Generally, Book of the dead or the IM-DUWAT “that which belongs to the second life “was a stereotype –book used to be written and provided to royal family members as well as to the very rich Egyptians. Just few of IM-DUWAT books were discovered in good order and completion.Most of discovered books were found located inside coffins of the Egyptian dead or kept hidden in kilts of stone or wooden statues. The first complete IM-DUWAT seems to go back to the new kingdom however its first chapter was written during the old kingdom specifically during Cheops reign which is about 2500 B.C. The full book of the dead was found as Papyrus scrolls that can fill more than 20 meters long papyruses and fit in 150 A4 pages approximately. The most common chapter from the IM-DUWAT is the chapter of the twelve hours of the night which is partly found or completely carved on walls of tombs as well as found written on papyrus. However, the chapter of the twelve hours of the night was the most repetitive; it was rarely found in complete order and that was due to the high cost for writing it as a full book. . The most popular part of the chapter of the twelve hours of the night according to finds of New kingdom papyruses and mainly the ones of the high-officials is the part of the 11th and the 12th hours which represent the final transformation of Amun-Ra and his rebirth. The second popular parts of that chapter are the 3rd, the 4th, the 5th and the 6th hours which are found in most of carvings of Valley of the Kings tombs. The chapter of the twelve hours of the night is found in complete order in tombs of king Seti I and tomb of king Thutmoses III in the Valley of the Kings.
The judgment of Osiris chapter is the most famous part of book of the dead, where Osiris leads a tribunal aims at granting the deceased the promised second life according his deeds and his faith.
The Judgment of Osiris, Book of the Dead of Hu-nefer, Painted by Yasser Kamel.
The painting above is a part of Book Of The Dead of the funeral -royal scribe Hunefer" 1400 B.C" The original is displayed at the British museum.
It begins with weighing the heart of the dead against the feather on the scales under the supervision of Anubis " the jackal-headed god" or the dog-headed god who shouldadjust the scales and in the presence of Horus" the falcon-headed god" who represents the advocate for the dead.Then the weight of the heart against the feather should be observed by goddess Maat who has her eyes covered with a band” The Blind Justice”, her symbol is above the balance.Then the verdict of the weighing must be written by god Thoth god of knowledge and wisdom "ibis-headed god" and always the heart to weigh less than the feather. If the heart would be ever heavier than the feather it would be fed to a monster " hybrid of a lion, a hippopotamus anda crocodile " Then the dead should gets to the negative confession hall where the dead should proceed to the jury or the 42 assessors “top of the picture" where he should deny his sins and they must take notice in order to decide if he said the truth or never then they can signify to that by holding their keys of life "Ankh" which refer to mercy or by hold their knives if he seemed to be lying.
The two verdicts should be revised by Osiris "the god of the underworld" who always is seen seated on his throne accompanied by his wife Isis and his sister Nyphtis.By Yasser Kamel to Museumegypt, All rights reserved. Copyrig ©Musegypt.
