Ancient Book of the Dead Manuscripts Exhibit
Talk Ancient and Medieval Manuscripts
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1papyri
Ancient Book of the Dead Egyptian Manuscripts On Show at The Getty For The First Time
Fine Books & Manuscripts Magazine
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/
Article about the exhibit
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/ancient-book-dead-egyptian-man...
A new exhibition will showcase the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of ancient Egyptian manuscripts bearing spells from the Book of the Dead.
Getty Museum
https://www.getty.edu/
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
November 1, 2023–January 29, 2024
Among their rigorous preparations for eternity, ancient Egyptians developed an intricate set of religious writings to help the deceased achieve a blessed afterlife in union with the solar god Re and the netherworld god Osiris. Known collectively as the Book of the Dead, these ritual spells were inscribed on funerary objects. This exhibition features the Getty's Book of the Dead manuscripts, which have never been on public view.
How to Merge with the Gods
Getty’s ancient Egyptian “Book of the Dead” manuscripts go on view for the first time
https://www.getty.edu/news/how-to-merge-with-the-gods/?fbclid=IwAR2IQRC_3EdNTvFC...
Fine Books & Manuscripts Magazine
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/
Article about the exhibit
https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine-books-news/ancient-book-dead-egyptian-man...
A new exhibition will showcase the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collection of ancient Egyptian manuscripts bearing spells from the Book of the Dead.
Getty Museum
https://www.getty.edu/
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
November 1, 2023–January 29, 2024
Among their rigorous preparations for eternity, ancient Egyptians developed an intricate set of religious writings to help the deceased achieve a blessed afterlife in union with the solar god Re and the netherworld god Osiris. Known collectively as the Book of the Dead, these ritual spells were inscribed on funerary objects. This exhibition features the Getty's Book of the Dead manuscripts, which have never been on public view.
How to Merge with the Gods
Getty’s ancient Egyptian “Book of the Dead” manuscripts go on view for the first time
https://www.getty.edu/news/how-to-merge-with-the-gods/?fbclid=IwAR2IQRC_3EdNTvFC...
2Cynfelyn
Do we know anything about literacy rates among the classes of ancient Egyptians who could afford to be buried with a Book of the Dead?
Pity the poor ka who woke up in the tomb with heiroglyphics of protective spells written on their bandages, the Book of the Dead's instructions on how to cadge a lift on Osiris's barge and how to negotiate with Anubis on the walls and ceilings, with a back-up copy on a papyrus roll, and thought to themselves "How am I meant to make head or tail of any of this?"
Pity the poor ka who woke up in the tomb with heiroglyphics of protective spells written on their bandages, the Book of the Dead's instructions on how to cadge a lift on Osiris's barge and how to negotiate with Anubis on the walls and ceilings, with a back-up copy on a papyrus roll, and thought to themselves "How am I meant to make head or tail of any of this?"
3setnahkt
>2 Cynfelyn: I've read that the literacy rate was around 20%. I have no idea how that was estimated. However, I'd guess anybody who was wealthy enough to be buried in an elaborate tomb with a Book of the Dead was probably literate enough to read it.
4waltzmn
>3 setnahkt: I've read that the literacy rate was around 20%. I have no idea how that was estimated.
FWIW, I'd bet a lot that it wasn't that high in the hieroglyphic era. After the demotic became common, or the Macedonian conquest, it might be different. After the Arabic conquest, it was different. But ordinary pre-Roman Egyptians were peasants. They wouldn't have time to learn to read heiroglyphs -- which often had multiple meanings.
FWIW, I'd bet a lot that it wasn't that high in the hieroglyphic era. After the demotic became common, or the Macedonian conquest, it might be different. After the Arabic conquest, it was different. But ordinary pre-Roman Egyptians were peasants. They wouldn't have time to learn to read heiroglyphs -- which often had multiple meanings.
