,formatting notes3 ,footnotes are in    
square brackets and embedded in the     
e-text at the location of the           
superscript number in                   
the original text4 ,words and phrases in
 italics are                            
surrounded with underlines4 ,everything 
that appears                    in      
all-caps in this e-text was in all-caps 
in the                    original text4
            ,,the ,,egyptian            
,,conception ,,of ,,immortality    ,the 
,ingersoll ,lecture1 #aiaa    by        
,,george ,,andrew ,,reisner             
,,the ,,ingersoll ,,lectureship         
,extract from the will of ,miss         
,caroline ,haskell ,ingersoll1 who  died
 in ,keene1 ,county of ,cheshire1 ,new  
,hampshire1 ,jan4 #bf1 #ahic4    ,first4
  ,in carrying out the wishes of my late
 beloved father1  ,george ,goldthwait   
,ingersoll1 as declared by him in his   
last will  and testament1 ,i give and   
bequeath to ,harvard ,university in     
,cambridge1 ,mass41 where my late father

 was graduated1 and which  he always    
held in love and honor1 the sum of ,five
 thousand  dollars 7#e1jjj7 as a fund   
for the establishment of a ,lectureship 
on a plan somewhat similar to that of   
the ,dudleian lecture1 that  is--one    
lecture to be delivered each year1 on   
any convenient  day between the last of 
,may and the first day of ,december1 on 
this subject1 the ,immortality of ,man1 
said lecture not to form  a part of the 
usual college course1 nor to be         
delivered by any  ,professor or ,tutor  
as part of his usual routine of         
instruction1  though any such ,professor
 or ,tutor may be appointed to such     
service4  ,the choice of said lecturer  
is not to be limited to any  one        
religious denomination1 nor to any one  
profession1 but may be  that of either  
clergyman or layman1 the appointment to 
take place  at least six months before  
the delivery of said lecture4  ,the     
above sum to be safely invested and     
three fourths of the annual  interest   

thereof to be paid to the lecturer for  
his services and  the remaining fourth  
to be expended in the publishment and   
gratuitous distribution of the lecture1 
a copy of which is always  to be        
furnished by the lecturer for such      
purpose4  ,the same  lecture to be named
 and known as the the ,ingersoll lecture
 on  the ,immortality of ,man4          
,,contents        ,i4    ,introduction  
,,ii4   ,sources of the ,material       
,,iii4  ,the ,ideas of the ,primitive   
,race    ,,iv4   ,the ,early ,dynastic  
,period    ,v4    ,the ,old ,empire     
,,vi4   ,the ,middle ,empire    ,,vii4  
,the ,new ,empire    ,,viii4 ,the       
,ptolemaic-,roman ,period    ,,ix4      
,summary          ,i4 ,,introduction    
,of the nations which have contributed  
to the direct stream of  civilization1  
,egypt and ,mesopotamia are at present  
believed to be  the oldest4  ,the       
chronological dispute as to the relative
  antiquity of the two countries is of  
minor importance2 for while  in         

,babylonia the historical material is   
almost entirely  inscriptional1 in      
,egypt we know the handicrafts1 the     
weapons1 the  arts1 and1 to a certain   
extent1 the religious beliefs of the    
race  up to a period when it was just   
emerging from the ,stone ,age4  ,in a   
word1 ,egypt presents the most ancient  
race whose manner of life  is known to  
man4  ,from the beginning of its        
history--that is1  from about #dejj     
,b4,c4--we can trace the development of 
a  religion one of whose most prominent 
elements was a promise of a  life after 
death4  ,it was still a great religion  
when the  ,christian doctrine of        
immortality was enunciated4  ,in the    
early  centuries of the ,christian era1 
it seemed almost possible that  the     
worship of ,osiris and ,isis might      
become the religion of the  classical   
world2 and the last stand made by       
civilized paganism  against             
,christianity was in the temple of ,isis
 at ,philae in the  sixth century after 

,christ4    ,it is clear that a religion
 of such duration must have offered     
some of those consolations to man that  
have marked all great  religions1 chief 
of which is the faith in a spirit1 in   
something  that preserves the           
personality of the man and does not     
perish  with the body4  ,this faith was1
 in fact1 one of the chief elements  in 
the ,egyptian religion--the element best
 known to us through  the endless       
cemeteries which fill the desert from   
one end of  ,egypt to the other1 and    
through the funerary inscriptions4      
,it is necessary1 however1 to correct   
the prevailing impression  that religion
 played the greatest part in ,egyptian  
life or even a  greater part than it    
does in ,moslem ,egypt4  ,the mistaken  
belief  that death and the well-being of
 the dead overshadowed the  existence of
 the living1 is due to the fact that the
 physical  character of the country has 
preserved for us the cemeteries and  the
 funerary temples better than all the   

other monuments4  ,the  narrow strip of 
fat black land along the ,nile produces 
generally  its three crops a year4  ,it 
is much too valuable to use as a        
cemetery4  ,but more than that1 it is   
subject to periodic  saturation with    
water during the inundation1 and is1    
therefore1  unsuitable for the burials  
of a nation which wished to preserve    
the contents of the graves4  ,on the    
other hand1 the desert1 which  bounds   
this fertile strip so closely that a    
dozen steps will  usually carry one from
 the black land to the gray1--the desert
  offers a dry preserving soil with     
absolutely no value to the  living4     
,thus all the funerary monuments were   
erected on the  desert1 and except where
 intentionally destroyed they are       
preserved to the present day4  ,the     
palaces1 the towns1 the farms1  and many
 of the great temples which were erected
 on the black  soil1 have been pulled   
down for building material or buried    
deep  under the steadily rising deposits

 of the ,nile4  ,the tombs of six       
thousand years of dead have accumulated 
on the desert edge4    ,moreover1 our   
impression of these tombs has been      
formed from the  monuments erected by   
kings1 princes1 priests1 and the great  
and  wealthy men of the kingdom4  ,the  
multitude of plain unadorned            
burial-places which the scientific      
excavator records by the  thousands have
 escaped the attention of scholars      
interested in  ,egypt from the point of 
view of a comparison of religions4  ,it 
has  also been overlooked that the      
strikingly colored mummies and the      
glaring burial apparatus of the late    
period cost very little to  prepare4    
,the manufacture of mummies was a       
regular trade in the  ,ptolemaic period 
at least4  ,mummy cases were prepared in
 advance  with blank spaces for the     
names4  ,i do not think that any more   
expense was incurred in ,egyptian       
funerals in the dynastic period  than is
 the case among the modern ,egyptians4  

,the importance of  the funerary rites  
to the living must1 therefore1 not be   
exaggerated4          ,,ii4 ,,sources   
,,of ,,the ,,material      ,with the    
exception of certain mythological       
explanations supplied  by the           
inscriptions and reliefs in the temples1
 our knowledge of  ,egyptian ideas in   
regard to the future life is based on   
funerary  customs as revealed by        
excavations and on the funerary texts   
found in the tombs4  ,these tombs always
 show the same essential  functions     
through all changes of form1--the       
protection of the  burial against decay 
and spoliation1 and the provision of a  
meeting-place where the living may bring
 offerings to the dead4                 
,correspondingly1 there are two sets of 
customs1--burial customs  and offering  
customs4  ,the texts follow the same    
division4  ,for the  offering place1 the
 texts are magical formulas which1      
properly  recited by the living1 provide
 material benefit for the dead4  ,for   

the burial place1 the texts are magical 
formulas to be used by  the spirit for  
its own benefit in the difficulties of  
the spirit  life4  ,these texts from the
 burial chambers are found in only a    
few graves1--those of the very          
great1--and their contents  show us that
 they were intended only for people     
whose earthly  position was exceptional4
    ,from the funerary customs and the  
offering texts1 a clear view is         
obtained of the general conception1 the 
ordinary practice4  ,we see  what was   
regarded as absolutely essential to the 
belief of the  common man4  ,from the   
texts found in the burial chambers we   
get  the point of view of the educated  
or powerful man1 the things  that might 
be done to gain for him an exceptional  
place in the  other world4  ,both of    
these classes of material must be       
considered1 in order to gain a true idea
 of the practical  beliefs4  ,for it    
must be emphasized from the beginning   
that we  have in ,egypt several         

apparently conflicting conceptions of   
immortality4  ,nor are we anywhere near 
obtaining in the case of  the texts the 
clearness necessary to understand fully 
all the  differing views held by the    
priestly classes during a period of     
over two thousand years4          ,,iii4
 ,,the ,,ideas ,,of ,,the ,,primitive   
,,race      ,the earliest belief in     
immortality is that which is shown to us
  by the burial customs of the primitive
 race1--the prehistoric  ,egyptian race4
    ,about #dejj ,b4,c4  we find the    
,egyptian race was just emerging from   
the ,stone ,age4  ,all the implements   
and weapons found are of flint  or other
 stone4  ,the men of that time were     
ignorant of writing1  but show a certain
 facility in line drawings of men1      
plants1 and  animals4  ,we have found   
thousands of their graves which all show
  the same idea of death4  ,each person 
was buried with implements1  weapons1   
ornaments1--no doubt those actually used
 in life1--  with a full outfit of      

household pots and pans1 and with a     
supply  of food4  ,the man was dead1 but
 he still needed the same things he     
used in ordinary life4  ,by a fortunate 
chance we have even  recovered bodies   
accidentally desiccated and preserved   
intact in  the dry soil4  ,these bodies 
do not show any trace of mutilation1    
mummification1 or any other preparation 
for the grave except  probably washing4 
,the dead body was simply laid on a mat 
in the  grave1 covered with a cloth and 
a mat or a skin1 and then with  clean   
gravel4  ,but with it was placed all    
those things which the  man might need  
if his life were to go on in some       
mysterious1  unseen way1 as life went on
 among those on earth4  ,possibly his   
relations as in later times brought     
offerings of food to the  grave1 but    
here even the dry soil of ,egypt fails  
to furnish  positive evidence4  ,all    
this shows a plain simple belief in the 
persistence of the life of a man as     
distinguished from the body  --a belief 

widely prevalent among primitive people4
  ,it contains  nothing unusual1 and is 
probably perfectly explicable           
psychologically  by means of dreams4    
,there is little or no change in this   
underlying belief to be  observed in the
 burial customs of the ,egyptians during
 the late  predynastic period4  ,copper 
weapons and implements succeed stone  in
 the graves4  ,all those objects in     
whose manufacture the new  tools are    
used show changes of technique and form4
  ,it is even  curious to note that some
 of the older stone and flint objects1  
some of the older pots and pans1 are    
still made as a matter of  tradition4   
,the importance of this is not to be    
overlooked4  ,for  centuries men had    
used flint knives and they had baked    
their  bread in flat mud saucers set in 
the ashes4  ,for the centuries  these   
flint knives and these cakes with their 
saucers had been  placed in the graves4 
,gradually metal knives and better bread
  pans displaced these more primitive   

objects in daily life2 but  the older   
primitive objects were still placed in  
the graves as a  matter of tradition4   
,it must be remembered1 of course1 that 
these traditional objects  were also in 
use in ancient traditional ceremonies on
 earth4  ,the  sacrificial animals were 
still slaughtered with flint knives4    
,the  old-style cakes were still offered
 in the holy places4  ,in other  words1 
life on earth now consisted of ordinary 
material life and  a traditional life--a
 life that clung to the forms of a more 
primitive civilization as somehow more  
effective with the divine  powers4      
,this view is closely reflected in the  
grave furniture2  here1 too1 were the   
practical objects and the traditional   
ceremonial objects4  ,life after death  
is still always the same as  life on    
earth--with the same physical needs1    
with the same need  of help from        
supernatural powers or against          
supernatural powers4  ,the spirit of the
 man needed the spirit of the copper axe

 to  swing in battle2 but just as much  
he needed the spirit of the  flint knife
 to make the first cut across the throat
 of the spirit  bull of sacrifice4      
,remember this--the other world1 in     
which  lived the spirit of the dead1 was
 filled with the spirits or  ghosts of  
all things and animals4  ,the other1 the
 unseen1 was a  duplicate of this world2
 all things which have shape were there 
--even to the black fields and the broad
 river of ,egypt4  ,this is  the        
foundation of the ,egyptian conception  
of immortality4  ,through  all the      
modifications and accretions of the     
following three  thousand years1 this   
foundation idea is always clearly       
visible4  ,all the statues1 the carved  
and painted tombs1 all the curious      
little model boats and workshops1 all   
the painted mummies1 all  the amulets1  
the scarabs1 the little funerary        
statuettes1--all  this mummery which    
seems to be so characteristic and so    
essential1 is only the means to an end1 

and an ever changing  means to secure a 
successful comfortable existence of the 
spirit  in the life after death1--in the
 ghostly duplicate of life on  earth4   
,,iv4 ,,the ,,early ,,dynastic ,,period 
,it is clear that the effort to attain  
an immortality which is  merely a       
ghostly continuation of life on earth   
must reflect the  general development of
 ,egyptian culture1--especially the     
advance in arts and crafts4  ,one of the
 most striking examples of  this fact is
 the introduction of metal working      
mentioned above  and the consequent     
placing of both flint and copper in the 
grave1  --the division of grave         
furniture into practical objects and    
ceremonial objects1 which is the        
foundation for the use of  symbolic     
objects in later times4    ,the advance 
in arts and crafts not only suggests new
 ideas of the  necessities of the       
spirit1 but it provides the necessary   
technical skill for the more effective  
satisfaction of all the  needs of the   

dead4  ,this takes1 first of all1 the   
form of  supplying a place for the      
burial1 which furnishes greater         
security to the body and a better       
communication between the  living and   
the dead4    ,from the ,first ,dynasty1 
say from #ccjj ,b4,c4 down1 as soon as  
the  ,egyptian had mastered the use of  
mud-brick and wood1 we gain the         
certainty of an idea which could only be
 guessed at in the  primitive period4   
,a place is provided above the grave at 
which  the living could meet the spirit 
of the dead with periodical  offerings  
of food and other necessities4  ,in the 
life after death1  spirit food and      
drink1 once used1 ceased to be1 just as 
in life  on earth1 and had to be renewed
 from day to day1 lest the spirit  of   
the dead suffer from hunger and thirst4 
,one of the great  developments of the  
first six dynasties looked to the       
provision  of these daily necessities4  
,the invention of writing was           
immediately utilized4  ,about the       

beginning of the ,first ,dynasty writing
 was invented for  administrative and   
other practical purposes4  ,gravestones1
 bearing  in relief the name of the     
dead1 were set up in the offering       
places of the kings and court people4   
,these were probably  reminders for use 
in some simple formula recited in       
presenting  the periodical offerings4   
,as the ,egyptians became more familiar 
with the use of writing1 the offering   
formula was written out in  full1       
enlarged and modified4    ,sculptures1  
both relief and statuary1 in every stage
 of their  development1 were used as    
magical accessories to the offering     
rites4    ,so1 also1 the whole history  
of ,egyptian architecture was  reflected
 in the tomb2 for every advance brought 
about some  change in the form or       
structure4  ,in fact1 the whole         
development  of the form of the         
,egyptian tomb depended on the          
development of  technical skill4  ,the  
same funerary functions are served      

throughout4  ,as all the great artisans 
were at the command of the  king1 all   
the great technical discoveries and     
inventions were  first made in his      
service4  ,but every permanent gain in  
knowledge  was a benefit to the race and
 utilized by the common people4  ,so1   
for example1 the skill acquired in      
stone-cutting1 during the  construction 
of the great pyramids1 was utilized a   
little later  in producing rock-cut     
tombs from one end of ,egypt to the     
other4    ,the functions of the grave   
remained the same4  ,yet with the       
changes in form resulting from the      
growth of skill1 modifications  in the  
funerary customs crept in4    ,the      
mud-brick tombs of the early part of the
 ,first ,dynasty1 like  the pre-dynastic
 graves1 had only one chamber1 limited  
in size by  the length of logs          
obtainable to form the roof4  ,the      
growing  desire for ostentation found a 
way to enlarge the tombs by  building   
them with a number of chambers4  ,the   

burial was placed in  the central       
chamber and the burial furniture in the 
additional  chambers4  ,in this way the 
separation of the furniture and the     
actual burial was brought about4        
,v4 ,,the ,,old ,,empire      ,another  
change comes in the ,fourth ,dynasty1   
and is to be noted  first in the royal  
tombs1 as is always the case4  ,the     
,egyptians  had now learned to cut stone
 and build with it4  ,the burial        
chambers hollowed in the solid rock were
 necessarily smaller than  the old      
chambers dug in the gravel and no longer
 sufficient to  contain the great mass  
of furniture gathered by a king for his 
grave4  ,on the other hand1 the chapels 
with the increase in  architectural     
skill could be build of great size4     
,corresponding  to these technical      
conditions we find a great increase in  
the  importance of the chapel4  ,it     
becomes a great temple1 whose  magazines
 were filled with all those objects     
which had formerly  been placed in the  

burial chamber and were so necessary to 
the  life of the spirit4  ,the temples  
of the third pyramid1 for  example1     
contained nearly two thousand stone     
vessels4  ,great  estates were set aside
 by will1 and the income appointed to   
the  support of certain persons who on  
their side were obliged to keep  up the 
temple1 to make the offerings and to    
recite the magical  formulas which would
 provide the spirit with all its        
necessities4    ,following closely the  
growth in importance of the royal       
chapels1  the private offering places   
assumed a greater importance4  ,the     
custom of periodic offerings and the use
 of magical texts grew  until it reached
 its highest point in the ,fifth        
,dynasty4  ,at this  time there is a    
burial chamber deep underground where   
the dead  was laid securely in ancient  
traditional attitude1 with his  clothing
 and a few personal ornaments4  ,as a   
rule1 it is only the  women1 always     
conservative1 that have anything more4  

,above this  grave1 there is a solid    
rectangular structure1 with a chapel or 
offering place on the side towards the  
valley4  ,the offering place  is always 
there1 no matter how poor or small the  
tomb4  ,but to  understand just what the
 ,egyptian thought1 we must turn to the 
better tombs4  ,the walls are of        
limestone carved with reliefs           
representing the important processes of 
daily life1--sowing1  reaping1          
cattle-herding1 hunting1 pot-making1    
weaving1--all  those actions which      
furnish the daily supplies4  ,the dead  
man is  represented overseeing all this4
  ,finally1 near the offering  niche1 he
 is represented seated1 usually with his
 wife at a table  bearing loaves of the 
traditional ta bread4  ,beside him are  
represented heaps of provisions--meat1  
cakes1 vegetables1 wine  and beer4  ,a  
list of objects is never missing1 marked
 with  numbers1--a thousand loaves of   
bread1 a thousand head of  cattle1 a    
thousand jars of wine1 a thousand       

garments1 and so on4  ,we know from     
latter inscriptions that these words1   
properly  recited1 created for the      
spirit a store of spirit objects in     
equal numbers4  ,below the niche is an  
altar for receiving actual  offerings of
 food and drink4  ,it is clear that the 
living1 coming  to this offering place  
with or without material offerings1     
could1  by proper recitation1 secure to 
the spirit of the dead all its  daily   
needs4  ,this offering niche is the door
 of the other world  --symbolically and 
actually4  ,in many graves the niche is 
carved  to represent a door--sometimes  
opening in1 and sometimes  opening out4 
,moreover1 in several cases the figure  
of the dead is  carved half emerging    
from the opening door--a figure in all  
ways like the figure of the dead as he  
is represented in the  scenes from life4
  ,beyond this door lives the spirit of 
the dead4    ,in many offering chambers 
there is a small hole in the wall1      
either in the offering niche or in      

another place4  ,if this hole be        
properly lighted and the space beyond   
has not been changed by  decay or       
violation1 the light falls on the face  
of a statue of  the dead looking forth  
to the world of the living4  ,for behind
 the  wall is another chamber1 closed   
except for this small hole4  ,this      
hidden chamber contains statues of the  
dead often accompanied by  statues of   
his family and his servants4  ,these    
statues of the dead  are labeled with   
his name1 and are said to be the abode  
of his  spirit1 his ka1 as the          
,egyptians called it4  ,moreover1 all   
the  offering formulas named the ka as  
the recipient of the food and  drink4   
,the duplicate spirit of the man is his 
ka4  ,in these  statues we have1 then1 a
 simulacrum of the man provided for use 
of his ka--perhaps to assist the ka to  
the persistence of  his earthly form1   
and to the remembrance of his name4     
,but what  were the uses of the         
subsidiary statues8  ,what spirit       

resided in  them8  ,the man's son in his
 turn died1 and a similar room was made 
for him with his statue and his         
subsidiary statues4  ,did his ka  live  
both in the statue placed with his      
father's statue and also  in the statue 
in his own grave8  ,we have no answer4  
,probably the  ,egyptian mind never     
formulated the difficulty4    ,but the  
new idea is clearly expressed4  ,it is  
no longer necessary  to fill the burial 
chamber with a mass of household        
furniture for  the use of the dead4     
,all these things can be carved on the  
wall  of the burial chamber and so made 
effective for his use4  ,it was  in any 
case necessary to supply his food by    
means of the  offerings1 and it was     
quite as easy to supply all his other   
necessities in the same way4  ,in other 
words1 there is a distinct  growth in   
the use of magic to benefit the dead4   
,at the same time1  we find the growth  
of the custom of supplying a special    
abode for  the ka--a simulacrum of the  

man1 which assisted the ka to  retain   
the form of the living man and to       
remember his identity4    ,the tendency 
of this period is then to place a       
greater dependence  on magic than on    
food1 drink1 and grave furniture4  ,it  
is1  therefore1 not surprising to find  
introduced1 for the first time1  the use
 of magical texts in the burial         
chamber1--the so-called  ,pyramid       
,texts4  ,in the burial chamber in the  
pyramid of ,unas1 last  king of the     
,fifth ,dynasty1 and in the pyramids of 
the kings of  the ,sixth ,dynasty1 the  
walls are covered with long magical     
texts  or chapters--the oldest form of  
the so-called book of the dead  or book 
of the going forth by day4 ,the texts   
were probably  somewhat older1 but are  
now used for the first time in this     
manner1 no doubt owing to the increased 
facility in carving  stone4  ,in these  
the various powers of the other world   
are invoked  by the incidents of the    
,osiris-,isis legend1 to preserve the   

dead  body1 to feed the ka1 and to      
assist the other spirit1 the ba1  in its
 struggles with supernatural powers4    
,the pyramid texts introduce us to three
 important ideas1--7#a7 a  curious      
plurality of the spirit existence1 7#b7 
a condition of  immortality better than 
that of the old underworld or ,earu1 and
  7#c7 most important of all1 the       
identification of the king with  ,osiris
 according to the terms of the          
,osiris-,isis legend4    ,in all the    
older offering formulas it is only the  
ka spirit  which is mentioned4  ,here is
 the body perishable and destructible2  
here is the life1 the ka which fills    
every limb and vessel of  the body and  
must1 therefore1 have the same form4    
,when death  comes1 the ka spirit1 the  
image of the man1 remains near the      
body1 and this spirit it was which was  
the object of the rites  and offerings  
in the funerary chapel4  ,but besides   
this ka1 it  appears for the first time 
that the king at any rate possesses     

also a soul called a ba4  ,in later     
times we see that every man  possessed a
 ba1 and we learn that each god         
possessed several  ba's4  ,but it is in 
the pyramid texts that we learn for the 
first time of the ba of a man1 and that 
man is a king4  ,when  death comes1 the 
ba takes flight in the form of a bird or
  whatever form it wills4  ,all seems   
confused4  ,the ka was near the  body1  
the ka was in the field of ,earu1 under 
the earth  ploughing and sowing2 the ba 
is fluttering on the branches of  the   
tree on earth1 the ba has fled like a   
falcon to the  heavens1 and has been set
 as a star among the stars4  ,the dead  
king lives with the gods and is fed by  
them4  ,the goddesses give  him the     
breast4  ,he lives in the ,island of    
,food4  ,he lives in ,earu1  the        
,underworld1 a land like ,egypt1 with   
fields and canals and  flood and        
harvest4  ,he shares with the gods in   
the offerings made  in the great temples
 on earth4    ,it is quite clear that   

all this is an expression of            
dissatisfaction with the old belief in  
the simple duplicate  world1 the world  
of ,earu under the earth4  ,it is       
noteworthy that  this first appears in  
royal tombs4  ,these texts are written  
for  kings alone4  ,it is only many     
centuries later that the texts of  the  
book of the dead showed similar         
possibilities open to the  common man4  
,this is the usual course of all        
advances in ,egypt1--  architecture1    
sculpture1 writing1 whatever gain in    
skill or  knowledge there is1 appears   
first in the service of the royal       
family4  ,thus1 even in the conception  
of immortality1 the new  ideas1 the     
better immortality was first thought out
 for the  benefit of the king4  ,the    
basis for this lay simply in the life on
  earth4  ,the king had come early to   
have a sort of divinity  ascribed to    
him4  ,his chief name was the ,horus    
name4  ,menes was the  ,horus ,aha2     
,cheops was the ,horus ,mejeru2 ,pepy   

,,ii was the ,horus  ,netery-khau4  ,but
 he was also the son of ,ra1 the        
sun-god1 endued  with life forever4     
,the king was a god1 and it could only  
be that  in his future life he shared   
the life of the gods4  ,thus1 all is  no
 more confused or mysterious than is the
 conception of the life  of the gods    
themselves4    ,but the texts go even   
further than this and identify the dead 
god-man1 who as ,horus was king on      
earth1 with the father of  ,horus1 the  
dead god of the earth1 ,osiris4  ,this  
identification of  the dead man with the
 dead god ,osiris was later enlarged to 
include all men1 and became in the      
,ptolemaic period the most              
characteristic feature of the ,egyptian 
conception of life after  death4    ,the
 ,osiris story as it can be pieced      
together from the pyramid  texts ,see   
,a4 ,erman3 ,die ,aegyptische ,religion1
 p4 #ch ff4 was  briefly thus3 ,keb1 the
 earth-god1 and ,nut1 the goddess of the
  sky1 had four children1--,osiris and  

,isis1 ,seth and ,nephthys1--  who were 
thus paired in marriage4  ,keb gave     
,osiris his dominion1  the earth1 and   
made him the god of the earth1 and he   
ruled justly  and powerfully4  ,seth1   
his brother1 was jealous1 and by        
treachery  enticed ,osiris into a box1  
which he closed and threw into the      
water4  ,isis sought for the body of her
 husband until she found it1  and ,isis 
and ,nephthys1 her sister1 sat at his   
head and feet and  bewailed him4  ,re1  
the greatest of the gods1 heard ,isis's 
complaint2 his heart was touched1 and he
 sent ,anubis to bury  ,osiris4  ,anubis
 re-joined his separated bones1 bound   
him with  cloths1 and prepared him for  
burial1--that is1 mummified him4  ,this 
is the form in which ,osiris is         
represented1--as a mummy4  ,isis then   
fanned her wings1 and the air from her  
wings caused the  mummy to live4  ,his  
life on earth1 however1 was over1 could 
not be  recalled1 so that his new life  
could only be passed in the other       

world1 the world of the dead4  ,here    
,osiris became king1 as he had  been    
king on earth4  ,but ,isis conceived    
from the dead-living  ,osiris1 bore a   
child in secret1 and suckled him1 hidden
 in a  swamp4  ,when the child1 the     
sun-god ,horus1 grew up1 he fought      
against ,seth to recover his father's   
kingdom1 and to avenge his  death4      
,both gods were injured in the fight4   
,horus lost an eye4  ,but ,thoth        
intervened1 separated the fighters1 and 
healed their  wounds4  ,thoth spat upon 
the eye of ,horus and it became whole4  
,horus1 however1 gave his eye to ,osiris
 to eat1 and thereby ,osiris  became    
endowed with life1 soul1 and power 7i4e4
 in the underworld74  ,but ,seth        
disputed the legitimacy of the birth of 
,horus1 and the  great gods held a court
 in the house of ,keb4  ,in this court1 
justice was done1 the truth of ,horus's 
claims was established1  and he was     
placed on the throne of his father4     
,osiris became  the ruler in the land of

 the dead1 ,horus in the land of the    
living4    ,the kernel of the story     
appears to be this3 ,osiris is the god  
of  the earth1 and his life is the life 
of the vegetation1 dying and  reviving  
with the course of the seasons1 mourned 
by his wife ,isis  and succeeded by his 
son ,horus1 the sun-god4  ,it is        
apparently a  form of the common ,tammuz
 or ,adonis story of the ,semites4      
,this  fact brings with it a suggestion 
which requires consideration4    ,the   
racial connection of the ,egyptians may 
seem to have little to  do with         
immortality4  ,but ,i beg a moment's    
consideration4  ,the two  great         
dominating ideas of immortality are     
those held by the  ,christians and by   
the ,mohammedans1 and these are         
essentially the  same idea4  ,both these
 religions are creations of the ,semitic
  race4  ,it is1 therefore1 decidedly of
 importance to find that the  ,egyptian 
race1 the creator of a third great      
religion1 has also a  large ,semitic    

strain4  ,in fact1 the investigations of
 the last ten  years appear to show that
 this ,semitic strain it was which gave 
the ,egyptian race its creative power   
and made possible the  development of   
the ,egyptian civilization4    ,the     
,egyptian language furnishes us with    
indisputable proof of the  ,semitic     
affinity1 as ,professor ,adolf ,erman   
showed years ago4  ,the  anatomical     
examination by ,professor ,elliot ,smith
 of a large  number of skeletons1 dated 
by careful excavations1 has given us a  
further clue4  ,there is a prehistoric  
race found in the earliest              
cemeteries--neither ,negroid nor        
,asiatic in characteristics4  ,in  the  
late predynastic and the early dynastic 
periods1 when the  great development    
began1 this primitive race had become   
modified  by an infiltration of         
broad-headed people from the north4  ,in
 the  ,old ,empire1 this broad-headed   
people had become predominant1 and      
remain so throughout all ,lower and     

,middle ,egypt until the present  day4  
,this intruding race1 whose advent marks
 the beginning of  ,egyptian            
civilization1 ,i believe to have been   
,semitic4    ,remember this--the texts  
show clearly older ideas in conflict    
with the ,osiris belief4  ,the primitive
 race was not1 ,i believe1 a  race of   
,osiris followers4  ,professor ,erman   
has stated that the  ,osiris belief is  
as early as #dbjj ,b4,c4  ,that ,i am   
certain is  absolutely untenable4  ,it  
is a question of ,egyptian chronology in
  which ,i beg to differ radically both 
from ,eduard ,meyer and  ,professor     
,erman4  ,in the formal calendar year of
 three hundred and  sixty-five days1    
there are twelve months of thirty days  
and five  intercalary days4  ,these     
intercalary days are called the         
birthdays  of ,osiris1 ,horus1 ,seth1   
,isis1 and ,nephthys--the five most     
important figures in the ,osiris myth4  
,according to ,professor  ,meyer and    
,professor ,erman1 this formal calendar 

was introduced in  #dbjj ,b4,c41 one of 
the occasions when the heliacal rising  
of the  star ,sothis fell on the first  
of the month ,thoth of the calendar4    
,however1 if we accept with them the    
date #ccjj ,b4,c4 as the date of  the   
,first dynasty1 then in #dbjj ,b4,c4 the
 ,egyptians were just  emerging from a  
neolithic state4  ,they were culturally 
incapable  of making a formal calendar  
and could have no possible use for  one4
  ,either the calendar did not originate
 in ,egypt1 or it was  introduced in    
#bghj ,b4,c41 when again the heliacal   
rising ,sothis  fell on the first of    
,thoth4  ,at this time the ,osiris story
 was  dominant1 in the religion4  ,we   
have a race almost certainly  ,semitic1 
fusing the primitive race during the    
period #cejj-cjjj1  and a few centuries 
later we have a new religious idea      
dominating  the fused race4  ,when we   
examine this new idea1 the ,osiris      
belief1  we find its earliest form      
nothing more nor less than the common   

tammuz or ,adonis story of the ,semites4
  ,the conclusion lies very  near at    
hand1 that the ,osiris story is in fact 
the ,tammuz story1  brought into ,egypt 
by the earliest ,semitic tribes4  ,in   
any case it  was a race with a large    
,semitic mixture which utilized this    
story  in working out a theory of       
immortality2 and in all probability we  
have in the ,osiris-,isis religion a    
third great religion due to  the        
,semitic race4    ,however this may be1 
it is clear that the craving of the king
 for  a special immortality1 for an     
exalted future life1 found its          
justification through the ,osiris-,isis 
myth4  ,horus was the  successor of     
,osiris as lord of the earth and the    
living4  ,the  kings of ,egypt were the 
successors of ,horus4  ,the chief name  
of  the king was his ,horus name2 ,menes
 was the ,horus ,aha1 ,cheops the       
,horus ,mejeru4  ,when the king died1 he
 became ,osiris1 and passed to  the     
kingdom of ,osiris4  ,he passed through 

the underworld with the  sun-god1 abode 
there as ,osiris1 the god-king1 or sped 
to the  heavens to the celestial gods4  
,thus comes the entering wedge  of a    
great change in the conception of       
immortality--an ordinary  immortality   
for the common man1 a special divine    
immortality  for the divine man1 the    
king4  ,it appears probable that the    
deification of the king and the         
assumption of a divine immortality  for 
him was prior in time to the statement  
of these beliefs in  the terms of the   
,osiris story4  ,even at this early age1
 it  was1 of course1 clearly stated that
 the king must be righteous1  morally   
satisfactory in the eyes of the world   
and of the gods4  ,the gods1 as always1 
were on the side of the moral code1 and 
especially on the side of the organized 
religion4  ,it is  perhaps significant  
that the chief sins of the kings of the 
,fourth dynasty1 so execrated by the    
,egyptian priests in the  ,ptolemaic    
period1 were sins against the great     

gods4  ,the other  charges are for the  
most part plainly slanders4  ,in        
practice every  king whose family       
remained in power was justified before  
gods and  men1 and took his place among 
the gods in the islands of the  blessed 
in the northern part of the heavens4    
,the dead body was laid in the grave1   
supplied with all these  magic texts    
which were to restore and revive the    
soul and guide  it across waters and    
through dangers to the place of ,osiris4
  ,but  the chapel was not wanting1 the 
cult of the ka was maintained1  the     
statues were placed in the hidden room1 
the food and drink  were brought daily  
to the door of the grave4  ,thus1 while 
a  special immortality was evolved for  
the king1 the funeral customs  continue 
to show the same service of the ka as in
 the earlier  period4    ,in the ,sixth 
,dynasty1 there is a return to the older
 practice of  placing objects in the    
grave itself4  ,at present we are unable
 to  point out the reasons for this4    

,possibly experience had taught  men    
that endowments and craved walls left to
 the care of  descendants were insecure 
supports for a life after death which   
was to last forever4  ,at any rate1 the 
custom arose of making  small models in 
wood or stone or metal of those scenes  
and  objects which were carved in relief
 on the walls of the chapel1  --models  
of houses1 granaries1 of kitchens1 of   
brickyards2  models of herds and        
servants and soldiers2 models of boats  
and  ships2 models of dance-halls with  
the man seated drinking wine1  around   
him musicians1 before him dancing girls2
 models of swords1  of vessels1 of      
implements4  ,poorer people must be     
contented with  poorer things1 down to  
the peasant who is buried with the few  
little necessary pots and pans of his   
daily life4  ,but always1 in  every     
grave1 the chapel1 small or great1 is   
there4  ,the endowment  of funerary     
priests continues4  ,every man1 ,i      
suppose1 however  poor1 had some one to 

make at least one offering at his grave4
  ,and so it was down to the ,new       
,empire4          ,,vi4 ,,the ,,middle  
,,empire      ,during the ,middle       
,empire1 the burial and offering customs
 show  the persistence of the old belief
 in life after death as on  earth4      
,pots1 vessels1 tools1 weapons1         
ornaments1 clothing1 and  models of     
scenes from life1 continue to be placed 
in the burial  chamber4  ,the walls of  
the offering chambers of the nobles1 at 
this time cut in the rock1 still bear   
representations from life  carved in    
relief4  ,the symbolical doors and the  
offering formulas  still mark the spot  
where the dead receive the necessities  
of  life from the living4  ,all graves  
of every class testify to the  faith in 
a life after death similar to life on   
earth4  ,yet certain  modifications are 
apparent which are significant for the  
future  development of the conception of
 immortality3 7#a7 the pyramid  texts   
are used by the provincial nobles for   

their own benefit2  7#b7 ,abydos assumes
 a great importance as the burial place 
of  ,osiris2 7#c7 the swathed mummy     
comes into general use in burials4      
,the first identification of the king   
with ,osiris in the pyramid  texts marks
 the conception of a better immortality 
for him4  ,so1  as the possibility of a 
better immortality was claimed by wider 
and wider circles of men1 the use of the
 pyramid texts1 or  similar texts1 also 
became wider4  ,in the ,middle ,empire1 
texts  practically identical with the   
pyramid texts1 but furnished with       
illustrations somewhat like those of the
 later books of the dead1  are found in 
the coffins of provincial nobles4       
,the power of the monarchy had been     
weakening during the ,fifth and  ,sixth 
,dynasties1 partly owing to the         
dissipation of national  resources by   
royal extravagance1 partly owing to     
other causes4  ,after the ,sixth        
,dynasty1 the country was clearly in a  
period of  economic depression2 and the 

government was broken up into a  series 
of nearly independent baronies          
corresponding roughly to  the later     
division into provinces or nomes4  ,our 
material is  scanty4  ,the tombs of very
 few great men have been found4  ,but   
when  in the ,twelfth ,dynasty an       
abundance of material is at hand1 we    
see1 alongside the old forms of the     
burial customs1 the use of  the pyramid 
texts on the inside walls of the coffins
 of the great  man4  ,it was now        
possible for the ba of the great landed 
noble  to seek refuge with the gods in  
the northwest heavens and share  their  
life4    ,the increasing importance of  
,abydos as the burial place of ,osiris  
is of still greater significance4  ,the 
tomb of a king of the ,first  ,dynasty  
was identified by the priests as the    
actual burial place  of ,osiris4  ,many 
great people made graves for themselves 
in the  same field2 or1 if they lived at
 a distance1 built empty  cenotaphs     
there4  ,a great temple of ,osiris stood

 near by1 and  became the centre of the 
celebration of mysteries illustrating   
the death and revival of ,osiris4       
,fortunately1 a certain high  official  
named ,i-kher-nofret has left us an     
account of the ,osiris  passion-play as 
performed under his oversight in the    
nineteenth  year of ,sesostris ,,iii1   
nearly two thousand years before ,christ
  ,see ,schafer's article1 ,die         
,osiris-mysterien1 in ,sethe's          
,untersuchungen zur ,geshichte          
,aegyptens1 ,,iv1 #b1 pp #a-db44  ,the  
play began by the procession of the     
statue of the jackal-god  ,wep-wawet    
7the road-opener7 going forth to help   
his father  ,osiris4  ,then the statue  
of ,osiris himself in the ,neshemet boat
  came forth as triumphant king of the  
earth4  ,sham battles took  place       
referring to the conquest of the earth  
by ,osiris4  ,these  processions were   
only introductory4  ,the principal      
procession took  place on the following 
day 7or days71 when ,osiris went forth  

to  his death at ,nedit4  ,the actual   
death scene certainly took place  in    
secret4  ,but when the dead body was    
found1 the multitude joined  in the     
wailing and the lamentations4  ,the god 
,thoth went forth in  a boat and brought
 back the body of ,osiris4  ,the body   
was prepared  for burial and taken in   
funeral procession to the grave at      
,peker4  ,osiris was avenged on his     
enemies in a great battle on the water  
at ,nedit4  ,finally1 the god1 his life 
revived1 comes from ,peker in           
triumphant procession and enters his    
temple at ,abydos4    ,osiris mysteries 
were celebrated at other places1 at     
least in  later times and perhaps even  
in the ,middle ,empire2 but it is not   
easy to discern the part these mysteries
 played in the ,middle  ,empire in the  
beliefs of the common people regarding  
their  immortality4  ,the ,osiris story 
was one of the most widespread in       
,egypt1 and1 powerful in its effect on  
the feelings of all  classes1 was       

certain1 sooner or later1 to prepare the
 way for a  general belief in a better  
immortality2 but if we may judge from   
the burial customs1 the great mass of   
the people still believed  merely in an 
underworld1 ,earu1 a duplicate of the   
earthly life1  but with greater         
possibilities of danger and evil4       
,during the course of ,egyptian history 
the position in which the  body is      
buried undergoes a series of remarkable 
changes4  ,during  the early            
pre-dynastic period1 the body1 loosely  
enfolded in  cloths and skins1 is laid  
in the grave double up on the left      
side1 usually with the head south 7i4e4 
upstream74  ,this  position becomes the 
custom1 with very few exceptions1 during
 the  late predynastic period and the   
first three dynasties4  ,throughout  the
 ,fourth to ,sixth ,dynasties1 the body 
was in the same position1  but with the 
head north1 loosely covered with shawls 
and  garments4  ,the crouching position1
 with some slight modifications1        

continues to be used for the poorest    
class down to the ,new  ,empire4 ,among 
the ,nubians1 it is universal to the    
,new ,empire and  customary even later  
in unmixed ,nubian communities4  ,the   
swathed  extended burials begin in      
,egypt in the ,fourth ,dynasty1 so far  
as  remains are preserved4  ,some       
members of the royal family of ,cheops  
were buried in swathed wrapping1 lying  
extended on the left side  with the     
knees bent4  ,during the ,fifth and     
,sixth ,dynasties this  extended        
position on the side becomes customary  
for the better  classes2 and during the 
,middle ,empire it becomes almost       
universal4    ,the final burial         
position1 the swathed mummy lying       
extended on  the back1 does not become  
general until the ,new ,empire1 about   
#afjj ,b4,c4 although it is the position
 hitherto regarded as the               
characteristic ,egyptian burial         
position4  ,a few isolated cases1  some 
of them perhaps accidental1 occur as    

early as the ,old  ,empire2 but in the  
,new ,empire the extended burial on the 
back is  practically the only one to be 
observed4  ,in other words1  beginning  
in the predynastic period with a burial 
position which  may be called natural   
and primitive1 the ,egyptian gradually  
adopted a position which imitated the   
form of the dead ,osiris1  the god of   
the dead4  ,each new change is first    
adopted by the  royal family1 and is    
taken up by the other classes in turn   
until  it becomes universal4  ,in the   
final form1 the mummy was a  simulacrum 
of the dead as ,osiris4    ,alongside   
these changes in the burial position    
progressed the art  of preserving the   
body4  ,the earliest attempts were made 
on the  body of the king2 and the       
knowledge of embalming gained in        
preserving his body was gradually       
utilized for the higher classes  and    
finally for all but the poorest4  ,it   
seems indisputable that  the royal      
personages of the ,fourth and ,sixth    

,dynasties were  mummified--i4e41 the   
entrails were drawn1 the body prepared  
with spices and resins and wrapped      
tightly in cloths smeared with  resin4  
,but the mummies of the nobles1 even of 
this period1 show  no trace of such     
treatment4  ,the receptacles for the    
viscera are  sometimes found in their   
graves in the ,sixth ,dynasty1 but are1 
as  a rule1 empty1 being mere dummy     
vases4  ,even in the ,middle ,empire1   
the preservation of the bodies of the   
better classes was  extremely imperfect4
  ,the bundles of wrappings have kept   
their  form to the present day and it   
seems as if the mummy were still        
intact2 but an examination of the       
interior shows only loose  bones4       
,successful mummification appears among 
better-class people  in the ,new ,empire
 for the first time and becomes a       
general custom  in the ,late ,period4   
,the processes of successful            
mummification  necessitated the         
practical destruction of the body4      

,in the ,middle ,empire1 which is the   
period under discussion1 the  process of
 mummification had reached a middle     
stage1 and1 while  we are unable to     
explain exactly the causal relationship1
 it is  clear that this advance in the  
treatment of the body accompanied  a    
spread of the belief in the ,osirian    
immortality4          ,,vii4 ,,the ,,new
 ,,empire      ,the ,new ,empire        
7#afjj-abjj ,b4,c47 was the great period
 of foreign  conquest4  ,the ,hyksos1   
,asiatic invaders1 had held ,egypt for a
  century or more4  ,the ,theban princes
 who drove them out became  kings of    
,egypt1 and followed them into ,asia4   
,with an army trained  in war by the    
long struggle with the ,hyksos1 the     
,egyptian kings1  having tasted the     
sweetness of the spoils of war1 entered 
on the  conquest of western ,asia and   
the ,sudan4  ,the plunder of both these 
regions poured into ,egypt4  ,under     
,thothmes ,,iii an annual campaign  was 
conducted into ,syria to bring back the 

spoils and the  tribute4  ,foreign      
slaves and the products of foreign      
handicraft  were for sale in every      
market-place4  ,the treasury was filled 
to  overflowing4  ,a large share was    
assigned to ,amon1 the god of the       
,theban family4  ,temples were built for
 him2 estates established  for the      
maintenance of his rites2 thousands of  
priests enrolled  for the service of his
 properties4  ,the god became1 in a     
material  sense1 the greatest god of    
,egypt1 the national god2 and his       
priesthood became the most powerful     
organization in the kingdom4  ,the high 
priest of ,amon usurped the power of the
 king and finally  supplanted him4      
,such was the period in which the next  
great  development of the ,egyptian idea
 of immortality is to be noted--  a     
period of priestly activity in the      
beginning and of priestly  domination in
 the end4    ,the priests are the       
scribes1 the men of learning4  ,they    
have the  lore of all magic1 medicine1  

rules of conduct1 religious rites4  ,it 
is not mere chance1 therefore1 that the 
,new ,empire was marked  by a great     
increase of magic in all its            
forms--texts and  symbolic objects--and 
by a great development in the knowledge 
of the other world4  ,in some of the    
texts the geography of the  underworld1 
in which ,osiris is king1 is worked out 
in great  detail4  ,when the sun sets in
 the west1 ,ra in his boat enters the   
underworld and passes through it during 
the twelve hours of the  night1 bringing
 light and happiness to those who are in
 the  underworld4  ,in the effort to    
secure the tomb against plundering1  the
 royal graves had been cut in the solid 
rock1--long and  complicated passages   
with false leads and deceptive turns and
 the  burial chamber in an unexpected   
place4  ,the long walls of these  rooms 
presented a great surface suitable to   
decoration1 and they  were utilized to  
depict scenes from the underworld and   
the  passage of ,ra through it1 so that 

the tombs became in fact                
representations of the land of the dead1
 and were so considered4  ,these royal  
tombs were at a distance from the       
cultivated land1  hidden in valleys in  
the desert4  ,their funerary temples    
were  built on the edge of the desert   
beside the temples of the gods of  the  
place4    ,such fantastical             
reconstructions of the other world1     
however1  never found general favor and 
are confined to a few royal tombs4  ,the
 priests and other prominent people have
 rolls of papyrus  buried with them1    
bearing copies of books of the dead4    
,these  books of the dead are made up of
 a series of chapters1 each  complete in
 itself and each dealing with some phase
 of the future  life4  ,there is no set 
order of chapters4  ,there is no fixed  
number  of chapters4  ,each scribe seems
 to have selected the chapters  which he
 considered useful4  ,the general title 
is3 ,chapters of the  going forth by    
day4  ,the general character may be     

given by a  paragraph attached to one of
 the chapters in the ,book of ,ani the  
,scribe ,edited by ,e4 ,a4 ,w4 ,budge1  
p4 #bf3 ,if this book be known  on earth
 and written on the coffin1 it is my    
mouth4  ,he shall come  forth by day in 
any form he desires and he shall go into
 his  place without being prevented4    
,there shall be given to him bread  and 
beer and meat upon the altar of ,osiris4
  ,he shall enter in1 in  peace1 to the 
field of ,earu according to this decree 
of the one  who is in the ,city of      
,dedu4  ,there shall be given to him    
wheat and  barley there4  ,he shall     
flourish as he did upon earth4  ,he     
shall do  his desires like these nine   
,gods who are in the underworld1 as     
found true millions of times4  ,he is   
the ,osiris3 the ,scribe ,ani4    ,there
 are chapters to overcome all the evil  
which a soul may  encounter2 there are  
words to greet all the gods whom the    
soul  desires to visit4  ,the ,scribe   
,ani had an exceptional position on     

earth2 he desires to do his desire in   
the other world2 and in the  names of   
,osiris he recites the magic words that 
bring him the  power4  ,he is ,ani1 but 
he calls himself ,osiris2 just as the   
priestly doctor mixes his dose of       
medicine and calls it the eye  of ,horus
 tested and found true4    ,in addition 
to magical texts1 there are also        
magical1 or  symbolic1 objects placed in
 the graves1--amulets of various  kinds 
which were to be used in the other      
world4  ,some of these  were simply the 
amulets used in daily life to guard     
against  sickness1 bite of snake1 and   
other earthly evils which were also     
incident to the life after death4       
,other amulets1 like the  so-called     
,ushabtiu1 were to meet special         
conditions of the  other world4  ,these 
,ushabtiu1 or answerers1 were little    
images  of workmen bearing agricultural 
implements whose duty it was to  take   
the place of the dead in the fields of  
,earu when ,osiris as  king called him  

to do his share of the field work4      
,even the king  appears liable to this  
service1 and for him thousands of these 
figures were made1--sometimes labeled   
each with the day of the  year4  ,in a  
few cases there was even a charm written
 on the figure  to prevent it hearing   
the command of any one but its master4  
,alongside these manifold manifestations
 of the belief in magic1  other         
furniture--implements1 weapons1 and     
utensils--are still  placed in the      
grave4  ,the offering places are still  
maintained4  ,all burials are now       
extended on the back and wrapped in     
bandages4  ,yet the common graves lack  
the receptacles for the viscera1 lack   
magical texts1 lack ushabtiu1 and--in a 
word--lack all those  things which are  
typical of the better-class graves of   
the  period4  ,the conception of the    
future life among the common people  is 
apparently not essentially different    
from that of the ,old  ,empire4  ,but   
the books of the dead and the offering  

formulas show  that the priests and high
 officials at death were called ,osiris4
    ,by the end of the ,late ,period the
 ,osiris cult of the dead had  come to  
be universal4  ,no doubt political      
events had much to do  with this4  ,the 
absorption of the powers of the king by 
the  priesthood of the national god     
,amon-,ra1 the crushing of the  nobility
 by a succession of foreign invaders1   
and the general  uncertainty of life1   
had disturbed the old fixed relations4  
,the  hope of every ,egyptian turned to 
a glorified future life as  ,osiris4    
,the tendency to use magical texts and  
symbolic objects reached  its height4   
,about #gjj ,b4,c4 a revival of national
 life1 brought  about by the            
establishment of the ,egyptian kings of 
,sais as kings  of ,egypt1 led to a     
renaissance of ,egyptian art4  ,the old 
monuments  were copied and imitated1 the
 old funerary texts and offering        
formulas were sought out in the older   
graves4  ,even the pyramid  texts       

reappear after one thousand years of    
practical oblivion4  ,the value of      
master words was so firmly fixed in the 
,egyptian  mind that misunderstood texts
 of all sorts were copied out and       
placed in the graves to secure to the   
dead some vague benefit in  the other   
world4    ,the process of mummification 
was at its height4  ,the bodies were  no
 longer preserved4  ,the process was    
merely the creation of a  simulacrum of 
the dead ,osiris ,so-and-,so4  ,all the 
perishable parts  of the body were      
removed or destroyed by chemicals4      
,only the  skin1 bones1 hair1 and teeth 
remained to be padded with mud and      
resin1 wrapped in cloths1 covered with a
 painted and gilded  cartonnage to      
represent the glorified ,osiris mummy4  
,,viii4 ,,the ,,ptolemaic-,,roman       
,,period      ,in the ,ptolemaic-,roman 
period we see the final stage of the    
,osiris cult4  ,every dead man is laid  
in his grave without  furniture1        
prepared as a simulacrum of ,osiris4    

,the wealthiest  people have gilded and 
painted mummy cases with amulets and    
funerary papyrus4  ,the poorer are      
merely bundles of wrappings4  ,every    
dead man is ,osiris1 and no doubt       
carried with him words  learned on earth
 to gain his way to a place in the      
kingdom of  ,osiris4  ,the offering     
places above the grave are still made   
and  offerings are still brought4    ,to
 gain some idea of the way in which     
these two conceptions of  the living    
dead were worked out in actual life1 one
 has only to  turn to the funerary      
customs of the modern ,egyptians4  ,in  
the case  of both ,christians and       
,moslems1 the grave rites are similar2  
but  with those of the ,moslems ,i am   
more familiar4  ,the grave consists     
still of the two parts1 the burying     
place and the offering place4  ,the     
swathed body is laid on the right side1 
with the right hand  under the cheek and
 the face towards ,mecca4  ,at the      
burial the  confession of the faith is  

recited over and over1 lest the dead    
forget it4    ,korans are sometimes     
placed in the graves2 and ,i have even  
seen a  confession of the faith written 
on paper and placed on a twig  before   
the face of the dead4  ,at the appointed
 seasons--  especially at the great     
,feast of ,sacrifice--offerings are     
brought to the grave4  ,the family party
 passes through the  cemetery1 the women
 bearing baskets of bread and bottles of
  water1 the men turning the head to the
 right and to the left and  reciting the
 fatha in propitiation of the spirits4  
,the party  enters the offering         
inclosure of the grave of their         
relative4  ,the  wives greet the        
dead--,peace unto thee1 oh1 my husband1 
oh1 my  father1 we have wept until we   
have watered the earth with our  tears  
on thy account4 ,the offerings are laid 
before the tomb4  ,a  scribe is called  
and recites or reads some chapter of the
 ,koran  over and over1 one hundred1 one
 hundred and fifty1 five hundred1  one  

thousand times1 and concludes3 ,i have  
read this for thee1  oh1 such and such a
 one4 ,or1 ,i have transferred the merit
 of  this to thee4 ,when you question   
these people as to the  particulars of  
their belief1 you find their ideas vague
 and  indefinite4  ,among the men a     
dispute quickly starts1--the people  who
 have been found good by the examining  
angels on the night of  the burial are  
there1 but the bad are somewhere else4  
,no1 says  another1 they are all in     
their graves1 but the bad suffer        
torment4  ,still another maintains that 
the good have already  passed to the    
lowest heaven4  ,these are all mere     
remnants of  theological discussions    
caught from the sheikhs4  ,the women    
stolidly maintain that the dead are in  
their tombs and the  offerings must be  
brought4  ,when you inquire which are   
the good  and which are the bad1 there  
is again a great divergence of  opinion2
 but it is clear that every man believes
 in his heart  that a knowledge of the  

prayers and forms of the ,moslem        
religion  is absolutely essential and   
entirely sufficient to gain a  desirable
 future life4  ,the great master word is
 the confession of  faith--there is no  
god but ,allah and ,mohammed is his     
prophet4    ,so it must have been in the
 last stage of the ,osiris cult4        
,immortality1 a glorified future        
existence as an ,osiris in the  kingdom 
of ,osiris1 with all the pleasures and  
comforts of life1  was secured to him   
who was buried with the proper rites and
 knew  the magic words4  ,and yet the   
old feeling was never lost that the     
dead was somehow in the grave and might 
suffer hunger and thirst4    ,when      
,christianity came into ,egypt1 all the 
gaudy apparatus of the  ,osiris religion
 was swept out of existence4  ,the body 
was to rise  again and might not be     
mutilated4  ,mummification1 which       
destroyed  the body in order to preserve
 a conventional simulacrum1 ceased      
abruptly4  ,grave furniture was of      

course unthinkable4  ,but the use  of   
charms did not cease4  ,crosses were    
embroidered in the  gravecloths2 or     
small crosses of metal or wood placed on
 the  breast or arm2 the gravestone bore
 a simple prayer to the ,holy  ,spirit  
for the peaceful rest of the soul4  ,but
 the offering place  was still          
maintained2 prayers were recited on the 
feast days2  lamps were allowed to      
remain at the grave2 food was brought1  
but  given to the poor4    ,in all      
periods there are thousands of graves of
 poor people  without a single thing to 
secure their future life1--people who   
were probably content simply to lay down
 the burdens of life4  ,in  the         
,christian period these thousands of    
unnamed dead all have one  mark4  ,they 
are laid with their feet to the east4   
,each one was a  ,christian and secure  
in his future life1 according to his    
faith  and his life on earth4           
,,ix4 ,,summary      ,to sum up1 the    
essential idea of the ,egyptian         

conception of  immortality was that the 
ghost or spirit of the man preserved the
  personality and the form of the man in
 the existence after death2  that this  
spirit had the same desires1 the same   
pleasures1 the  same necessities1 and   
the same fears as on earth4  ,life after
  death was a duplicate of life on      
earth4  ,on earth life depended on      
work1 on getting food from the fields   
and the herds1 on forming  stone and    
metal1 hide and vegetable fibre1 into   
useful objects4  ,in other words1 life  
depended on human power over the natural
  materials of the earth4  ,at the same 
time there were many things  which could
 not be controlled by power over the    
earth and its  elements1--the sting of  
the scorpion1 the bite of the adder1    
the rise of the ,nile1 sickness1 the    
sudden onslaught of the  enemy1 the     
straying of cattle1 the disfavor of the 
god4  ,for these  evils man's only hope 
was magic1--the set words spoken in the 
proper manner which have power over all 

unseen influence4  ,so in  the case of  
life after death1 all which human       
strength can  provide of stores of grain
 and drink and garments must be secured 
for his use2 but he must also be        
provided with the magic words to  meet  
the chance evils of the future life4    
,it is not surprising that the unknown  
future presented to the  imagination    
many evils unknown on earth4  ,the      
spirit might forget  its name1 it might 
lose its heart1 it might be bound fast  
by evil  powers in the grave and unable 
to come forth by day4  ,the mummy  might
 decay2 the spirit might forget its     
form4  ,so1 as time went  on1 the use of
 magic words became of greater and      
greater  importance1 until1 to modern   
eyes1 it seemed to overshadow all  else 
in the ,egyptian conception of life     
after death4    ,as a part of the       
magical provisions of the dead1 the     
,osiris myth1  probably built up in     
explanation of old rites1 was drawn into
 the  belief in a future life1 and      

apparently at the beginning solely  for 
the benefit of the king1 for the benefit
 of those who  claimed a certain        
divinity on earth4  ,the earth-god      
,osiris1 god of  the living1 had died   
and had been brought to life as god of  
the  dead4  ,so1 also1 the earth-king1  
the ,horus1 the son of ,ra1 must  die1  
but he also would live again in the     
other world and share  the throne of    
,osiris4  ,more than this even1 he      
became ,osiris4  ,he  was admitted to   
the life of the gods4  ,of course the   
ideas of the  existence of the gods were
 never clear and consistent4  ,they     
lived  in secret places1 their whole    
life was mysterious as well as          
powerful4  ,these are the field of      
knowledge which the ,egyptian  mind     
could not oversee with any satisfaction 
to itself4  ,the most  it could do was  
to formulate the magic words1 invoking  
the names  of the gods and conjuring    
them by the events in the ,osiris myth  
to accept this king as ,osiris4  ,the   

exceptional man1 the  super-man1 must   
have an exceptional future life2 but to 
obtain  it1 he must have the knowledge  
of the names and words necessary  to    
force the powers of the other world4    
,thus the idea of an exceptional future 
life1 a heaven1 was  brought into the   
,egyptian conception of life after      
death4  ,admission to it depended on the
 exceptional position on earth of  those
 admitted4  ,as even this exceptional   
position was only of  avail when        
combined with the knowledge of certain  
formulas1 it is  not difficult to see   
how the knowledge of these formulas     
might be  considered sufficient to      
obtain the better future life1 even for 
others than the king4  ,when in the     
depression that followed the            
extravagance of the pyramid age the     
central monarchy lost its  power1 ,egypt
 broke up into a series of tribal       
baronies 7nomes74  ,in each was a ruler 
almost independent of the king1 a man   
who  might presume with the proper      

knowledge to claim a glorified  future  
life similar to that of the king4  ,and1
 indeed1 we find  from the burial       
inscriptions of the ,middle ,empire that
 such was  the result4  ,feudalism      
extended the possibilities of heaven to 
the  great nobles4  ,in the ,new        
,empire1 the royal power was gradually  
absorbed by the priestly organization of
 the national religion--  the religion  
of ,amon-,ra2 and the principle comes   
into practice  that any priest having   
the necessary knowledge could obtain for
  himself an exceptional place in the   
future life4  ,the ,osirian  burial     
customs spread even among the people4   
,the swathed body  extended on the back 
becomes universal1 even though true     
mummification was still only for the    
rich4    ,in the ,ptolemaic period1 the 
preparation of all the apparatus of  the
 ,osiris burial was divided up into     
trades4  ,factories1 one may  say1      
turned out mummy cases of various kinds1
 with a scale of  prices to fit every   

purse4  ,other factories turned out     
amulets and  charms4  ,magical texts1   
the preparation of the body1 the        
construction of the grave--all things   
were done by regular  crafts4  ,the     
cheapening of the apparatus is most     
striking4  ,at the  same time all but   
the poorest burials bear direct evidence
 of  their character as ,osiris burials4
    ,on the side of the moral           
requirement we must not look too        
closely4  ,there were powerful words    
which could compel even the  great      
judges of the dead to return a favorable
 verdict4  ,there  were magic hearts of 
stone which might be worn in place of   
the  heart1 and1 laid in the scales by  
,anubis1 weigh heavier than the  truth4 
,one might by words compel ,anubis to   
accept this stone  heart instead of the 
real heart4    ,in general1 one may say 
that the hope of immortality had little 
influence on the moral life of the      
ordinary ,egyptian4  ,the moral  code   
was simple and sound and not greatly    

different from other  primitive         
codes1--forbidding all those things     
which the body of  men regard as        
unpleasant in others1 commanding the    
plain virtues  which were found pleasant
 in others4  ,here1 again1 ,i think we  
may  well look to modern ,egypt for a   
picture of ancient ,egypt4  ,we must    
not exaggerate the influence of the     
belief in immortality on  general       
morality4  ,we must not think too well  
of the life of the  people--nor1 on the 
other hand1 too evil4  ,they had their  
sins  and their virtues4  ,the common   
herd was driven by necessity and  lived 
as it could4  ,they clung to the belief 
in a life in the  grave4  ,the greater  
people had leisure to learn and to      
provide the  magic necessary to secure a
 comfortable future life4  ,they loved  
life and hated death4    ,thus it was   
when the priests of the ,osiris-,isis   
religion made  their bid to the         
classical world4  ,they offered         
immortality by  initiation4  ,learn the 

proper rites1 learn the master words1   
and  secure eternal life among the great
 gods4  ,it was a religion for  the     
exceptional man down to the last2 it    
required training and  knowledge4  ,even
 in its most popular form in the        
,ptolemaic period1  a specially         
instructed class was required1 who sold 
for money the  benefits of their        
knowledge1 and men took rank in their   
security  of future life according to   
their means4    ,not until ,christianity
 came1 offering eternal life free and   
without price1 did the common people    
find at last a road open to  equal      
immortality with the great men of the   
earth4