DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30604#0038
XXX
INTRODUCTION.
Selection and
arrangement of
chapters.
Change in forms.
Theban title of the
Book of the Dead.
The sections or chapters of the Theban version are a series of separate and
distinct compositions, which, like the sections of the pyramid texts, had no fixed
order either on coffins or in papyri. Unlike these texts, however, with very few
exceptions each composition had a special title and vignette which indicate its
purpose. The general selection of the chapters for a papyrus seems to have
been left to the individual fancy of the purchaser or scribe, but certain of them
were no doubt absolutely necessary for the preservation of the body of the
deceased in the tomb, and for the welfare of his soul in its new state of existence.
Traditional selections would probably be respected, and recent selections approved
by any dominant school of religious thought in Egypt were without doubt accepted.
While in the period of the pyramid texts the various sections were said or
sung by priests, probably assisted by some members of the family of the deceased,
the welfare of his soul and body being proclaimed for him as an established fact,
in the Theban version the hymns and prayers to the gods were put into the mouth
of the deceased. As none but the great and wealthy could afford the ceremonies
which were performed in the early dynasties, economy was probably the chief
cause of this change, which had come about at Thebes as early as the Xllth
dynasty. Little by little the ritual portions of the Book of the Dead disappeared,
until finally, in the Theban version, the only chapters of this class which remain
are the XXIInd, XXIIIrd, CVth, and CLIst.1 2 Every chapter ancl prayer of this
version was to be said in the next world, where the words, properly uttered,
enabled the deceased to overcome every foe and to attain to the Iife of the
perfected soul which dwelt in a spiritual body in the abode of the blessed.
The common name for the Book of the Dead in the Theban period, and
probably also before this date, is f\^ JTl^ Qpert em hru, which words have
been variously translated : “ manifested in the light,” “ coming forth from the day,”
“ coming forth by day,” “ la manifestation au jour,” “ la manifestation a la lumiere,”
“[Kapitel vonj der Erscheinung im Lichte,” “ Erscheinen am Tage,” “ [Caput]
egrediendi in lucem,” etc. This name, however, had probably a meaning for the
Egyptians which has not yet been rendered in a modern language, and one
important idea in connection with the whole w'ork is expressecl by another title3
which calls it “ the chapter of making strong (or perfect) the Khu.”
1 See Naville, Todtenbuch (Einleitung), p. 20. On the titles “Boolc of the Dead” and “Ritual
Fun^raire ” which have been given to these texts, see Lepsius, Todtenbuch, p. 3 ; De Rouge, Revue
Archeologique, N.S., t. i., 1860, pp. 69-100.
2 See Naville, Einleitung, p. 24.
INTRODUCTION.
Selection and
arrangement of
chapters.
Change in forms.
Theban title of the
Book of the Dead.
The sections or chapters of the Theban version are a series of separate and
distinct compositions, which, like the sections of the pyramid texts, had no fixed
order either on coffins or in papyri. Unlike these texts, however, with very few
exceptions each composition had a special title and vignette which indicate its
purpose. The general selection of the chapters for a papyrus seems to have
been left to the individual fancy of the purchaser or scribe, but certain of them
were no doubt absolutely necessary for the preservation of the body of the
deceased in the tomb, and for the welfare of his soul in its new state of existence.
Traditional selections would probably be respected, and recent selections approved
by any dominant school of religious thought in Egypt were without doubt accepted.
While in the period of the pyramid texts the various sections were said or
sung by priests, probably assisted by some members of the family of the deceased,
the welfare of his soul and body being proclaimed for him as an established fact,
in the Theban version the hymns and prayers to the gods were put into the mouth
of the deceased. As none but the great and wealthy could afford the ceremonies
which were performed in the early dynasties, economy was probably the chief
cause of this change, which had come about at Thebes as early as the Xllth
dynasty. Little by little the ritual portions of the Book of the Dead disappeared,
until finally, in the Theban version, the only chapters of this class which remain
are the XXIInd, XXIIIrd, CVth, and CLIst.1 2 Every chapter ancl prayer of this
version was to be said in the next world, where the words, properly uttered,
enabled the deceased to overcome every foe and to attain to the Iife of the
perfected soul which dwelt in a spiritual body in the abode of the blessed.
The common name for the Book of the Dead in the Theban period, and
probably also before this date, is f\^ JTl^ Qpert em hru, which words have
been variously translated : “ manifested in the light,” “ coming forth from the day,”
“ coming forth by day,” “ la manifestation au jour,” “ la manifestation a la lumiere,”
“[Kapitel vonj der Erscheinung im Lichte,” “ Erscheinen am Tage,” “ [Caput]
egrediendi in lucem,” etc. This name, however, had probably a meaning for the
Egyptians which has not yet been rendered in a modern language, and one
important idea in connection with the whole w'ork is expressecl by another title3
which calls it “ the chapter of making strong (or perfect) the Khu.”
1 See Naville, Todtenbuch (Einleitung), p. 20. On the titles “Boolc of the Dead” and “Ritual
Fun^raire ” which have been given to these texts, see Lepsius, Todtenbuch, p. 3 ; De Rouge, Revue
Archeologique, N.S., t. i., 1860, pp. 69-100.
2 See Naville, Einleitung, p. 24.