Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life by E. A. Wallis Budge
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E. A. Wallis Budge >> Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life
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When Horus had led in Ani he addressed Osiris, saying, "I have come unto
thee, O Un-nefer, and I have brought the Osiris Ani unto thee. His heart
hath been found righteous and it hath come forth from the balance; it
hath not sinned against any god or any goddess. Thoth hath weighed it
according to the decree uttered unto him by the company of the gods; and
it is very true and right. Grant unto him cakes and ale; and let him
enter into thy presence; and may he be like unto the followers of Horus
for ever!" After this address Ani, kneeling by the side of tables of
offerings of fruit, flowers, etc., which he has brought unto Osiris,
says, "O Lord of Amentet, I am in thy presence. There is no sin in me, I
have not lied wittingly, nor have I done aught with a false heart. Grant
that I may be like unto those favoured ones who are round about thee,
and that I may be an Osiris greatly favoured of the beautiful god and
beloved of the Lord of the world, [I], the royal scribe of Ma[=a]t, who
loveth him, Ani, triumphant before Osiris." [Footnote: Or "true of voice
in respect of Osiris;" _i.e._, Ani makes his petition, and Osiris is to
hear and answer because he has uttered the right words in the right
manner, and in the right tone of voice.] Thus we come to the end of the
scene of the weighing of the heart.
The man who has passed safely through this ordeal has now to meet the
gods of the underworld, and the Book of the Dead provides the words
which "the heart which is righteous and sinless" shall say unto them.
One of the fullest and most correct texts of "the speech of the deceased
when he cometh forth true of voice from the Hall of the Ma[=a]ti
goddesses" is found in the Papyrus of Nu; in it the deceased says:--
"Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in the Hall of the Ma[=a]ti
goddesses, I, even I, know you, and I know your names. Let me not fall
under your knives of slaughter, and bring ye not forward my wickedness
unto the god in whose train ye are; and let not evil hap come upon, me
by your means. O declare ye me true of voice in the presence of
Neb-er-teber, because I have done that which is right and true in
Ta-mera (_i.e._, Egypt). I have not cursed God, therefore let not evil
hap come upon me through the King who dwelleth in his day.
"Homage to you, O ye gods, who dwell in the Hall of the Ma[=a]ti
goddesses, who are without evil in your bodies, and who live upon
right and truth, and who feed yourselves upon right and truth in the
presence of the god Horus, who dwelleth in his divine Disk; deliver ye
me from the god Baba [Footnote: The first born son of Osiris.] who
feedeth upon the entrails of the mighty ones upon the day of the great
reckoning, O grant ye that I may come to you, for I have not committed
faults, I have not sinned, I have not done evil, I have not borne
false witness; therefore let nothing [evil] be done unto me. I live
upon right and truth, and I feed upon right and truth. I have
performed the commandments of men [as well as] the things whereat are
gratified the gods; I have made God to be at peace [with me by doing]
that which is his will. I have given bread to the hungry man, and
water to the thirsty man, and apparel to the naked man, and a boat to
the [shipwrecked] mariner. I have made holy offerings to the gods, and
sepulchral meals to the beatified dead. Be ye then my deliverers, be
ye then my protectors, and make ye not accusation against me in the
presence of [Osiris]. I am clean of mouth and clean of hands;
therefore let it be said unto me by those who shall behold me, 'Come
in peace, come in peace.' I have heard the mighty word which the
spiritual bodies spake unto the Cat [Footnote: _i.e._, R[=a] as the
slayer of the serpent of darkness, the head of which be cuts off with
a knife. (See above, p. 63). The usual reading is "which the Ass spake
to the Cat;" the Ass being Osiris and the cat R[=a].] in the house of
Hapt-re. I have testified in the presence of Hra-f-ha-f, and he hath
given [his] decision. I have seen the things over which the Persea
tree spreadeth within Re-stau. I am he who hath offered up prayers to
the gods and who knoweth their persons. I have come, and I have
advanced to make the declaration of right and truth, and to set the
Balance upon what supporteth it in the region of Aukert.
"Hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard (_i.e._, Osiris), thou
lord of the 'Atefu' crown whose name is proclaimed as 'Lord of the
winds,' deliver thou me from thy divine messengers who cause dire
deeds to happen, and who cause calamities to come into being, and who
are without coverings for their faces, for I have done that which is
right and true for the Lord of right and truth. I have purified myself
and my breast with libations, and my hinder parts with the things
which make clean, and my inward parts have been [immersed] in the Pool
of Right and Truth. There is no single member of mine which lacketh
right and truth. I have been purified in the Pool of the South, and I
have rested in the City of the North, which is in the Field of the
Grasshoppers, wherein the divine sailors of R[=a] bathe at the second
hour of the night and at the third hour of the day; and the hearts of
the gods are gratified after they have passed through it, whether it
be by night, or whether it be by day. And I would that they should say
unto me, 'Come forward,' and 'Who art thou?' and 'What is thy name?'
These are the words which, I would have the gods say unto me. [Then
would I reply] 'My name is He who is provided with flowers, and
Dweller in his olive tree.' Then let them say unto me straightway,
'Pass on,' and I would pass on to the city to the north of the Olive
tree, 'What then wilt thou see there?' [say they. And I say]' The Leg
and the Thigh,' 'What wouldst thou say unto them?' [say they.] 'Let me
see rejoicings in the land of the Fenkhu' [I reply]. 'What will they
give thee? [say they]. 'A fiery flame and a crystal tablet' [I reply].
'What wilt thou do therewith?' [say they]. 'Bury them by the furrow of
M[=a][=a]at as Things for the night' [I reply]. 'What wilt thou find
by the furrow of M[=a][=a]at?' [say they]. 'A sceptre of flint
called Giver of Air' [I reply]. 'What wilt thou do with the fiery
flame and the crystal tablet after thou hast buried them?' [say they].
'I will recite words over them, in the furrow. I will extinguish the
fire, and I will break the tablet, and I will make a pool of water' [I
reply]. Then let the gods say unto me, 'Come and enter in through the
door of this Hall of the M[=a][=a]ti goddesses, for thou knowest us.'"
After these remarkable prayers follows a dialogue between each part of
the Hall of M[=a][=a]ti and the deceased, which reads as follows:--
_Door bolts_. "We will not let thee enter in through us unless thou
tellest our names."
_Deceased_. "'Tongue of the place of Right and Truth' is your
name."
_Right post_. "I will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest
my name."
_Deceased_. "'Scale of the lifter up of right and truth' is thy
name."
_Left post_. "I will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest
my name."
_Deceased_. "'Scale of wine' is thy name."
_Threshold_. "I will not let thee pass over me unless thou tellest my
name."
_Deceased_. "'Ox of the god Seb' is thy name."
_Hasp_. "I will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my name."
_Deceased_. "'Leg-bone of his mother' is thy name."
_Socket-hole_. "I will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my
name."
_Deceased_. "'Living Eye of Sebek, the lord of Bakhau,' is thy name."
_Porter_. "I will not open unto thee unless thou tellest my name."
_Deceased_. "'Elbow of the god Shu when he placeth himself to protect
Osiris' is thy name."
_Side posts_. "We will not let thee pass in by us, unless thou tellest
our names."
_Deceased_. "'Children of the uraei-goddesses' is your name."
"Thou knowest us; pass on, therefore, by us" [say these].
_Floor_. "I will not let thee tread upon me, because I am silent and I
am holy, and because I do not know the names of thy feet
wherewith thou wouldst walk upon me; therefore tell them to
me."
_Deceased_. "'Traveller of the god Khas' is the name of my right foot,
and 'Staff of the goddess Hathor' is the name of my left
foot."
"Thou knowest me; pass on, therefore, over me" [it saith].
_Doorkeeper_. "I will not take in thy name unless thou tellest my
name."
_Deceased_. "'Discerner of hearts and searcher of the reins' is thy
name."
_Doorkeeper_. "Who is the god that dwelleth in his hour? Utter his
name."
_Deceased_. "'M[=a]au-Taui' is his name."
_Doorkeeper_. "And who is M[=a]au-Taui?"
_Deceased_. "He is Thoth."
_Thoth_. "Come! But why hast thou come?"
_Deceased_. "I have come and I press forward that my name may be
mentioned."
_Thoth_, "In what state art thou?"
_Deceased_. "I am purified from evil things, and I am protected from
the baleful deeds of those who live in their days; and I
am not of them."
_Thoth_. "Now will I make mention of thy name [to the god]. And who is
he whose roof is of fire, whose walls are living uraei, and
the floor of whose house is a stream of water? Who is he, I
say?"
_Deceased_. "It is Osiris."
_Thoth_. "Come forward, then; verily, mention of thy name shall be
made unto him. Thy cakes [shall come] from the Eye of R[=a];
and thine ale [shall come] from the Eye of R[=a]; and thy
sepulchral meals upon earth [shall come] from the Eye of
R[=a]."
With these words Chapter CXXV comes to an end. We have seen how the
deceased has passed through the ordeal of the judgment, and how the
scribes provided him with hymns and prayers, and with the words of a
confession with a view of facilitating his passage through the dread
Hall of the Ma[=a]ti goddesses. Unfortunately the answer which the god
Osiris may be supposed to have made to his son Horus in respect of the
deceased is not recorded, but there is no doubt that the Egyptian
assumed that it would be favourable to him, and that permission would be
accorded him to enter into each and every portion of the underworld, and
to partake of all the delights which the beatified enjoyed under the
rule of R[=a] and Osiris.
CHAPTER V.
THE RESURRECTION AND IMMORTALITY.
In perusing the literature of the ancient Egyptians one of the first
things which forces itself upon the mind of the reader is the frequency
of allusions to the future life or to things which appertain thereto.
The writers of the various religious and other works, belonging to all
periods of Egyptian history, which have come down to us, tacitly assume
throughout that those who once have lived in this world have "renewed"
their life in that which is beyond the grave, and that they still live
and will live until time shall be no more. The Egyptian belief in the
existence of Almighty God is old, so old that we must seek for its
beginnings in pre-dynastic times; but the belief in a future life is
very much older, and its beginnings must be as old, at least, as the
oldest human remains which have been found in Egypt. To attempt to
measure by years the remoteness of the period when these were committed
to the earth, is futile, for no date that could be given them is likely
to be even approximately correct, and they may as well date from B.C.
12,000 as from B.C. 8000. Of one fact, however, we may be quite certain;
that is to say, that the oldest human remains that have been found in
Egypt bear upon them traces of the use of bitumen, which proves that the
Egyptians at the very beginning of their stay in the valley of the Nile
made some attempt to preserve their dead by means of mummification.
[Footnote: See J. de Morgan, _Ethnographie Prehistorique_, Paris, 1897,
p. 189.] If they were, as many think, invaders who had made their way
across Arabia and the Red Sea and the eastern desert of the Nile, they
may have brought the idea and habit of preserving their dead with them,
or they may have adopted, in a modified form, some practice in use among
the aboriginal inhabitants whom they found on their arrival in Egypt; in
either case the fact that they attempted to preserve their dead by the
use of substances which would arrest decay is certain, and in a degree
their attempt has succeeded.
The existence of the non-historic inhabitants of Egypt has been revealed
to us in recent years by means of a number of successful excavations
which have been made in Upper Egypt on both sides of the Nile by several
European and native explorers, and one of the most striking results has
been the discovery of three different kinds of burials, which
undoubtedly belong to three different periods, as we may see by
examining the various objects which have been found in the early graves
at Nak[=a]dah and other non-historic sites of the same age and type. In
the oldest tombs we find the skeleton laid upon its left side, with the
limbs bent: the knees are on a level with the breast, and the hands are
placed in front of the face. Generally the head faces towards the south,
but no invariable rule seems to have been observed as to its
"orientation." Before the body was laid in the ground it was either
wrapped in gazelle skin or laid in loose grass; the substance used for
the purposes of wrapping probably depended upon the social condition of
the deceased. In burials of this class there are no traces of
mummification, or of burning, or of stripping the flesh from the bones.
In the next oldest graves the bodies are found to have been wholly or
partly stripped of their flesh; in the former case all the bones are
found cast indiscriminately is the grave, in the latter the bones of the
hands and the feet were laid together, while the rest of the skeleton is
scattered about in wild confusion. Graves of this period are found to be
oriented either north or south, and the bodies in them usually have the
head separated from the body; sometimes it is clear that the bodies have
been "jointed" so that they might occupy less space. Occasionally the
bodies are found lying upon their backs with their legs and arms folded
over them; in this case they are covered over with clay casings. In
certain graves it is clear that the body has been burnt. Now in all
classes of tombs belonging to the prehistoric period in Egypt we find
offerings in vases and vessels of various kinds, a fact which proves
beyond all doubt that the men who made these graves believed that their
dead friends and relatives would live again in some place, of the
whereabouts of which they probably had very vague ideas, in a life which
was, presumably, not unlike that which they had lived upon earth. The
flint tools, knives, scrapers and the like indicate that they thought
they would hunt and slay their quarry when brought down, and fight their
foes; and the schist objects found in the graves, which M. de Morgan
identifies as amulets, shows that even in those early days man believed
that he could protect himself against the powers of supernatural and
invisible enemies by talismans. The man who would hunt and fight in the
next world must live again; and if he would live again it must be either
in his old body or in a new one; if in the old body, it must be
revivified. But once having imagined a new life, probably in a new body,
death a second time was not, the prehistoric Egyptian hoped, within the
bounds of possibility. Here, then, we have the origin of the grand ideas
of the RESURRECTION and IMMORTALITY.
There is every reason for believing that the prehistoric Egyptian
expected to eat, and to drink, and to lead a life of pleasure in the
region where he imagined his heaven to be, and there is little doubt
that he thought the body in which he would live there would be not
unlike the body which he had while he was upon earth. At this stage his
ideas of the supernatural and of the future life would be like those of
any man of the same race who stood on the same level in the scale of
civilization, but in every way he was a great contrast to the Egyptian
who lived, let us say, in the time of Mena, the first historical king of
Egypt, the date of whom for convenience' sake is placed at B.C. 4400.
The interval between the time when the prehistoric Egyptians made the
graves described above and the reign of Mena must have been very
considerable, and we may justly believe it to represent some thousands
of years; but whatever its length, we find that the time was not
sufficient to wipe out the early views which had been handed on from
generation to generation, or even to modify some of the beliefs which we
now know to have existed in an almost unchanged state at the latest
period of Egyptian history. In the texts which were edited by the
priests of Heliopolis we find references to a state or condition of
things, as far as social matters are concerned, which could only exist
in a society of men who were half savages. And we see from later works,
when extracts are made from the earlier texts which contain such
references, that the passages in which objectionable allusions occur are
either omitted altogether or modified. We know of a certainty that the
educated men of the College of Heliopolis cannot have indulged in the
excesses which the deceased kings for whom they prepared the funeral
texts are assumed to enjoy, and the mention of the nameless abomination
which the savage Egyptian inflicted upon his vanquished foe can only
have been allowed to remain in them because of their own reverence for
the written word.
In passing it must be mentioned that the religious ideas of the men who
were buried without mutilation of limbs, or stripping of flesh from the
body, or burning, must have been different from those of the men who
practised such things on the dead. The former are buried in the
ante-natal position of a child, and we may perhaps be justified in
seeing in this custom the symbol of a hope that as the child is born
from this position into the world, so might the deceased be born into
the life in the world beyond the grave; and the presence of amulets, the
object of which was to protect the body, seems to indicate that they
expected the actual body to rise again. The latter, by the mutilation of
the bodies and the burning of the dead, seem to show that they had no
hope of living again in their natural bodies, and how far they had
approached to the conception of the resurrection of a spiritual body we
shall probably never know. When we arrive at the IVth dynasty we find
that, so far from any practice of mutilation or burning of the body
being common, every text assumes that the body is to be buried whole;
this fact indicates a reversal of the custom of mutilation, or burning,
which must have been in use, however, for a considerable time. It is to
this reversal that we probably owe such passages as, "O flesh of Pepi,
rot not, decay not, stink not;" "Pepi goeth forth with his flesh;" "thy
bones shall not be destroyed, and thy flesh shall not perish,"
[Footnote: See _Recueil de Travaux_, tom. v. pp. 55, 185 (lines 160,
317, 353).] etc.; and they denote a return to the views and ways of the
earliest people known to us in Egypt.
In the interval which elapsed between the period of the prehistoric
burials and the IVth dynasty, the Egyptian formulated certain theories
about the component parts of his own body, and we must consider these
briefly before we can describe the form in which the dead were believed
to rise. The physical body of a man was called KHAT, a word which
indicates something in which decay is inherent; it was this which was
buried in the tomb after mummification, and its preservation from
destruction of every kind was the object of all amulets, magical
ceremonies, prayers, and formulae, from the earliest to the latest
times. The god Osiris even possessed such a body, and its various
members were preserved as relics in several shrines in Egypt. Attached
to the body in some remarkable way was the KA, or "double," of a man; it
may be defined as an abstract individuality or personality which was
endowed with all his characteristic attributes, and it possessed an
absolutely independent existence. It was free to move from place to
place upon earth at will, and it could enter heaven and hold converse
with the gods. The offerings made in, the tombs at all periods were
intended for the nourishment of the KA, and it was supposed to be able
to eat and drink and to enjoy the odour of incense. In the earliest
times a certain portion of the tomb was set apart for the use of the KA,
and the religious organization of the period ordered that a class of
priests should perform ceremonies and recite prayers at stated seasons
for the benefit of the KA in the KA chapel; these men were known as "KA
priests." In the period when the pyramids were built it was firmly
believed that the deceased, in some form, was able to be purified, and
to sit down and to eat bread with it "unceasingly and for ever;" and the
KA who was not supplied with a sufficiency of food in the shape of
offerings of bread, cakes, flowers, fruit, wine, ale, and the like, was
in serious danger of starvation.
The soul was called BA, and the ideas which the Egyptians held
concerning it are somewhat difficult to reconcile; the meaning of the
word seems to be something like "sublime," "noble," "mighty." The BA
dwelt in the KA, and seems to have had the power of becoming corporeal
or incorporeal at will; it had both substance and form, and is
frequently depicted on the papyri and monuments as a human-headed hawk;
in nature and substance it is stated to be ethereal. It had the power to
leave the tomb, and to pass up into heaven where it was believed to
enjoy an eternal existence in a state of glory; it could, however, and
did, revisit the body in the tomb, and from certain texts it seems that
it could re-animate it and hold converse with it. Like the heart AB it
was, in some respects, the seat of life in man. The souls of the blessed
dead dwelt in heaven with the gods, and they partook of all the
celestial enjoyments for ever.
The spiritual intelligence, or spirit, of a man was called KHU, and it
seems to have taken form as a shining, luminous, intangible shape of the
body; the KHUs formed a class of celestial beings who lived with the
gods, but their functions are not clear. The KHU, like the KA, could be
imprisoned in the tomb, and to obviate this catastrophe special formulae
were composed and duly recited. Besides the KHU another very important
part of a man's entity went into heaven, namely, his SEKHEM. The word
literally means "to have the mastery over something," and, as used in
the early texts, that which enables one to have the mastery over
something; _i.e._, "power." The SEKHEM of a man was, apparently, his
vital force or strength personified, and the Egyptians believed that it
could and did, under certain conditions, follow him that possessed it
upon earth into heaven. Another part of a man was the KHAIBIT or
"shadow," which is frequently mentioned in connexion with the soul and,
in late times, was always thought to be near it. Finally we may mention
the REN, or "name" of a man, as one of his most important constituent
parts. The Egyptians, in common with all Eastern nations, attached the
greatest importance to the preservation of the name, and any person, who
effected the blotting out of a man's name was thought to have destroyed
him also. Like the KA it was a portion, of a man's most special
identity, and it is easy to see why so much importance grew to be
attached to it; a nameless being could not be introduced to the gods,
and as no created thing exists without a name the man who had no name
was in a worse position before the divine powers than the feeblest
inanimate object. To perpetuate the name of a father was a good son's
duty, and to keep the tombs of the dead in good repair so that all might
read the names of those who were buried in them was a most meritorious
act. On the other hand, if the deceased knew the names of divine beings,
whether friends or foes, and could pronounce them, he at once obtained
power over them, and was able to make them perform his will.
We have seen that the entity of a man consisted of body, double, soul,
heart, spiritual intelligence or spirit, power, shadow, and name. These
eight parts may be reduced to three by leaving out of consideration the
double, heart, power, shadow and name as representing beliefs which were
produced by the Egyptian as he was slowly ascending the scale of
civilization, and as being the peculiar product of his race; we may then
say that a man consisted of body, soul, and spirit. But did all three
rise, and live in the world beyond the grave? The Egyptian texts answer
this question definitely; the soul and the spirit of the righteous
passed from the body and lived with the beatified and the gods in
heaven; but the physical body did not rise again, and it was believed
never to leave the tomb. There were ignorant people in Egypt who, no
doubt, believed in the resurrection of the corruptible body, and who
imagined that the new life would be, after all, something very much like
a continuation of that which they were living in this world; but the
Egyptian who followed the teaching of his sacred writings knew that such
beliefs were not consistent with the views of their priests and of
educated people in general. Already in the Vth dynasty, about B.C. 3400,
it is stated definitely:--
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