Chapter 43 (part 33)

The version akin to was in vogue from the XXth to the XXVIth dynasty, i.e. , about B.C. 1200-550, and was, like the Theban, usually written upon papyrus. The chapters have no fixed order, and are written in lines in the hieratic character; the rubrics, catchwords, and certain names, like that of Apep, are in red. The vignettes are roughly traced in black outline, and are without ornament; but at the ends of the best papyri well-painted scenes, in which the deceased is depicted making adoration to Ra or Horus, are frequently found. The names and titles of the deceased are written in perpendicular rows of hieroglyphics. The character of the handwriting changes in different periods: in the papyrus of the Princess Nesi-Khonsu (about B.C. 1000) it is bold and clear, and much resembles the handsome style of that found in the great Harris papyrus; but within a hundred years, apparently, the fine flowing style disappears, and the writing becomes much smaller and is somewhat cramped; the process of reduction in size continues until the XXVIth dynasty, about B.C. 550, when the small and coarsely written characters are frequently difficult to decipher. The papyri upon which such texts are written vary in length from three to about thirty feet, and in width from nine to eighteen inches; as we approach the period of the XXVIth dynasty the texture becomes coarser and the material is darker in colour. The Theban papyri of this period are lighter in colour than those found in the north of Egypt and are less brittle; they certainly suffer less in unrolling. [1. The Books of the Dead written in the hieroglyphic and hieratic characters which belong to the period of the rule of the priest-kings of the brotherhood of Amen form a class by themselves, and have relatively little in common with the older versions. A remarkable example of this class is the papyrus of Nesi-Khonsu which M. Maspero published ( Les Momies Royales de Déir el-baharî , p. 600 f.). The text is divided into paragraphs, which contain neither prayers nor hymns but a veritable contract between the god Amen-Ra and the princess Nesi-Khonsu. After the list of the names and titles of Amen-Ra with which it begins follow eleven sections wherein the god declares in legal phraseology that he hath deified the princess in Amenta and in Neter-khert; that he hath deified her soul and her body in order that neither may be destroyed; that he hath made her divine like every god and goddess; and that he hath decreed that whatever is necessary for her in her new existence shall be done for her, even as it is done for every other god and goddess.] The Saïte and Ptolemaic version. Palæography. The Saïte and Ptolemaic version was in vogue from the period of the XXVIth dynasty, about B.C. 550, to probably the end of the rule of the Ptolemies over Egypt. The chapters have a fixed and definite order, and it seems that a careful revision of the whole work was carried out, and that several alterations of an important nature were made in it. A number of chapters which are not found in older papyri appear during this period; but these are not necessarily new inventions, for, as the kings of the XXVIth dynasty are renowned for having revived the arts and sciences and literature of the earliest dynasties, it is quite possible that many or most of the additional chapters are nothing more than new editions of extracts from older works.