Book Of The Dead Gallery

A page from The Book Of The Dead, 1926. Artist: Unknown

A page from The Book Of The Dead, 1926. The Book of the Dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the afterlife and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. It was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased. From An Outline of Christianity, The Story of Our Civilisation, volume 4: Christianity and Modern Thought, edited by RG Parsons and AS Peake, published by the Waverley Book Club (London, 1926).

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images

Ancient Egyptian cosmos, c1025 BC. Artist: Unknown

Ancient Egyptian cosmos, c1025 BC. Nut (heaven), stretches over the Earth, represented by her brother Geb, who lies below her. The toes of the goddess are at the eastern horizon, and her fingertips at the western horizon. Her father Shu (air), holds her up with both hands, separating her from Geb. Despite this Geb and Nut had four children: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. The myths surrounding these four deities relate to the emergence of human society; the separation of earth and sky constitutes the creation of the world. This scene is part of the Greenfield papyrus, the Book of the Dead of the priestess Nesitanebtashru. It is one of the best surviving examples of a funerary papyrus; the original document was over thirty-seven metres long and is from the burial of Nesitanebtashru at Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, Egypt.

© Oxford Science Archive / Heritage-Images

A man and his wife making offerings to Osiris, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Artist: Unknown

Book of the Dead of Ani; sheet 36; full colour vignettes; red and yellow borders. Spell 148 continued; spell 185, hymn to Osiris. A man, Ani, and his wife, Tutu, making offerings to Osiris, from the Egyptian Book of the Dead of Ani. From the British Museum's collection.

© CM Dixon / Heritage-Images

Ancient Egyptian, Artefact, Artifact, Book Of The Dead, British Museum, Cm, Cm Dixon, Color, Colour, Country, Deity, Dixon, Egypt, Egyptian, God, Goddess, Hieroglyphic, Hieroglyphics, Location, Mike Dixon, Museum, Offering, Osiris, Papyrus Of Ani, Religion, Religious, Writing