08 | Book of the Dead of Padikhonsu

How did ancient Egyptians reach the afterlife?

A collection of spells was developed to safeguard the vital passage.

By the New Kingdom, these became part of a collection of around 200 spells known to the Egyptians as the ‘Formulae for Going Forth by Day’.

Today, we call them the ‘Book of the Dead’.

This name was given by a 19th century scholar who also numbered the sequence of these texts.

These texts were written on papyri and placed in tombs as grave gifts but can also be found written on tomb walls or on other small objects.

Placed near the body of the deceased, they would safeguard their journey to the afterlife.

This papyrus sheet was cut from a Book of the Dead roll. It was created for the priest Padikhonsu.

Looking at the right side of the sheet, we see the priest wearing a pleated kilt and a festive cone on his head.

In his right hand he carries an incense burner and, in his left, a vessel from which he pours libations.

A table in front of him is piled high with offerings of fruit, vegetables, bread, meat and lotus flowers.

The priest presents these offerings to the deity near the table who, with his falcon head and large sun-disc, can be identified as Re-Horakhty, god of the rising sun.

Re-Horakhty’s godly power has been emphasised here by the artist.

He holds the was-sceptre of authority in one hand and the ankh-sceptre of life in the other.

Notice the motif painted on his throne?

These are knotted plants, which symbolise the unity of the Two Lands of ancient Egypt, and authority over both Upper and Lower Egypt.

Definitely a throne fit for a god.

Above Re-Horakhty and the devoted priest Padikhonsu are columns of hieroglyphs that specify exactly what the figures are doing, noting that it is the ‘overseer of the temple area of Amun, PadiKhonsu’ who is offering ‘a libation for Re-Horakhty and for Atum’, another sun deity.

On the left of the sheet, the priest brings his offerings to another throned god, who wears the ‘atef’-crown and holds a crook and flail, the symbols of kingship and justice.

His skin is coloured dark green, representing fertility and rebirth, a fitting shade for the god of eternal life and king of the underworld, Osiris.

Osiris’s wife Isis stands near him crowned with a solar disc and cow horns.

The spell written above the figures confirms her importance here.

It is to be spoken by Isis to ensure that the offering ritual is carried out by Padikhonsu for Osiris, the divine king and ruler of the eternal living.

A papyrus scroll painted with hieroglyphs, gods, people, and offering tables.