Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead
Egyptian
Book of the Dead
Name in Non-English, or Alternative Name/s
Book of Going Forth by Day; Book of Coming Forth by Day; Egyptian Book of the Dead; Papyrus of Ani
Mythopouch artistic interpretations
English Edition Translation used on this Page
E. A. Wallis Budge · 1913 · The Medici Society, Ltd. / G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Time Period
Book of the Dead tradition: New Kingdom onward, from about 1550 BCE. Papyrus of Ani: 19th Dynasty, about 1250 BCE. English witness: E. A. Wallis Budge, 1913.
Introduction - Overview
The Book of the Dead is the modern name for a body of ancient Egyptian funerary spells, hymns and ritual texts intended to help the deceased pass safely into the afterlife. It is not one fixed book written by a single author. Different papyri contain different selections and arrangements of spells, often accompanied by painted vignettes.
For this Sources record, Mythopouch uses the Papyrus of Ani as the principal witness. Ani's manuscript belongs to the 19th Dynasty and is dated by the British Museum to about 1250 BCE. It contains some of the best-known Book of the Dead material, including scenes connected with judgement, Osiris, the afterlife and the weighing of the heart.
The reading edition linked here is Sir E. A. Wallis Budge's 1913 edition of The Papyrus of Ani. It reproduces and discusses the papyrus and provides an English translation. Because Budge was writing more than a century ago, Mythopouch uses his edition as a public-domain historical witness rather than as the final word in modern Egyptology.
The Work...
Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead grew out of a much older Egyptian funerary tradition. Royal Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and the later Coffin Texts already contained spells for protection, transformation, movement through the afterlife and continued existence after death. During the New Kingdom, selections of related material were increasingly written on papyrus for private individuals. Modern scholarship groups these manuscripts under the conventional title Book of the Dead.
No single ancient manuscript contains one universal, authorised version. Scribes selected and arranged spells for particular owners, and the wording, order, illustrations and number of spells can vary from one papyrus to another. That is why Mythopouch treats the Papyrus of Ani as an important witness to the tradition, not as the Book of the Dead in its entirety.
The Papyrus of Ani was made for Ani, a high-status Egyptian scribe, and is now in the British Museum. The museum dates it to the 19th Dynasty, about 1250 BCE. Its surviving sections combine hieroglyphic and hieratic writing with richly painted vignettes. Among the subjects represented are hymns to deities, transformation spells, journeys through the afterlife, protection from dangers, the judgement of the deceased and the hope of continuing life among the gods.
The witness used here is The Papyrus of Ani: A Reproduction in Facsimile, edited, translated and introduced by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge and published in 1913 by The Medici Society in London and G. P. Putnam's Sons in New York. Budge's preface explains that Volume I contains the general introduction, a description of the papyrus and the coloured facsimile, while Volume II contains the hieroglyphic transcript, English translations, notes and an index.
Budge's edition remains useful because it is complete, accessible and in the public domain, but its scholarship reflects the terminology and assumptions of 1913. Labels such as 'Theban Recension', some dates, and parts of the translation should therefore be understood historically. Where accuracy requires it, Mythopouch can compare Budge with later museum catalogues and modern Egyptological scholarship.
Use this Sources page when you want to see the historical witness behind Mythopouch's Egyptian records. Entity pages may connect the Book of the Dead with Osiris, Anubis, Thoth, judgement, the weighing of the heart, protective spells and the geography of the Egyptian afterlife. Mythopouch's own explanations and retellings use original modern wording rather than reproducing Budge's prose.
Summary
The Book of the Dead is a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells rather than a single fixed book. Mythopouch uses the Papyrus of Ani, dated to the 19th Dynasty around 1250 BCE, as a major witness and links to E. A. Wallis Budge's public-domain 1913 edition.
Source Note
Ancient Egyptian texts are public domain. E. A. Wallis Budge died in 1934; his 1913 edition is public domain in Australia, and the 1913 publication is public domain in the United States. Mythopouch's commentary, retellings and original imagery are © Mythopouch.