy-shaped or anthropoid coffins in the Second Intermediate Period and New Kingdom, these instructions began to be written on papyrus or, more rarely, linen. These texts we know as the "Book of the Dead", were called by the Egyptians the "Book of Going Forth by Day".

Modern scholars have divided them up into a series of chapters, but they do not often follow a set order, and the number of chapters varies from one papyrus to the next. Some spells were also written on objects or even on mummy bandages or masks. Many of the chapters had brightly colored illustrations in the New Kingdom papyri, often referred to as vignettes. Just like the inscriptions, however, these scenes are not uniform and show considerable variety. Other funerary texts also appear later on, such as the "Amduat" and the "Book of Breathings" and they are all known collectively as the "Underworld Books".


Exhibition HistoryMCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 20, 2011 - June 7, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, August 29, 2016 - March 11, 2024
ProvenanceAcquired for Emory University Museum by William Shelton (1875-1959), ca. 1920.
Status
Not on view
Collections
  • Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern Art