Tag: book of the dead

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Egyptian Artifacts

Book of the Dead: Images of Deities

The Book of the Dead of Imhotep at The MET

These images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ are from the Book of the Dead of Imhotep (Early Ptolemaic Period) at the MET! This particular Book of the Dead is incredible because even though it is only in black ๐“†Ž๐“…“ or red ๐“‚ง๐“ˆ™๐“‚‹๐“…Ÿ ink and not in full color like some other versions, it is still so beautiful ๐“„ค to look at and I am always mesmerized by the details! Letโ€™s take a closer look at both the images ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“๐“ฆ and the hieroglyphs ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ๐“ช!

The top panel shows the goddesses ๐“Šน๐“ Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ (left) and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ (right) on their knees in a mourning position on either side of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ. The deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ is in the form of a mummy ๐“‡‹๐“น๐“…ฑ๐“€พ and is laying on a table that is in the form of a lion ๐“Œณ๐“น๐“„ฟ๐“„›.

I love how a row of stars ๐“‹ด๐“ƒ€๐“„ฟ๐“‡ผ๐“ช separate the two ๐“ป panels! The star ๐“‡ผ hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ is another one of my favorite symbols and I love how it is used in both writing and drawing/art!

On the bottom panel, two ๐“ป of the Sons of Horus are pictured with Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ in the center. Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ is on his shrine ๐“‰ฑ๐“Šน, just like my favorite hieroglyph ๐“Šน๐“Œƒ! Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ is on the left of Anubis ๐“‡‹๐“ˆ–๐“Šช๐“…ฑ๐“ƒฃ and Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ is on the right. The Sons of Horus had and Anubis all had roles in the protection of the deceased ๐“…“๐“๐“ฑ.

One thing I love about Egyptian art is how a lot of times there are โ€œcaptionsโ€ next to the people/deities ๐“Šน๐“Šน๐“Šน that are pictured so that way you know who they are! Isis ๐“Šจ๐“๐“ฅ and Nephthys ๐“‰ ๐“๐“†‡ are obvious to spot because of the crowns on their heads. Their crowns match the hieroglyphs in their names ๐“‚‹๐“ˆ–๐“ฆ – Isis has a ๐“Šจ crown while Nephthys has a ๐“‰  crown! However, Duamutef ๐“‡ผ๐“…๐“๐“†‘๐“€ญ and Qebehsenuef ๐“๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“Œข๐“†‘๐“€ญ are not as easy to recognize because they are mummiform and not in their usual form with the jackal ๐“Šƒ๐“„ฟ๐“ƒ€๐“ƒฅ or falcon ๐“ƒ€๐“‡‹๐“Žก๐“…„ heads! So in this case, the โ€œcaptionsโ€ are quite useful!!!

Categories
Egyptian Artifacts

The Book of the Dead – The Field of Reeds

“The Field of Reeds” from the Book of the Dead of Imhotep (MET)

This is another closeup image ๐“๐“…ฑ๐“ from Imhotep’s ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช Book of the Dead (Early Ptolemaic Period) at the MET. Fun fact: Imhotep’s ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช version of the Book of the Dead is mostly complete, and is over 70 ๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž†๐“Ž† feet long!

This page illustrates Spell 110, which gives Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช the ability to enjoy various earthly activities. This takes place in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–. Spell 110 states โ€œโ€ฆbeing in control there, being a blessed one there, plowing and harvesting there, eating and drinking there, and doing everything that one was used to do on earth.โ€

Imhotep ๐“‡๐“…“๐“Šต๐“๐“Šช is actually seen doing work in the field ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ‡ – he can be seen using a scythe to harvest grain (just like Spell 110 states)! So the things he used to do on earth, he could also accomplish in the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š–. This is where ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures came into play – instead of the deceased doing all of the work, the ushabti ๐“†ท๐“„ฟ๐“ฏ๐“ƒ€๐“๐“ฎ๐“€พ figures would have taken care of it all!

The Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š– was mentioned a lot on Marvelโ€™s show Moon Knight! In the show, Marc and Steven traveled through the Duat ๐“‡ผ๐“„ฟ๐“๐“‰ on a boat ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž, but in reality, this mode of transport was typically reserved just for pharaohs ๐“‰๐“‰ป๐“ฆ!

On the show, the Field of Reeds ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ…๐“‡‹๐“„ฟ๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“†ฐ๐“Š– was literally depicted as just a field ๐“‡๐“๐“ˆ‡, while in Egyptian culture it was meant to be a better version of life ๐“‹น on earth. There were many different depictions; a lush land with waterfalls, islands that could be traveled amongst by boats ๐“‚ง๐“Šช๐“๐“Šž๐“ฆ, farmland, and lots of parties! Access to the Nile ๐“‡‹๐“๐“‚‹๐“…ฑ๐“ˆ—๐“ˆ˜๐“ˆ‡๐“บ and the ability to farm were considered to be the ultimate reward for a good and truthful ๐“™๐“Œด๐“‚ฃ๐“๐“†„ life ๐“‹น!