The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife

by Erik Hornung

Book Overview

Ancient Egyptians held a rich and complex vision of the afterlife and codified their beliefs in books that were to be discovered more than two millennia later in royal tombs. Erik Hornung, the world's leading authority on these religious texts, surveys what is known about them today.The contents of the texts range from the collection of spells in the Book of the Dead, which was intended to offer practical assistance on the journey to the afterlife,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801485150
• ISBN13: 9780801485152
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife

How does one exactly "review" a source text? Professor Erik Hornung has translated these various "books" that the elite among the Ancient Egyptians brought with them into the afterlife in their tombs and such places into his native German. From there, a certain David Lorton has translated it into English, for all those monoglots out there who only speak the language of dreaded globalization; English. Throughout the book it is filled with wonderful drawings and photographs of the hieroglyphs of old, as well as a summary of their meaning, the story behind the particular book both back in the day and more recently, in addition to some words on how the particular piece is built up and so on. One should think this book thereby provides everything a layman can need to have in order to learn about this esoteric literature of ancient Egypt. The books centre mostly on the journey of the sun and what the deceased must do in order to achieve a good afterlife in the company of the Gods, and so on. Most of this again is centred on the journey of the sun god as he journeys through the Underworld during the dark hours of the day, i.e.; when the sun is gone from human eyes. This again is, of course, allegories and magic for how the akh and ba of the dead Egyptian shall do his journey after he has walked over the great field that divides us from the deceased. Very interesting literature, of course, but the only "flaw" with the book is naturally not the fault of the translators; rather, they have done an excellent job of editing this material. The flaw lays in the fact that the drawings themselves make no sense at all to the uninitiated, so one is left pondering if they should perhaps have focused less on the images (or given a point-by-point tour of the images) and more on the explaining. As it is now, if you don't know how to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, this makes little sense. That being said, the text itself is satisfactory, and the book is a quick read. 4 stars and recommended for those that need it, but I hope for your sake you are better at reading hieroglyphs than I sadly am.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs inturpretted

great sequence of hieroglyphs - from the oldest tombs to new - forgotten knowledge stayed forgotten - read Sitchin's collection for the Truth... man's last 1/2 million years of history...

excellent introduction to various religious Egyptian texts

Egyptologists tend to focus mostly on the Book of the Dead, ignoring lesser known texts to a large degree. Here the author offers a concise and detailed summary and explanation of other ancient Egyptian texts. Included here are the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, the Book of the Dead, the Books of Breathing, the Amduat, the Spell of the Twelve Caves, the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns, the Book of the Earth, the Book of Nut, the Book of the Day, the Book of the Night, the Litany of Re, the Book of the Heavenly Cow and the Book of Traversing Eternity. The glossary and extensive bibliography are useful. Well translated by David Lorton, illustrated in black and white, this is a recommended book for all searching for details on important Egyptian texts.

Outstanding effort

Hornung presents us with a fascinating wealth of Egyptian lore. The texts present in the book are fully translated into layman's English, and almost all portions are followed with the copies of the accompinying reliefs and frescoes. This is a magnificent work that allows the reader, whatever his background, to gain some insight into the oft-misunderstood religion of the Ancient Egypt.

Intriguing and in-depth review of Egyptian Underworld Books

Erik Hornung has done a great service in making the ancient Egyptian Books of the Underworld understandable to both the average and trained reader with an interest in ancient Egyptian religion and its texts. David Lorton's translation of Hornung's original German text is excellent,and reflects both Hornung's written German and English lecture styles in describing such concepts as the reuniting of the ba of Osiris with Ra, the development of the idea of salvation of the deceased from the ancient Egyptian context, and the movement of time in the afterlife. Hornung engages in little speculation in this work, citing solid texual or imagery bases for his statements. The book is beautifully illustrated with photographs, line drawings, and pertinent hieroglyphic texts, which makes it a useful tool for the professional in the field as well. Each set of underworld books (five sets in all) are reviewed in this work. Of the New Kingdom set, twelve such books are reviewed. Hornung structures the discussion of each book, citing their sources, research, structure and language, and content in a manner that is both informative and a pleasure to read. Like Hornung's similar German work, Tal der Könige:Die Ruhestätten der Pharaonen/Valley of the Kings, very complex concepts of Egyptian religion are carefully explained, illustrated from original texts and tomb scenes, and are discussed in the context of history and evolution of the ancient Egyptian funerary ritual. This work is destined to become an invaluable sourcebook for the understanding of Egyptian funerary beliefs, and is a valuable addition to the library of any reader in ancient Egyptian history and culture.