The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 174 pages
• Published by: Chronicle Books
• Edition: 2nd Edition August 1, 2000
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0811807673
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0811807678
• Book Dimensions: 13.8 x 9.5 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 2.4 pounds

From Library Journal
The Book of the Dead is a collection of writings that were placed in tombs as a means of guiding the ancient Egyptian soul on its journey to the afterlife. The Papyrus of Ani, which is reproduced here, is one of the most important and gorgeous of the surviving papyri. Damage in the 19th century seriously confused its sequencing and the relationship between text and illustrations. Here for the first time the scroll is presented in its proper sequence and in its entirety. The English text is placed immediately underneath the corresponding hieroglyphs, and the reproductions are faithful to the originals in all their glowing color. A critical purchase for any serious collection of materials on ancient Egypt.
Mary Morgan Smith, Northland P.L., Pittsburgh
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Review


-- NAPRA Trade Journal, Fall 1994
This awesome book is the first complete presentation of the Papyrus of Ani, featuring graphics that reveal gorgeously the texture of the original papyrus, coupled with the translated text. The original papyrus, on its discovery, was cut into sections for transport. The careless cutting of uneducated workers left the manuscscipt almost indecipherable, and to date only sections of it have been made available to the public. Computer imaging allowed the papyrus to be pieced into its original state, and a faithful translation was then possible. This document is precious not only for its historic significance, but also for its glimpse into the ancient Egyptian religion and its teachings about the passage from life to death. Commentaries and other notes make this work even more accessible. A spectacularly gorgeous work of devotion.

-- Publishers Weekly, August 1994
The Papyrus of Ani -- The Book of Going Forth by Day, created around 1250 B.C.E., is the best surviving example of some 200 texts comprising the funerary scrolls that accompanied deceased Egyptians into the afterlife. The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Book of Going Forth by Day presents the complete papyrus, photographed from an 1890 facsimile edition, with an English translation by the late Raymond O. Faulkner.

-- Library Journal, November 1994
The Book of the Dead is a collection of writings that were placed in tombs as a means of guiding the ancient Egyptian soul on its journey to the afterlife. The Papyrus of Ani, which is reproduced here, is one of the most important and gorgeous of the surviving papyri. Damage in the 19th century seriously confused its sequencing and the relationship between text and illustrations. Here for the first time the scroll is presented in its proper sequence and in its entirety. The English text is placed immediately underneath the corresponding hieroglyphs, and the reproductions are faithful to the originals in all their glowing color. A critical purchase for any serious collection of materials on ancient Egypt.

-- Robert S. Bianchi, Archaeology March/April 1995
The Egyptian Book of the Dead is a remarkable volume. It is based on the Papyrus of Ani, which, with the exception of the Rosetta Stone, is the most famous Egyptian object in the collections of the British Museum. Its fame is due in no small part to the quality of the illustrated vignettes that rank among the masterpieces of ancient Egyptian painting. . .

. . . . I, for one, would hope that readers will henceforth refrain from relying on Budge's outdated editions and turn to this volume instead. The price, under $25 dollars paperback; the quality of the large-format plates, several of which include foldouts; the authoritative translation based on that of R.O. Faulkner, which is considered in the opinion of many experts to be one of the best translations, and commentary by Ogden Goelet make this book a must for all libraries.



Reader Reviews
It would hardly seem necessary to add another review, but it seems it would be helpful to make a few things clear. "The Book of the Dead" is not, as some reviewers seem to think, a (not very good) encyclopedia of Egyptian life. Nor is it a compendium of mythology (the narrative content is remarkably small). Nor is it (an early but durable misconception) "the Egyptian Bible". The name applies to a number of collections of spells, prayers, hymns, and instructions (the contents varying from copy to copy, and over time), which were included in tombs. They were intended to assist the deceased in achieving a happy existence (and avoiding destruction) in the afterlife. The contents are, in this context, quite utilitarian. To the Egyptians it was "Coming Forth by Day" (as a glorified spirit), and those who could afford it commissioned beautifully executed copies as essential equipment for their long-term future. Many copies, including the Papyrus of Ani, included numerous illustrations (some exquisite) of major and minor gods, the intended owner and his family, and scenes of the (very earthly) Next World. The collection emerged from earlier bodies of tomb and coffin literature during the New Kingdom, and versions continued to be produced into Roman times. This particular edition reproduces (beautifully) the color edition of the New Kingdom "Papyrus of Ani" published by the British Museum in 1890. That version was edited by E.A.W. Budge -- who had purchased the scroll in Egypt -- in collaboration with another Victorian-era Egyptologist, Le Page Renouf. This modern presentation is actually an improvement, since computer manipulation has allowed the rejoining of material which Budge arbitrarily separated when preparing the brittle papyrus for shipment by pasting sections on wooden blocks. (The papyrus has, inevitably, deteriorated since it was unrolled. The few modern reproductions of images from it which I have seen were a letdown after the early descriptions. James Wasserman's Preface, which mentions this problem, refers to photographs in an Egyptological series, which I have not seen.) That first edition was always rare and expensive, and hardly ever available today, and then at a very high price indeed. It was followed in 1895 by a popular edition, prepared by Budge, containing the text in a hieroglyphic transcription, interlinear transliterations and translations, a more polished translation, and an elaborate introduction and other apparatus, including supplementary material from roughly contemporary texts, and some black and white line-drawing versions of the illustrations. This latter edition has been reissued for decades by Dover Publications, and at first glance it looks like a wonderful bargain. The arrangement looks promising, and the hieroglyphic font was a brilliant example of nineteenth-century design. Unhappily, Budge was not only writing in the nineteenth century, he was already behind the times even then. His transliteration is utterly obsolete, and his smooth translation misleading (although the interlinear translation is sometimes helpful figuring out the original word order when comparing translations by others). His introduction and commentary are full of errors (or then-current misconceptions), and he devotes a lot of space to almost-forgotten controversies (useful to the serious student, a waste of time to most readers). I enjoy looking at it, but have never trusted it. Budge went on to edit a "complete" Book of the Dead, the hieroglyphic text of which is still cited, and a translation of that text, still (or recently) in print (under the Arkana and other imprints) and also misleading. (There are also other editions of the 1895 version of the Papyrus of Ani, with less lavish layout.) For anyone who has longed for the color plates of Budge's original edition, and dreamed of a modern translation of what it says, this edition will meet most demands. It does not (alas!) have a modern transliteration, but that is its only real lack. It contains a limited, but useful, commentary. There are translations, based on critically edited versions of those "Chapters" found in the Papyrus of Ani, on the same pages as the facsimiles. Like Budge's popular edition, it also contains translations of important material from other copies of the collection from the same period (known in the scholarly literature as "The Theban Recension"). The translations are based on those by the late Raymond Faulkner, which also appear, with other material, in another "Book of the Dead" translation. So, if you are looking for an outstanding example of Egyptian funerary literature and art from the New Kingdom, you will probably want this book. If you are looking for a general introduction to ancient Egypt, a reference work, or comprehensive anthology of ancient Egyptian literature, try something else. (You will probably want to return to this if what you find there interests you, but that is another matter.)