Chapter 43 (part 23)

41-43.] {p. xxx} Selection and arrangement of chapters. The sections or chapters of the Theban version are a series of separate and distinct compositions, which, like the sections of the pyramid texts, had no fixed order either on coffins or in papyri. Unlike these texts, however, with very few exceptions each composition had a special title and vignette which indicate its purpose. The general selection of the chapters for a papyrus seems to have been left to the individual fancy of the purchaser or scribe, but certain of them were no doubt absolutely necessary for the preservation of the body of the deceased in the tomb, and for the welfare of his soul in its new state of existence. Traditional selections would probably be respected, and recent selections approved by any dominant school of religious thought in Egypt were without doubt accepted. Change in forms. While in the period of the pyramid texts the various sections were said or sung by priests, probably assisted by some members of the family of the deceased, the welfare of his soul and body being proclaimed for him as an established fact in the Theban version the hymns and prayers to the gods were put into the mouth of the deceased. As none but the great and wealthy could afford the ceremonies which were performed in the early dynasties, economy was probably the chief cause of this change, which had come about at Thebes as early as the XIIth dynasty. Little by little the ritual portions of the Book of the Dead disappeared, until finally, in the Theban version, the only chapters of this class which remain are the XXIInd, XXIIIrd, CVth, and CLIst.[1] Every chapter and prayer of this version was to be said in the next world, where the words, properly uttered, enabled the deceased to overcome every foe and to attain to the life of the perfected soul which dwelt in a spiritual body in the abode of the blessed. Theban title of the Book of the Dead. The common name for the Book of the Dead in the Theban period, and probably also before this date, is per em hru , which words have been variously translated manifested in the light," "coming forth from the day," coming forth by day," "la manifestation au jour," "la manifestation à la lumière," [Kapitel von] der Erscheinung im Lichte," "Erscheinen am Tage," "[Caput] egrediendi in lucem," etc. This name, however, had probably a meaning for the Egyptians which has not yet been rendered in a modern language, and one important idea in connection with the whole work is expressed by another title[2] which calls it "the chapter of making strong (or perfect) the Khu." [1. See Naville, Todtenbuch (Einleitung), p. 20. On the titles "Book of the Dead" and "Ritual Funéraire" which have been given to these texts, see Lepsius, Todtenbuch , p. 3; De Rougé, Revue Archéologique , N.S., t. i., 1860, pp. 69-100. 2. See Naville, Einleitung, p. 24.] {p. xxxi} Continuity of doctrine In the Theban version the main principles of the Egyptian religion which were held in the times when the pyramid texts were written are maintained, and the views concerning the eternal existence of the soul remain unaltered. Many passages in the work, however, show that modifications and developments in details have taken place, and much that is not met with in the early dynasties appears, so far as we know, for the first time.