The Egyptian Book of the Dead is unquestionably one of the most
influential books in all history. Embodying a ritual to be performed for the
dead, with detailed instructions for the behavior of the disembodied spirit in
the Land of the Gods, it served as the most important repository of religious
authority for some three thousand years. Chapters were carved on the pyramids of
the ancient 5th Dynasty, texts were written in papyrus, and selections were
painted on mummy cases well into the Christian Era. In a certain sense it stood
behind all Egyptian civilization.
In the year1888 Dr. E. Wallis budge, then purchasing agent for the British
Museum, followed rumors he heard of a spectacular archeological find in Upper
Egypt, and found in an 18th Dynasty tomb near Luxor "the largest roll of papyrus
I had ever seen, tied with a thick band of papyrus , and in a perfect state of
preservation." It was a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, written around
1500 B.C. for Ani, Royal Scribe of Thebes, Overseer of the Granaries of the
Lords of Abydos, and Scribe of the Offerings of the Lords of Thebes.
This Papyrus of Ani, a full version of the Theban recension, is presented
here by Dr. Budge, who later became perhaps the world's most renowned
Egyptologist. Reproduced in full are a clear copy of the Egyptian hieroglyphs,
an interlinear transliteration of their sounds (as reconstructed), a
word-for-word translation, and separately a complete smooth translation. All
this is preceded by an introduction of more than 150 pages. As a result of this
multiple apparatus the reader has a unique opportunity to savor all aspects of
the Book of the Dead, or as it was otherwise known, The Book of
Great Awakening.
