Name: The Book of the Dead May Not Be What You Think It Is
Uploaded: 2024-02-24T11:39:08.000Z
Duration: 11 min 41 s
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Participle clauses with adverbial meaning

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I'm reciting a spell from the "Necronomicon."

You know, the ""Book of the Dead"" from "Evil Dead:

Yeah, I see, but you're a little off there.

It has nothing to do with the Egyptian "Book of the Dead."

Yeah, maybe if you could just give it to me,

I can bring my gerbil chocolate chip back to life.

Yeah, I'm sorry, that's still not quite right.

It was actually a written guidebook for the deceased

You can't judge a book or graveside by its cover.

The "Book of the Dead" can be more accurately translated

or "The Book of Emerging Forth into the Light,"

and was used from the beginning of the New Kingdom.

It was a collection of spells, incantations,

and instructions intended to be used by the deceased

And not just heaven as we commonly see it rendered today,

but in fact to join the ranks of the mighty Gods themselves.

Also, the "Book of the Dead" wasn't really a book,

Sans the be-striped bio-exorcist, of course.

There was no singular version that everyone used,

and different people would often request specific inclusions

that they felt would best get them through the trials--

most funerary sites in Egypt had no inscriptions at all,

dictated any ritual or funerary practice.

What evidence does suggest is that, universally,

the body was ritually treated post-mortem

The images depicted on temples dedicated to the Gods

These seem very similar to those described

what even indicated funerary concepts to begin with

when we are relying on illustrations alone.

became symbols of social, religious, and political power.

In the Third Dynasty, we see written inscriptions pop up.

Having a cool tomb might be a status symbol

It also ensured your name was still spoken,

an important concept to ancient Egyptians,

Only in the Fifth Dynasty do we see inscriptions

that spoke of the deceased's life after death.

the text in the Pyramid of Unas told of how the king

could journey successfully into the afterlife.

were now painted or inscribed on the interior of coffins,

of the upper echelon of Egyptian society,

While we might refer to them as the "Pyramid Texts,"

"Coffin Texts, or even the "Book of the Dead" today,

Some of these rites would need to be performed, others not.

Just knowing they existed was sometimes enough,

or illustration of the spells with you upon burial

rituals and spells in this context are different.

You needed to know the spell, but you had to do the ritual.

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The Book of the Dead May Not Be What You Think It Is

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