DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.32079#0057
to be detailed at length. The occupations of the
living give place in the record to a recital of his acts
in life. The services he has rendered to the state,
his character as a benevolent and just man are de-
tailed, — in fact the “ cursus honoris ” becomes the
theme. The responsibility of the individual stands
more prominently forth, and the recognition of re-
ward and punishment is now made manifest. Each
man must prove his title to blessedness hereafter.
As this idea takes greater hold of the mind it be-
comes more conspicuous in images and inscriptions,
and the judgment of' the dead by Osiris, the trials
of the soul after death, make the picture. This is
seen in its greatest elaboration in the tomb of Seti I.,
where the representation of this progress of the soul
to Osiris, with all its terrors and dangers, is singularly
vivid and impressive.
This change shows that the Egyptians had be-
come impressed by fear of future misery to be
averted only by ritual observance and priestly inter-
vention. The belief in the nature of the blessedness
to be hoped for was not altered. This is made evi-
dent by the fact that even in the Theban period,
when the pictures on the wall no longer represented
the occupation of the living, inscriptions are found
describing those occupations, as in the following
one : “ The joy of Ammon is in thy heart. He gives
thee an excellent old age, and thou passest through
life in joy until thou attainest beatitude. Thy lip is
healthy, thy limbs are fresh, thine eye sees very far.
Thou clothest thyself in fine linen and mountest
upon thy chariot drawn by two horses, a golden cane
in thy hand, a whip with thee, and conducting thy
pair of Syrian stallions. Negroes run before thee,
instruments of thy will. Thou mountest upon thy
bark of cedar, raised at the prow and at the poop,
and thou reachest thy excellent dwelling, which thou
hast made for thyself. Thy mouth is filled with
wine, with beer, with bread, with meat, with cakes;
oxen are sacrificed to thee, and amphoras of wine
are opened; sweet melodies are chanted before thee;
23
living give place in the record to a recital of his acts
in life. The services he has rendered to the state,
his character as a benevolent and just man are de-
tailed, — in fact the “ cursus honoris ” becomes the
theme. The responsibility of the individual stands
more prominently forth, and the recognition of re-
ward and punishment is now made manifest. Each
man must prove his title to blessedness hereafter.
As this idea takes greater hold of the mind it be-
comes more conspicuous in images and inscriptions,
and the judgment of' the dead by Osiris, the trials
of the soul after death, make the picture. This is
seen in its greatest elaboration in the tomb of Seti I.,
where the representation of this progress of the soul
to Osiris, with all its terrors and dangers, is singularly
vivid and impressive.
This change shows that the Egyptians had be-
come impressed by fear of future misery to be
averted only by ritual observance and priestly inter-
vention. The belief in the nature of the blessedness
to be hoped for was not altered. This is made evi-
dent by the fact that even in the Theban period,
when the pictures on the wall no longer represented
the occupation of the living, inscriptions are found
describing those occupations, as in the following
one : “ The joy of Ammon is in thy heart. He gives
thee an excellent old age, and thou passest through
life in joy until thou attainest beatitude. Thy lip is
healthy, thy limbs are fresh, thine eye sees very far.
Thou clothest thyself in fine linen and mountest
upon thy chariot drawn by two horses, a golden cane
in thy hand, a whip with thee, and conducting thy
pair of Syrian stallions. Negroes run before thee,
instruments of thy will. Thou mountest upon thy
bark of cedar, raised at the prow and at the poop,
and thou reachest thy excellent dwelling, which thou
hast made for thyself. Thy mouth is filled with
wine, with beer, with bread, with meat, with cakes;
oxen are sacrificed to thee, and amphoras of wine
are opened; sweet melodies are chanted before thee;
23