DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30604#0055
THE VERSIONS OF THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.
xlvii
The Saite and Ptolemaic version was in vogue from the period of the XXVIth
dynasty, about B.c. 550, to probably the end of the rule of the Ptolemies over
Egypt. The chapters have a fixed and definite order, and it seems that a careful
revision of the whole work was carried out, and that several alterations of an
important nature were made in it. A number of chapters which are not found in
older papyri appear during this period; but these are not necessarily new inventions,
for, as the kings of the XXV Ith dynasty are renowned for having revived the
arts and sciences and literature of the earliest dynasties, it is quite possible that
many or most of the additional chapters are nothing more than new editions of
extracts from older works. Many copies of this version were written by scribes
who did not understand what they were copying, and omissions of signs, words,
and even whole passages are very common; in papyri of the Ptolemai'c period
it is impossible to read many passages without the help of texts of earlier periods.
The papyri of this period vary in colour from a light to a dark brown, and consist
usually of layers composed of strips of the plant measuring about 2 inches in width
and 14I- to 16 inches in length. Fine examples of Books of the Dead of this
version vary in length from about 24J feet (B.M. No. 10,479, written for the utcheb
Heru, the son of the utcheb Tchehra ^ JV) to 60 feet. Hieroglyphic
texts are written in black, in perpendicular rows between rules, and hieratic texts
in horizontal lines; both the hieroglyphics and the hieratic characters lack the
boldness of the writing of the Theban period, and exhibit the characteristics of a
conventional hand. The titles of the chapters, catchwords, the words which
introduce a variant reading, etc., are sometimes written in red. The vignettes are
usually traced in black outline, and form a kind of continuous border above the
text. In good papyri, however, the scene forming the XVIth Chapter, the scene
of the Fields of Peace (Chapter CX.), the Judgment scene (Chapter CXXV.), the
vignette of Chapter CXLVIII., the scene forming Chapter CLI. (the sepulchral
chamber), and the vignette of Chapter CLXI., fill the whole width of the inscribed
portion of the papyrus, and are painted in somewhat crude colours. In some papyri
the disk on the head of the hawk of Horus is covered with gold leaf, instead of
being painted red as is usual in older papyri. In the Gr£eco-Roman period both
texts and vignettes are very carelessly executed, and it is evident that they were
written and drawn by ignorant workmen in the quickest and most careless way
possible. In this period also certain passages of the text were copied in hieratic
and Demotic upon small pieces of papyri which were buried with portions of the
bodies of the dead, and upon narrow bandages of coarse linen in which they were
swathed.
The Sai'te and
Ptolemaic version.
Palreography.
xlvii
The Saite and Ptolemaic version was in vogue from the period of the XXVIth
dynasty, about B.c. 550, to probably the end of the rule of the Ptolemies over
Egypt. The chapters have a fixed and definite order, and it seems that a careful
revision of the whole work was carried out, and that several alterations of an
important nature were made in it. A number of chapters which are not found in
older papyri appear during this period; but these are not necessarily new inventions,
for, as the kings of the XXV Ith dynasty are renowned for having revived the
arts and sciences and literature of the earliest dynasties, it is quite possible that
many or most of the additional chapters are nothing more than new editions of
extracts from older works. Many copies of this version were written by scribes
who did not understand what they were copying, and omissions of signs, words,
and even whole passages are very common; in papyri of the Ptolemai'c period
it is impossible to read many passages without the help of texts of earlier periods.
The papyri of this period vary in colour from a light to a dark brown, and consist
usually of layers composed of strips of the plant measuring about 2 inches in width
and 14I- to 16 inches in length. Fine examples of Books of the Dead of this
version vary in length from about 24J feet (B.M. No. 10,479, written for the utcheb
Heru, the son of the utcheb Tchehra ^ JV) to 60 feet. Hieroglyphic
texts are written in black, in perpendicular rows between rules, and hieratic texts
in horizontal lines; both the hieroglyphics and the hieratic characters lack the
boldness of the writing of the Theban period, and exhibit the characteristics of a
conventional hand. The titles of the chapters, catchwords, the words which
introduce a variant reading, etc., are sometimes written in red. The vignettes are
usually traced in black outline, and form a kind of continuous border above the
text. In good papyri, however, the scene forming the XVIth Chapter, the scene
of the Fields of Peace (Chapter CX.), the Judgment scene (Chapter CXXV.), the
vignette of Chapter CXLVIII., the scene forming Chapter CLI. (the sepulchral
chamber), and the vignette of Chapter CLXI., fill the whole width of the inscribed
portion of the papyrus, and are painted in somewhat crude colours. In some papyri
the disk on the head of the hawk of Horus is covered with gold leaf, instead of
being painted red as is usual in older papyri. In the Gr£eco-Roman period both
texts and vignettes are very carelessly executed, and it is evident that they were
written and drawn by ignorant workmen in the quickest and most careless way
possible. In this period also certain passages of the text were copied in hieratic
and Demotic upon small pieces of papyri which were buried with portions of the
bodies of the dead, and upon narrow bandages of coarse linen in which they were
swathed.
The Sai'te and
Ptolemaic version.
Palreography.