The Book of the Dead of Imhotep, Priest of Horus

This copy of the Book of the Dead (known to the Egyptians as the Book of Coming Forth By Day) belonged to a priest 𓊹𓍛 of Horus 𓅃𓀭 named Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪! Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪, Priest 𓊹𓍛 of Horus 𓅃𓀭, lived during the early Ptolemaic Period (between 332-200 B.C.E.) Fun fact: the word priest 𓊹𓍛 actually translates to “god’s servant”!!!

Now, this is definitely not that Imhotep from “The Mummy” (1999), however, this is still a funny coincidence! I always get a laugh when I see this in the museum! The Book of the Dead was created for Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 so he could have a successful journey into the afterlife 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐. The spells on the papyrus 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛 were also meant to ensure his safety and well-being in the duat 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐(realm of the dead).

The Book of the Dead is interesting because it doesn’t follow a particular story. The spells do seem to be grouped by theme, and sometimes pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 can be representative of the spells as well. The scene shown here is the Weighing of the Heart, in which the deceased’s heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 was weighed against Maat’s 𓐙𓌴𓂣𓏏𓁦 feather. More details on that scene later in the post!

Imhotep’s version of the Book of the Dead is complete, and is over 70 feet long!

This page illustrates spell 110, which gives Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 the ability to enjoy various earthly activities. This takes place in the Field of Reeds, which is also known as The Field of Offerings. Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 is actually seen doing work in the field 𓇏𓏏𓈇 – he can be seen using a scythe to harvest grain, plowing the field, and doing other various activities. In the top left, there are hieroglyphs “𓃹𓈖𓈖𓆑𓄿𓇏𓏛𓐝𓏭𓏏” that translate to “it is he in the Field of Offerings.” The Field of Reeds could also be written as 𓇏𓏏𓈅𓇋𓄿𓂋𓅱𓆰𓊖

I have provided some close up images of some of the aspects of the image that I mentioned in the caption above!

Let’s take a look at some other portions of the Book of the Dead!

I only have the drawings in this photograph, but to the left of the images would be the Hieratic script which would spell out the Sun Hymns. The Sun Hymns would allow Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 to be turned into a spirit and join the Khepri 𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛 in the daily cycle of death and rebirth (rising and setting of the sun). During the night 𓎼𓂋𓎛𓄛, Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 would travel through the Duat 𓇼𓄿𓏏𓉐 underworld/netherworld) and be born again the next morning in the form of ba 𓅡𓏺 (individual’s soul that was depicted as a human headed bird).

The top image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 shows the goddesses 𓊹𓊹𓊹𓏏 Isis 𓊨𓏏𓁥 and Nephytys 𓉠𓏏𓆇 attending to the sun god Khepri 𓆣𓂋𓇋𓁛, who is in the form of a scarab 𓆣. The middle image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 shows the sun 𓇳𓏺 in human form and is attended by two 𓏻 ba 𓅡𓏺 and baboons. The bottom image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 shows Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 and his wife* receiving offerings.

*Since Imhotep’s 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 mother 𓅐𓏏𓁐 is mentioned a lot throughout his Book of the Dead, many people think that the woman who always accompanies Imhotep in the images 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏦 is his mother 𓅐𓏏𓁐 and not his wife!

Fun fact! The words for “night 𓎼𓂋𓎛𓄛“ and “end 𓎼𓂋𓎛𓂝𓏛“ were very similar in hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪!!!

Now on to my favorite scene from the Book of the Dead (in more detail)!

While I have already posted a pic of the Weighing of the Heart, I wanted to post some alternative angles because this series of images is my absolute favorite – no matter whos Book of the Dead it is from!

Here, Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓁢 weighs the heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣
of the deceased 𓅓𓏏𓏱 against Maat’s 𓌴𓐙𓂣𓏏𓁦 feather. If Anubis determines there’s balance between the two, then the deceased would be presented to Osiris 𓁹𓊨 𓀭 by Horus 𓅃𓀭. Thoth 𓅤𓀭 records the findings. Ammit waits to eat the heart if it’s unworthy!

Here we can see that Imhotep’s 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 heart 𓇋𓃀𓄣 is balanced against the feather! There are some really cool images in this particular scene – instead of just being a feather on the scale, it is the hieroglyph determinative for Maat (𓁧). Also, in the last picture, Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 is accompanied by a feather with a human body! This is probably a representation of Maat 𓌴𓐙𓂣𓏏𓁦, though she is usually depicted as a woman with a feather on her head and rarely as just a human body with a feather.

This is the last picture I have from Imhotep’s 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 Book of the Dead. Due to the way that the papyri 𓅓𓍑𓏏𓏛𓏦 are displayed at the MET, it can be very difficult to get clear pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏥. I’m happy that I went back through my pictures 𓏏𓅱𓏏𓏥 because I had taken some better ones than I initially thought!

In this image, you can see some of the hieratic script that the Book of the Dead is written in – don’t ask me to translate, because I can’t read hieratic! I can only read hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! I would love to learn hieratic though! Some of the hieratic is in black ink while some of it is in red. The red ink seems to symbolize either the beginning or the end 𓎼𓂋𓎛𓂝𓏛 of a spell, or it could highlight a word for a noun that was considered “bad” in Egyptian culture. However, sometimes even “offering table” could have been written/drawn in red and offering tables were not bad at all! So, some of the red ink seems kinda random.

Imhotep 𓇍𓅓𓊵𓏏𓊪 is seen here with Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣, who is seated on top of a shrine. As you all know, Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 is my favorite Egyptian god (he is the god of mummification and cemeteries) so I was very excited to see I got an image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 with Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣! I like this image 𓏏𓅱𓏏 because it reminds me of the Anubis 𓇋𓈖𓊪𓅱𓃣 shrine that was found in Tutankhamun’s 𓇋𓏠𓈖𓏏𓅱𓏏𓋹𓋾𓉺𓇓 tomb – that is one of my absolute favorite pieces of all time! The drawing is also like the hieroglyph determinative “𓃣” for Anubis!