Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead (Gift Edition with Scarab) by Raymond O. Faulkner (Translator) and James P. Allen (Introduction).
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DESCRIPTION: Softcover. Publisher: Sterling Innovation (2011). Pages: 224. Size: 12¼ x 10¾ x 2¼ inches; 2¼ pounds. Summary: In ancient Egypt, “The Book of the Dead” was buried with the deceased to assist the spirit in its journey to eternal life. This special edition of the classic text comes packaged in a stunning gold foil-stamped, embossed gift box along with a beautiful collectible scarab--a symbol of resurrection for the Egyptians. Translated by an eminent Egyptologist, the book features hundreds of photos of jewelry, tomb paintings, amulets, papyrus scrolls, and other artwork that will delight the eye as well as the mind.
CONDITION: NEW. New softcover book in boxed gift set with handcrafted wood scarab beetle. Sterling Innovation (2011) 224 pages. Amazon calls this a "hardcover" as it is in a gift box, but the book is a softcover book. Still in gift box, the book is unread, the handcrafted/hand-painted scarab is unblemished. Pages are clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. Gift box evidences mild edgewear. The book evidences extremely faint edge/corner wear. The box gift set simply evidences a wee bit of "shopwear", consequence of sitting in a nbookstore unsold for several years. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! #8857b.
PLEASE SEE DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES BELOW FOR DETAILED REVIEWS AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK.
PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW.
PUBLISHER REVIEWS:
REVIEW: "The Book of the Dead" is the name now given to a collection of religious and magical texts known to the ancient Egyptians as "The Chapters of the Coming-forth by day". Their principle aim was to secure for the deceased a satisfactory afterlife and to give them the power to leave the tomb when necessary. Copies of the book written on papyrus scrolls were placed in the tombs of important Egyptians, each roll containing a selection of chapters. Many examples have survived from antiquity, dating mostly from c.1500 BC to 250 BC. In this volume the text, translated by the late Dr R.O. Faulkner, is that found in the papyrus prepared for the scribe Ani. The vignettes are taken from the finely illustrated copies which are preserved in the collection of the British Museum.
REVIEW: Buried with the deceased in ancient Egyptian tombs, the “Book of the Dead” was intended to assist the spirit in its transition from death to eternal life. This was thought to be a dangerous journey through a netherworld filled with hazards. The “Book of the Dead” provided the deceased with magical spells that ensured its safe passage to the world of the living. This beautifully designed book presents the complete text of the Book of the Dead, translated by an eminent Egyptologist. It is profusely illustrated with spectacular color reproductions of jewelry, tomb paintings, amulets, and other artwork, including papyrus scrolls from ancient versions of the Book of the Dead, depicting rituals such as the Weighing of the Heart and the Opening of the Mouth. What's more, this edition comes with a richly detailed, collectible scarab figure, considered by the Egyptians to be a symbol of resurrection.
REVIEW: Raymond O. Faulkner is a British Egyptologist who has also translated the “Pyramid Texts” and “Coffin Texts”. James P. Allen, who wrote the introduction, was the Curator of the Department of Egyptian Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
REVIEW: The late Dr R.O Faulkner, for many years the assistant of the great Egyptologist Sir Alan Gardiner, was an expert in ancient Egyptian military and nautical matters and taught Egyptian language at University College London.
PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS:
REVIEW: The "Book of the Dead" is an ancient Egyptian funerary text, based on the Papyrus of Ani, a papyrus manuscript with cursive hieroglyphs and color illustrations created around 1250 BC, in the 19th dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BC) to around 50 BC.
The original Egyptian name for the text is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day". An alternative translation would be Book of "Emerging Forth into the Light". "Book" is the closest term to describe the loose collection of texts consisting of a number of magic spells intended to assist a dead person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife and written by many priests over a period of about 1000 years.
The "Book of the Dead" was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier "Pyramid Texts" and "Coffin Texts", which were painted onto objects, not papyrus. Some of the spells included were drawn from these older works and date to the 3rd millennium BC. Other spells were composed later in Egyptian history, dating to the Third Intermediate Period (11th to 7th centuries BC). A number of the spells which made up the Book continued to be inscribed on tomb walls and sarcophagi, as had always been the spells from which they originated. The Book of the Dead was placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased.
There was no single or canonical "Book of the Dead". The surviving papyri contain a varying selection of religious and magical texts and vary considerably in their illustration. Some people seem to have commissioned their own copies of the Book of the Dead, perhaps choosing the spells they thought most vital in their own progression to the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was most commonly written in hieroglyphic or hieratic script on a papyrus scroll, and often illustrated with vignettes depicting the deceased and their journey into the afterlife.
The "Book of the Dead" developed from a tradition of funerary manuscripts dating back to the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The first funerary texts were the "Pyramid Texts", first used in the Pyramid of King Unas of the 5th dynasty, around 2400 BC. These texts were written on the walls of the burial chambers within pyramids, and were exclusively for the use of the Pharaoh (and, from the 6th dynasty, the Queen). The "Pyramid Texts" were written in an unusual hieroglyphic style; many of the hieroglyphs representing humans or animals were left incomplete or drawn mutilated, most likely to prevent them causing any harm to the dead pharaoh.
The purpose of the Pyramid Texts was to help the dead King take his place amongst the gods, in particular to reunite him with his divine father Ra; at this period the afterlife was seen as being in the sky, rather than the underworld described in the "Book of the Dead". Towards the end of the Old Kingdom, the "Pyramid Texts" ceased to be an exclusively royal privilege, and were adopted by regional governors and other high-ranking officials.
In the Middle Kingdom, a new funerary text emerged, the "Coffin Texts". The "Coffin Texts" used a newer version of the language, new spells, and included illustrations for the first time. The "Coffin Texts" were most commonly written on the inner surfaces of coffins, though they are occasionally found on tomb walls or on papyri. The "Coffin Texts" were available to wealthy private individuals, vastly increasing the number of people who could expect to participate in the afterlife; a process which has been described as the "democratization of the afterlife".
The "Book of the Dead" first developed in Thebes toward the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period, around 1700 BC. The earliest known occurrence of the spells included in the "Book of the Dead" is from the coffin of Queen Mentuhotep, of the 13th dynasty, where the new spells were included amongst older texts known from the "Pyramid Texts" and "Coffin Texts". Some of the spells introduced at this time claim an older provenance; for instance the rubric to spell 30B states that it was discovered by the Prince Hordjedef in the reign of King Menkaure, many hundreds of years before it is attested in the archaeological record.
By the 17th dynasty, the "Book of the Dead" had become widespread not only for members of the royal family, but courtiers and other officials as well. At this stage, the spells were typically inscribed on linen shrouds wrapped around the dead, though occasionally they are found written on coffins or on papyrus.
The New Kingdom saw the "Book of the Dead" develop and spread further. The famous Spell 125, the 'Weighing of the Heart', is first known from the reign of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, circa 1475 BC. From this period onward the "Book of the Dead" was typically written on a papyrus scroll, and the text illustrated with vignettes. During the 19th dynasty in particular, the vignettes tended to be lavish, sometimes at the expense of the surrounding text.
In the Third Intermediate Period, the "Book of the Dead" started to appear in hieratic script, as well as in the traditional hieroglyphics. The hieratic scrolls were a cheaper version, lacking illustration apart from a single vignette at the beginning, and were produced on smaller papyri. At the same time, many burials used additional funerary texts, for instance the Amduat.
During the 25th and 26th dynasties, the "Book of the Dead" was updated, revised and standardized. Spells were consistently ordered and numbered for the first time. This standardized version is known today as the "Saite Recension", after the Saite (26th) dynasty. In the Late period and Ptolemaic period, the "Book of the Dead" remained based on the Saite Recension, though increasingly abbreviated towards the end of the Ptolemaic period. New funerary texts appeared, including the "Book of Breathing" and "Book of Traversing Eternity". The last use of the "Book of the Dead" was in the 1st century BC, though some artistic motifs drawn from it were still in use in Roman times.
REVIEW: Through this edition of the most popular and long-lasting funerary documents of Egypt emerges much of the character of her people. Through it also the student at home and likewise the tourist visiting the Theban tombs should be greatly enlightened, even if much of the religion of Egypt remains tantalizingly obscure.
READER REVIEWS:
REVIEW: The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" is a set of rituals and incantations from an ancient civilization, and that will immediately set anyone’s interest or disinterest. The thing that interested me the most is when I realized what an expression of death anxiety these rituals, this religion, and this culture is. They worship and follow Osiris so they too can be resurrected, the name Osiris is associated with the deceased so they can invoke him, they apply rigorous embalming so no corpse could be corrupted with worms and decay further, there are incantations for deifying each body part to invoke immortality into them, there are reincarnation cycles. There is this incredible obsession over preservation and immortality that I can’t help but read into it this terrible existential cry of mortality. When I read a passage like, “I shall not decay, I shall not rot, I shall not putrefy, I shall not turn into worms, and I shall not see corruption before the eye of the god Shu. I shall live, I shall live; I shall flourish, I shall flourish, I shall flourish, I shall wake up in peace”, it reads desperate and fearful to me. Death anxiety is the foundation for many afterlife beliefs, but none of them go quite this far in the deep about it, and that’s what I found so compelling here. Everyone knows the pyramids, but after reading this I now see them as massive monuments screaming “don’t let me die, let me live on forever,” and yet as the famous poem goes, nothing beside remains. Beyond that, there are some real interesting figures of speech put into it (a lot of cool metaphors about the sun and the sky), and you can see tiny seeds that would later spread, such as exhortations reminiscent of the Biblical Hebrew poetry (the phrase “go in peace” makes a cameo), and a handful of passages that you might find echoing in the trips to Hades in Homer and Vergil. To be sure, I wouldn’t put this as compulsory reading, the most you would get out of this is feeding a curiosity that you may or may not have. But it’s not a big investment either. I enthusiastically recommend it!
REVIEW: "Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead" is a beautifully designed book that includes the complete translated text of the Book of the Dead. This fascinating 224 page book contains information on the unique ancient Egyptian vision of the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was buried with the deceased in ancient Egyptian tombs to assist the spirit in its transition from death to eternal life. The Egyptians considered this transition to be a dangerous journey through a netherworld that was filled with hazards. The Book of the Dead provided "magical" spells to ensure the deceased a safe passage to the next world. "Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead" has wonderful color illustrations of beautiful Egyptian jewelry, amulets, tomb paintings, artwork, and rituals. As a bonus, this book package contains a large bonus scarab figure. The Egyptians considered the scarab to be a symbol of resurrection. If you are interested in learning more about Egyptian Mythology, this is the book for you!
REVIEW: This book is very comprehensive in that it apparently includes all of the "spells" that the ancient Egyptians used for the dead. These "spells" really seem to be more of a written set of instructions on what to do and how to do it, than what we normally think of as a spell, though there are a lot of that type, too. There are spells for everything! Mouth opening spell, for "not doing work in the realm of the dead", for “opening up the West by day", "for not dying again in the realm of the dead", and "for driving off a snake." There are transformation spells, and other spells on existing in the realm of the dead. There are photos as well, and many of them are interesting. If you want to really learn about the realm of the dead and what ancient Egyptians believed about it, you'll probably like it.
REVIEW: I found this item at my local Barnes & Noble bookstore. It is absolutely stunning. As if the beauty of Egypt isn't enough to captivate you, this wonderful cover featuring a lovely design is actually like a piece of jewelry you can feel. I was immediately taken by the outside but was awe-inspired by the inside. It is truly breathtaking. I would have thought a book of this style and considerable beauty would be three times as much. It is the actual book of the dead spells with vivid drawings and descriptions. This would make a wonderful gift for yourself or someone else. I would highly recommend this item to anyone who loves or just wants to know more about Egypt.
REVIEW: A collection of ancient prayers or spells for the benefit of the deceased, allowing them to come forth by day into the world of man, as a part of the bark of Re.
REVIEW: The Book of the Dead is significant by virtue of its age and insight into Ancient Egyptian religion and cosmology. A collection of various spells, the “Book of the Dead” is an integral part of the study of Ancient Egypt.
REVIEW: I picked this book thinking it to be a reference book. As I started to read it, i realized it was the actual scrolls of the dead. It is VERY interesting, BEAUTIFULLY written, and ILLUSTRATED!
REVIEW: I saw a larger gift edition of this book and after searching found this exact copy in softcover and slightly smaller. LOVE it! Detailed info and the pictures are of some I had not seen before. The scarab stamp is a cute addition for this set.
REVIEW: First of all, the subject matter is enough to get you going! But the book itself is beautifully illustrated, and the beautifully painted Scarab is more than just a bonus it's a plus! Highly recommend for collectors!!!
REVIEW: I bought this as a birthday present for my fiancée’s birthday and he loved it! It really is quite interesting.
REVIEW: The book has great images and is very informational. It is well written and enjoyed it very much. I bought this book after seeing a documentary on the subject.
REVIEW: The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead I purchased was exactly how imagined - beautiful.
REVIEW: I appreciate the subject matter and the book is beautifully illustrated
REVIEW: Very colorful and helpful for amateur Egyptologists.
REVIEW: Five Stars! Yes, I love it!
REVIEW: Basically the world’s oldest prayer book.
REVIEW: The scarab is very nice!
REVIEW: Beautiful gift set.
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Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world - but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology.
I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE."