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What is the egyptian book of the dead about?

Updated: 8/20/2019
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11y ago

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The so-called Book of the Dead (really "Book of What is in the Beyond") was crib-sheet for the soul of the dead person to use on the long and difficult journey into the afterlife.

In this journey, the Egyptians believed that the soul would be faced by a series of many doors, each guarded by a fierce and deadly minor god or goddess, each with his/her own names and titles, who must all be addressed correctly otherwise they would destroy the dead person's spirit. There would be a very large number of these guardians and any mistakes could be fatal, so the "Book of What is in the Beyond" lists all the correct names and titles, as well as magic formulae to keep the spirit safe.

There was also a long series of statements for the soul to make at the "weighing of the heart", listing all the person's good deeds and also denying a list of bad things; all the gods present at this stage must also be addressed correctly with their full names and titles.

All this was far to complex to rely on memory, so it was usually written in full on the walls of the tomb as a permanent "script" for the soul to recite when the time came.

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Q: What is the egyptian book of the dead about?
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