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- [00:00]
Tristan Hughes
Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Teutoburg Forest? What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? Or what made Alexander truly great? With a subscription to History hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com subscribe did you know that the ancient world's greatest monster killer, well, he was also a man who left death and destruction all around him wherever he went. From the snake filled crib at Thebes to the impossible labors that took him across the ancient Greek world. Heracles, or Hercules if you prefer the Roman version. Well, he's one of the most extraordinary figures in myth. A hero whose life was as thrilling as it was brutal. I'm Tristan Hughes and I'm thrilled to be bringing Heracles Story to Australia this August on the Ancients Live tour. I'm going to be joined by the brilliant Alistair Blanshard, professor of classics and Ancient history and together we're going to dig into the myths, the geography and the archaeology behind the Labors. From the Nemean lion and the Hydra to Troy and the tragic end of Greece's greatest hero. Now tickets are on sale. We are coming to Sydney on the third, Brisbane on the fourth, Perth on the sixth, and finishing in Melbourne on the ninth of August. It's going to be epic. Tickets are selling fast so book yours now so you don't miss out@fane.com au I cannot wait to see you there.
- [01:48]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Oregon parks make an Oregon summer. But what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon Lottery gameplay helps no matter the game. Megabucks, video lottery or keno funds from
- [01:58]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
lottery games help support parks projects across
- [02:00]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State park scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play. Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only. He loves it freezing. She loves it hot. The pod by eight Sleep ends the argument for good with independent temperature zones that keep both of you sleeping deeper. Try it@8sleep.com.
- [02:50]
Tristan Hughes
The Book of the Dead A hallmark type of artifact from ancient Egypt. A collection of spells designed to help guide the deceased through the underworld. Sometimes written on papyrus, other times on the mummy wrappings of the dead person themselves. These books were High fashion items in ancient Egypt for centuries. The spells they included and the quality of these books differed from tomb to tomb, from century to century. And yet many ancient Egyptians considered these guides vital for their burials. Thousands of fragments of ancient books of the dead have been discovered, some better preserved than others. And one such book is about to take centre stage in a brand new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum Museum in the United States. Beautifully conserved and preserved, the 21 foot papyrus is a complete version holding nearly all 162 spells known from the longest versions of the Book of the Dead. What's more, it's rich in gleaming vignettes and gilded decoration. A stunning artifact originally owned by an Egyptian called ankh Merhur over 2000 years ago. Today we'll explore the wider story of ancient Egypt's Book of the Dead before focusing in on this particularly special artifact with our guest, Dr. Yekaterina Barbash, curator of Egyptian art at the Brooklyn Museum. Welcome to the Ancients. I'm Tristan Hughes, your host and this is the story of Ancient Egypt's Book of the Dead. Yekaterina, it is such a pleasure to have you on the show.
- [04:37]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Thank you. It's wonderful to be on the show. I'm really excited about it.
- [04:41]
Tristan Hughes
Me too. And let's get straight into it. In ancient Egypt, what was the Book of the Dead?
- [04:48]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Well, the Book of the Dead was actually not a book by our modern standards. Rather, the Book of the Dead is a collection of different texts or that are sometimes called spells. There are about 200 distinct texts and they're as a whole intended to help the spirit of a person transition into the afterlife and then continue successfully existing there. Now, the texts or spells themselves, they address a range of different topics like protecting the body, providing nourishment, navigating the underworld, which can get quite dangerous and difficult sometimes joining Osiris, the God of the dead, but also repelling dangerous creatures that appear both in this life and in the underworld.
- [05:46]
Tristan Hughes
So is it almost this is your spellbook to reach the afterlife or your guide to the afterlife Almost.
- [05:52]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
I suppose you could say that it is in many ways a guide to the afterlife. It's a guide for the spirit to navigate the afterlife, but it's also a guide for the priests and ritualists that prepare the body. And so for instance, many of the texts included in the Book of the Dead were likely recited during mummification, so they were recited by the living. But it all they also include the Books of the Dead, also include texts that we know were used by the living for Instance, protective spells that are meant to protect from scorpions or snake bites. Those were deemed necessary for the afterlife as well.
- [06:43]
Tristan Hughes
I love that we're going to delve into all of that, the fact that you have animals in the afterlife as well, to try and avoid. First things first, when someone says Book of the Dead, the title is so strong. It's so gripping and enticing. I mean, do we know where we get the title Book of the Dead from?
- [07:00]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
We do know where we get the title, and it's not from ancient Egypt. Actually. The title was coined by Richard Lepsius, who published one of the longest and most complete books, Books of the Dead, known to him and known to many Egyptologists, the Book of the Dead of UF Ankh, which is currently in Turin. And he titled his publication Book of the Dead. The Egyptians themselves sometimes refer to the Book of the Dead as something to the effect of the book or the document of going out daily or going forth daily. And that is a title that occurs on the outside of some scrolls containing Book of the Dead texts. It's also the title of some very specific texts within the Book of the Dead corpus. And that, of course, has to do with the idea of the solar cycle, because the sun, according to Egyptian beliefs, the sun dies every evening, travels through the underworld, hangs out with Osiris there, joins Osiris and becomes reborn to be born every morning. And that's ultimately what every ancient Egyptian wants, is to be reborn and travel with the sun.
- [08:29]
Tristan Hughes
And so how long were Books of the Dead, how long were they in fashion for in ancient Egypt?
- [08:36]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So Books of the Dead were in fashion, I would say, for probably over 1500 years. So they became popular about 1500 BC and they were widely used until the first century BC.
- [08:55]
Tristan Hughes
And so that time period, so 1500 BC that's the time of the New Kingdom. So Tutankhamun, Bronze Age Egypt, the time you think of it, at its zenith, all the way down to, well, the time of Cleopatra after Alexander the Great, when you have the Macedonian Greeks ruling over Egypt. So it's a massive time period, absolutely
- [09:15]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
massive time period, as many things are in Ancient Egypt.
- [09:19]
Tristan Hughes
And do we see a clear evolution in the design in the style of these Books of the Dead? So you can easily differentiate, you can tell the difference between a book created in the New Kingdom period to one created, let's say, at the time of Cleopatra vii, the famous Cleopatra.
- [09:38]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
That is a really good question, because Books of the Dead aren't really like books as we understand them. So they weren't Copied word for word. And almost every document is distinct. They were continuously being developed and added on, and every example dependent on probably the fashion of the time, the choice of the owner, and very likely the preference of the workshop creating the manuscript. So there are two major distinct movements sort of in the Book of the Dead. The first part, until about 700 BC. So from 1500 to 700 or so. And then around 700 BC, Egyptian priests decided to standardize Books of the Dead to a certain extent. Initially, they belong to a long standing tradition that actually extends over a thousand years before the first books of the Dead appeared. But what we modern Egyptologists call books of the dead, that corpus of text, first appears just before the New Kingdom, around, I would say, 1600 BC. And so at that point, the spells in the Book of the Dead are intentionally arranged in groupings that follow an internal logic. And those groupings seem to be connected to the rituals that were performed for the deceased. So during mummification, during the burial, perhaps after the burial. And so as a result, many of the texts appear more than once in slightly different versions. And so by about 700 BC, the corpus had become quite confusing and convoluted because it, I guess you can say it adhered to a liturgical format. And there seems to have been a movement among priests around the 25th dynasty. So that, that is actually the Kushite dynasty, 700 BC or so. And at that point, priest scribes were really pushing towards systematizing knowledge. So that's when we begin to see systematic compilations of medical information and ritual books. And of course, they looked into the very popular Book of the Dead corpus and came up with a sequence that arranged all of the spells that addressed the same thing theme into one batch, and then the next batch would address a different theme. So all of the heart spells were together and all of the navigating the underworld gate spells and underworld mound spells would be placed together and so on and so forth. And so we ended up with a corpus of texts that often repeat with slight variations, one after the other. And the person ordering a Book of the Dead, or perhaps their family, although they probably did order during life place that order during life, they had an option of choosing, I would like two of the heart spells to be included, but only one of the protection from scorpions and crocodiles.
- [13:32]
Tristan Hughes
Well, you've mentioned papyrus a few times. So shall we explore this material? What do we mean by papyrus and what do we mean by the fact that, you know, these spells, the writing is applied to it.
- [13:45]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So most commonly books of the dead were inscribed on papyrus, although they do appear on other materials. So, for instance, the earliest books of the dead were written on linen shrouds, but they also. Book of the Dead texts also appear on tomb walls, on stela. So in stone, they rarely appear on leather. And certain specific spells were inscribed on figurines, on amulets, on Hypocephaly, which are little round amuletic discs that were placed under the head of the mummified person. In the Ptolemaic period, they started writing Book of the Dead texts on linen mummy bandages that directly wrapped the body.
- [14:40]
Tristan Hughes
But of them all, was papyrus the most important material that you find they used over these centuries?
- [14:47]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right. Papyrus was the most common. The most common material used for books,
- [14:52]
Tristan Hughes
and forgive my ignorance. So papyrus, is that made from reed? So it's easily acquirable in Egypt.
- [14:58]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right. In ancient times, in antiquity, papyrus was readily available. There's very little papyrus left in Egypt today. But generally it's a reed that grew close to the water, and the thick, triangular shaped stalks of the reed would be cut and flattened and then glued together with the papyrus juices, basically in perpendicular fashion. So most papyri are made out of two layers of flattened papyrus fiber, which is then dried and could be used to inscribe texts, then delete texts, inscribe new texts. And.
- [15:47]
Tristan Hughes
Yeah, Katrina, what are these amulets that seem to be this really fascinating part of the Book of the Dead?
- [15:54]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
There are a series of spells that were meant to be recited. They begin with the title of the spell formula for a gold vulture placed at the neck of a transfigured spirit. So again, they're already saying that this person has become reborn. And an image of a vulture is added in the vignette. And at the end of the recitation, there are directions for the ritualist. It explains very specifically words spoken over the gold vulture on which this formula is written, and it should be placed on the spirit on the day of burial. So very specific instructions in the papyrus. Interestingly enough, the instructions do not always match what we find in archeology. Most often, the amulets are not inscribed with that spell. Sometimes they use a totally different material. So instead of gold, they might use stone. They were very flexible about some rules, it seems.
- [17:12]
Tristan Hughes
But in regards to the amulets, you do have archaeological evidence that they did lay those down, that those instructions were followed from the Book of the Dead from particular spells.
- [17:21]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Absolutely. Absolutely. There are instructions for amulets. There are instructions for. It's kind of a silly name, what we call magic bricks to be placed at the cardinal points of tomb that are described in books of the dead. And then examples have been found in tombs. So they actually did follow the directions, but sometimes intentionally or unintentionally change them, change the rules.
- [17:55]
Tristan Hughes
When these books of the dead are deposited in the deceased's tomb, do we know how usually they're placed, how they're laid out in the tomb? Is there a particular way that they are deposited?
- [18:06]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yes and no. There's a choice. Sometimes they were placed inside the coffin, Sometimes they were placed on top of the body, either as a scroll. And in certain periods of time, like in the third Intermediate Period, they would some Book of the Dead papyri were placed unrolled on top of the body. Scrolls could also be placed outside of the coffin within containers that are sometimes shaped as the Ptah Socar Osiris statues.
- [18:42]
Tristan Hughes
What are they?
- [18:42]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yektarina so it's a combination of three gods. The Egyptian religion is broad and complicated and what I like to call morphy because gods morph one into another and join together. And so the God Ptah, a creator God, the God Sokar, a primordial God, God of rebirth, and Osiris, the God of the underworld, who according to Egyptian beliefs was really the first entity to die, be mummified and become reborn into the afterlife. They joined together into this wonderful deity that sometimes whose images sometimes contained Book of the Dead scrolls.
- [19:38]
Tristan Hughes
And is it also correct that some books of the dead, if you look at the parchment that some of them or the papyrus or whatever material they're written on, some of them could be much more decorated than others?
- [19:54]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yes, absolutely. And again, depending on the fashion of the time, the location where the papyrus was made, and also how much funds a person could spend on vied, they sometimes contain only texts and sometimes were brightly decorated with brightly colored vignettes. And in a very few cases, they also have gilding.
- [20:22]
Tristan Hughes
Well, that leads us nicely into this particular example that we're going to focus in on, one that I know you've done a lot of work around Yekaterina and and the team at the Brooklyn Museum, which is your extraordinary Book of the Dead now on display. First of all, how does this Book of the Dead end up in Brooklyn?
- [20:42]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Great question. So the Book of the Dead of Ankmer Ware was first acquired in Egypt by actually a British physician named Henry Abbott. He lived in Cairo and worked as a doctor and collected close to 2,000 Egyptian antiquities. He had a really good eye and was apparently friends with a lot of Egyptologists. He doesn't seem to have studied or been a scholar, so to speak. But he amassed a large collection, and in 1853, he decided to sell his collection off. And he came to New York and opened, I believe it was the first exhibition of ancient Egyptian art in the US which was wildly popular. Walt Whitman signed the guest book 20 times. He loved it and became friends with Henry Abbott. Nevertheless, the collection didn't sell, and it ended up being acquired for the New York Historical Society. And so the Book of the Dead of Ankh Mere Ware came to the New York Historical Society until in 1937, the New York Historical Society decided to focus on the history of New York and first lent and then sold the entire collection to the Brooklyn Museum. So the gilded scroll was at the Brooklyn Museum, has been at the Brooklyn Museum since 1937. But here's the problem. Somebody, likely Dr. Henry Abbott himself or someone working for him, wanted to make sure that the scroll survived. And so he first cut it into fragments and then glued it to. To a paper backing. And that certainly helped it stay intact. And then he's rolled it back up into a scroll. So the papyrus arrived to Brooklyn as a scroll. And when I started working here 18 years ago, I saw a scroll with about 6 inches with a bit of gilding sticking out. And that's all I knew about it till a few years ago when we applied for a grant, received the grant from the bank of America to conserve it.
- [23:20]
Tristan Hughes
Talk to us about this amazing conservation project that you and the team did to quite frankly, unveil the secrets, unveil the writing, reveal the writing on this Book of the Dead.
- [23:31]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Oh, it was glorious. It was glorious because I had only seen about 6 inches, inches of the scroll. I really did not have a good sense of how large it is, what it contained. And so the first unrolling had to be done on the floor because the scroll was 21ft long. Wow. And I swear I fell to my knees and crawled around it for hours. It turned out that the Book of the Dead was complete. There was a beginning and an end. And that was the first time in probably over 2000 years that I was able to read the name of the owner and his mother. Well, let me rephrase that. I haven't been around for 2,000 years. It's the first time in 2,000 years that anyone read the name of the owner.
- [24:28]
Tristan Hughes
It's really interesting, kind of that revealing process, as you mentioned, Yekaterina, like the fact that you realize that there are no missing pieces that you have here a complete copy of a Book of the Dead that you're seeing the name of the person who it was for, you know, you're one of the first people to see his name in over 2000 years. And the writing itself, should we be thinking is it just hieroglyphs or is it in ancient Greek or Demotic, isn't it? What language? Should we be thinking of what script it's written in?
- [25:02]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
The ancient Egyptian language, the Middle Egyptian specifically. But the script they used for this Book of the Dead, for the Book of the Dead of Ankh Merrewehr is hieratic, which is basically a cursive form of hieroglyphs. And the hieratic script appeared at the same time as hieroglyphic script. It's sort of like if you think of capital letters versus handwritten. Right?
- [25:33]
Tristan Hughes
Okay. So basically a cursive version of hieroglyphs, which is amazing. And the fact that you have like the first lines and the last lines. I must also ask, because you mentioned this earlier, how some books of the dead have almost the equivalent of a title page or have some writing on the other side? Did it have any writing at all at the other side? Almost a title for this book that
- [25:54]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
there is no writing on the other side? There may have been at some point, but earlier today I spoke about the two layers of papyrus. So with the manuscript of Ankhmer Ware, only the top layer remains, it's that thin. And to be honest, I'm not sure if there ever was another layer on the back and it had fallen off. Perhaps Henry Abbott helped it, perhaps he didn't. But we don't know what was on the back. I would not expect anything to be written on the back for this time period. Fair enough.
- [26:35]
Tristan Hughes
Well, this figure of Ankhmer were. Do we have any idea who he was?
- [26:41]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So what we know is that he lived around the 2nd century BC during Ptolemaic times. He lived probably in northern Egypt. I know that because the style of decoration of this papyrus and the layout was more common in the Memphite area, just basically around modern Cairo. We also know that his mother was named Taneferher, which means Shiyum, the beautiful face. And we know that he was really well off. But unfortunately some books of the dead mention the titles of the owner. So what he did during life, where he worked, there are no titles in this papyrus.
- [27:29]
Tristan Hughes
And who did he have to write this book, this 21 foot long scroll for him?
- [27:36]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So he likely, I would imagine that it was a workshop of scribes. Actually, I'm sure It was a scribal workshop. These scribes were likely also very much involved in the religion, so I would refer to them as priest scribes. Perhaps. There's at least four different hands that can be identified in the papyrus and we still don't know exactly how it worked, whether it was a new scribe every day or, I don't know. Khnum Hotep went to have lunch and Amen Ahmed took over. But there are at least four different hands. As the saying goes, if these walls could talk and on the Betwixt the Sheets podcast we make it our business to discover what happened behind closed doors and even more importantly, in the bedrooms of people all throughout history. Kings, queens, mistresses, servants, and everyone in between. We also get up close and personal with medieval aphrodisiacs, lethal Victorian makeup routines, and look at the scandalous lives of beloved children's authors. Nothing is off limits. In other words, it's the best bits of history with me, Dr. Kate Lister. Listen to Betwixt the Sheets, the history of sex scandal in society twice a week, every week, wherever it is that you get your podcasts brought to you by the award winning network History Hit.
- [29:17]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
What if everything you learned in history class was only half the story? I'm Dr. Haruni Bhatt. I started as a clinical pharmacist and somewhere along the way I became obsessed with the mysteries that history never found fully solved. That's exactly why I created Hidden History a Rewind Studios original podcast powered by Pave Studios. Every Monday I go where history touches the unknown vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena and events that science still can't fully explain. I'll give you historical context. I'll break down the science. I'll even interrogate the supernatural. I treat these moments like open case files. Not myths, not superstition, just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. And I'll ask the question, what if this happened today? Listen to and follow Hidden History available now wherever you get your podcasts.
- [30:20]
Tristan Hughes
Hi there. Just before we return to the show, I want to pop in here to tell you about the History Hit subscription and give you a taste of the exclusive content that subscribers get now. As a history hit subscriber, you have access to hundreds of brand new documentaries with a new release every week. From Dan Snow exploring Maya ruins in Belize to my documentary on Petra and the Nabateans in Jordan, there's an app where you can search for any time period for any culture or presenter. There is something for everyone you also get as part of the Subscription, early access to all of our podcasts with no ads, and on the Ancients. We do really value our listeners, so we also release an exclusive subscriber only episode every two weeks. Here's a taster of one of our most recent episodes when Joseph, our producer, put the important listener questions to me. Right, Next question. Is Ramesses the Great Overrated. Oh, interesting. I can see why people would think that because his name's on absolutely everything.
- [31:23]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right.
- [31:24]
Tristan Hughes
But I don't know, having visited somewhere like Abu Simbel and like, gazed upon, like those incredible colossal statues of Ramesses ii, obviously we're talking about him today and he would be very, very happy in how he's been shown today. But, like, he did rule for 66 years. It's a period in Egyptian history, you know, that maybe is not the kind of the zenith of maybe a century or so earlier, but Egypt is still powerful. I think the clincher for me to probably say, actually, no, I don't think so, is the fact that although, yes, his dynasty comes crashing down not long after his death, if you look at, for instance, the buildings he does, not just Abu Simbel on the south, but let's say, his great forts in the west, it does seem that actually he does prepare Egypt to an extent, you know, to repel what will happen after his death, which is the invasion of the Sea Peoples. So I think he does deserve credit for that. Maybe his personal promotion puts him up to 11. However, I don't want to go so far as to kind of say that then actually he wasn't a significant or very interesting and remarkable pharaoh. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to have to disagree with you. Okay. I think he is absolutely, definitely overrated. Basically, he mounts this big propaganda campaign around the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC. And he says, oh, it's this wonderful big victory. He plasters reliefs of it of him on this battlefield on loads of different temples all around Egypt. He screams about it.
- [33:00]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
He.
- [33:01]
Tristan Hughes
He's a propaganda genius. It turns out he didn't actually win that battle. It was against the Hittites and it was a stalemate. Now, to find out who wins that argument and to listen to the rest of the episode, sign up to History hit. There's subscriber episodes every fortnight and access to hundreds of original documentaries. That's historyhit.com subscribe or click the link in the show notes. Now back to the show. Do we think that was probably the standard practice that, yeah, you know, a series of scribes would write different parts, you know, Different. They'd write out different spells in a book of the dead. That's what you'd expect. So you wouldn't expect the exact same scribal hand for every single spell in the book.
- [33:53]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Interestingly enough, sometimes the handwriting changes in the middle of the spell.
- [33:58]
Tristan Hughes
Ah, okay.
- [33:59]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
That does occur pretty frequently with other papyri, although some texts were fully inscribed by the same person.
- [34:08]
Tristan Hughes
And so what types of spells though do you get early on in the scroll, like Yekaterina.
- [34:14]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So there are texts that have to do with embalming because mummification for the Egyptians created a deity. So you took a body with their spirit that could ideally travel back and forth between the worlds and made it into a divinity. And that helps the spirit achieve that transfigured status or basically the status where they are accepted among the other gods. One of my favorite versions of spell 125 has the God Anubis, who's jackal or dog headed God. He comes and brings the deceased into the court of Osiris and he addresses the court. There's Osiris and 42 of his divine judges and a few other gods. And Anubis says basically, hi everyone, this is the deceased. So. And so I know he's one of you because he smells like you. It's just like what a dog would think, presumably. Yeah.
- [35:28]
Tristan Hughes
And is that you say spell125 that yekaterina or.
- [35:33]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right, that's one of the versions of 125.
- [35:37]
Tristan Hughes
So the earlier spells are around the funeral, around the mummification and stuff like that. And, and is it famous things like the opening of the mouth?
- [35:45]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right. There are spells that are connected to the opening of the mouth. But interestingly enough, the opening of the mouth ritual is somewhat of a separate thing. It's not actually included in the book of the dead. There are images representing the opening of the mouth in the vignettes. And then the spells that we number as spells 21 to 23 have to do with the opening of the mouth. They're, they, they, they're meant to basically give the deceased power over their mouth to receive food and drink, to speak and you know, to, to be able to pronounce their own name. And all of the important information that's mentioned in the later texts.
- [36:40]
Tristan Hughes
And go back to the one you described earlier as well, with Anubis saying he smells like, or they smell like one of them. Is it going too far to say does that. Is that spell giving a bit more characterization, a bit more of a story in that particular entry it's quite an odd line to include to say that they're smelling the person and that he knows that he or she is one of the deceased. Then Eichmere, where he is one of the deceased.
- [37:07]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
The Egyptian gods, I think, you know, it's at first glance they seem like quite oddly looking animal headed human body entities. But the animal heads are not actually representations of what the Egyptians thought the gods looked like. They represent the qualities of that deity. So Anubis the jackal, the canine. Right. He's very protective. He is, he can find the correct way and lead and he has a very keen sense of smell and he's responsible for embalming and mummification because, you know, as the dead were embalmed and buried usually in the west next to the desert, that's where the wild dogs and jackals hung around. So they were seen as sort of protecting the deceased and being part of that whole process.
- [38:13]
Tristan Hughes
If we focus on a couple of other, I guess, well known spells today, if someone says the Book of the Dead. Yes, yeah, Katerina. I think the one that instantly comes to mind for many or if they know anything about this will be the weighing of the heart. Now what is this?
- [38:29]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Definitely that is the most best known spell and probably the most recognizable Vinayat from the Book of the Dead. And it was very common in Book of the Dead manuscripts. But also it appears on coffins, heart, Nagy and so on. So the weighing of the heart scene is usually attached actually to spell 125 that I already mentioned.
- [38:57]
Tristan Hughes
Ah, this is 125. Okay, let's do it.
- [39:00]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
And so this is one of the ultimate goals of the deceased. Journey through the underworld is to get to Osiris's core court. And Osiris is pictured sitting on his throne. Ankh Merer had had him gilded beautifully. And there are 42 judges in the court. They're usually pictured as, as mummiform. So their bodies look like those of bound embalmed bodies and they have a variety of animal and human heads. And there's usually a large scale on which the heart of the deceased, which was the really the seat of one's consciousness. The Egyptians believed that the brain is only there to produce mucus and quite unnecessary organ. But the heart is where your thoughts and your consciousness resided. And so the heart was typically mummified separately and ideally placed back into the body. So on one side you would have the heart, the consciousness of the deceased. On the other side you would have an image of the goddess Maud. And that is personification of truth and balance and harmony. And her entomologically, her name has to do with navigating a boat correctly. So you, you need to be on the right path, sort of Buddhist like. And so in the perfect situation, your heart, your consciousness would be in balance with Maat, with that personification of truth and the right path. It shouldn't be heavier, it shouldn't really be lighter. Now the deceased themselves would be present during this weighing of the heart. Thoth, the God of wisdom and knowledge and writing, he's usually ibis headed deity and he's standing next to the weighing of the heart and recording what, what's going on? And a terrible creature named the Amit, or perhaps the meaning the devourer, is a combination of a crocodile, lion and hippo. And if your heart is not in balance, Amut would devour your heart.
- [41:45]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
Wow.
- [41:45]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Which would mean a second death, the worst scenario possible for an ancient Egyptian. But of course we never see that happen in books of the dead, because it's all about wishful thinking and everything turns out well.
- [42:01]
Tristan Hughes
Because in that particular spell, does it give advice as to how to make sure that that doesn't happen, that the heart isn't thrown away to this monster?
- [42:11]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yes. So in that particular spell, in spell 125, the deceased is recorded as saying a declaration of innocence, or sometimes called the negative confession, because they list what transgressions they have not done. Like I have not caused hunger, I haven't caused tears, I haven't killed, I haven't ordered a killing, I haven't caused pain, I haven't added to the pan of the scales, I haven't taken milk from babies, and so on and so forth. And then they address the gods, they address each of the 42 judges and proclaim their innocence, their sort of correct and balanced life. But that's not the only spell that helps the outcome of the weighing of the heart, because there is, there are several so called heart spells, spell 30 for instance, that were usually inscribed both on papyri and on large dark green scarab shaped amulets. And these amulets would be placed on the chest where the mummified heart was ideally. And I really like those spells because they address the heart and the spell says something to the effect of oh my heart. Oh, the heart that my mother gave me. Please don't stand witness against me in the court of Osiris. Don't say anything, don't say against me. He did do it. Do not create things against me before the great God. And it's Just such a wonderful illustration of how a person's consciousness is sort of separated from the person themselves. Right. And they basically asking the consciousness to keep quiet.
- [44:21]
Tristan Hughes
I love that as well. Yeah, keep your. Keep your thoughts in check so that you get past the weighing of the heart.
- [44:36]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
She loves it.
- [44:37]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
Freezing.
- [44:38]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
She loves it. Huh? The pod by eight sleep ends the argument for good with independent temperature zones that keep both of you sleeping deeper. Try it@8sleep.com
- [44:52]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
what if everything you learned in history class was only half the story? I'm Dr. Haruni Bhatt. I started as a clinical pharmacist and somewhere along the way I became obsessed with the mysteries that history never fully solved. That's exactly why I created Hidden History a Rewind Studios original podcast powered by Pave Studios. Every Monday I go where history touches the unknown. Vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena and events that that science still can't fully explain. I'll give you historical context. I'll break down the science. I'll even interrogate the supernatural. I treat these moments like open case files. Not myths, not superstition, just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. And I'll ask the question, what if this happened today? Listen to and follow Hidden History available now, wherever you get your podcasts.
- [46:05]
Tristan Hughes
Yeah, Katarina, obviously there are so many spells and we can't cover them all. I would like to ask you though, are there any particular ones that know you can see in your particular copy, the gilded copy or others that are. That you find particularly fascinating that. That shine a light on one particular part of this journey, of this idea of what happened in the afterlife?
- [46:27]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
It's so difficult to choose. I do love the gate spells.
- [46:32]
Tristan Hughes
What are the gate spells?
- [46:33]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
So the gate spells are. For instance, there could be up to 21 gates of the underworld. And so the spirit is intended to pass through all of these gates. But it's not just the question of navigating the geography, the topography, because each gate has a guardian and books of the dead. The Book of the Dead of Ankh Merwer, as usual, depicts every gate and its guardian. And then the text explains that as you come up to each gate, you should say, I know you, I know your name. I know the name of the God guarding you. And then the names of each gate on the guardian are listed and that is the only way to pass. And I'm particularly partial to the gate spells because it reveals so much about the value of knowledge and the value of being able to. I think it's quite deep thought the the value of being able to name an object or a person in a way, gives you power over them.
- [47:51]
Tristan Hughes
And the names of the people at the gates, are they certain demigods or deities or are they everyday Egyptian names?
- [48:00]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
No, they are definitely divinities, deities. I suppose you can call them demons in the sense of a minor deity.
- [48:13]
Tristan Hughes
Right?
- [48:14]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yeah.
- [48:15]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
For instance.
- [48:15]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
For instance, one combination of hippo and lion guardian is named the one with his mouth wide open.
- [48:26]
Tristan Hughes
So you can imagine that the front end is the hippo, then with the big mouth. And that's what they are. Right. So, okay, so these gatekeepers are also kind of animalistic as well, which harkens back to what you were saying earlier about how they had to get past all these various different strange animals in the, you know, on their journey to the weighing of the heart. So, yeah, Katarina, if you have spells associated with the burial, spells associated with the gates, the weighing of the heart as well. But you mentioned how with the standardization of them, that they are kind of grouped together into certain groups.
- [48:58]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Right.
- [48:58]
Tristan Hughes
Are there any other particular groups of spells that we should highlight?
- [49:02]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Well, probably protection of the body. So the body, the mummified body, is a vessel to which the person's boss spirit can come back when they're on earth, as the boss spirit could travel between the worlds. And so protection of the body was very important in terms of keeping the body intact. And I suppose those spells do have to do with embalming, but also protecting from crocodiles and scorpions and snakes. And there are wonderful little scenes in the Papyrus of Ahmer where next to those spells that represent a person spearing a crocodile or spearing an enormous bug, there are also texts that place the deceased into the community of other deities. And I suppose one important type of text that we haven't touched on at all are the Sun Hymns. So they usually appear or early on in that, say, recension, in the later sequence when everything is systematized and they. They bring that solar aspect, the. The solar cycle into the Book of the Dead because it's so important to the Egyptian conception of. Of the afterlife and rebirth. Actually, I don't really like the word rebirth because it presumes being reborn into the same place you were, but that's not what's going on. In ancient Egypt, you became transfigured into a different realm.
- [50:54]
Tristan Hughes
So, Yekaterina, the end of the Book of the Dead, for instance, the one you got at the Brooklyn Museum of Ankhmehua, is it, Congratulations, you've got through the Book of the Dead. You've transitioned your. You've succeeded in navigating these challenges. You've fended off the animals. Your heart has been weighed successfully. You've made it to the end. Well done. Is there anything like that at the end of the Book of the Dead?
- [51:19]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Not really. I would say the whole document, the document as a whole was that, congratulations, we're assuming that you've made it, it's now written in the document and the entire process is documented. And because the Egyptians believe that sort of text recitation, but also writing of text has some power, has a sort of magical way of making things come true, the mere existence of a Book of the Dead is yet another fail safe. If. If someone forgot to read the ritual, you would have it in writing and it could perpetually repeat that transfiguration of your spirit.
- [52:11]
Tristan Hughes
A fail safe. So the Book of the Dead can also be a fail safe to make sure. Ah, okay, that's clever. So that they have it with them. It's a symbol of status at the same time.
- [52:20]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Absolutely, absolutely. And gilding just takes that status to the extreme. Yeah.
- [52:27]
Tristan Hughes
Katrina, this has been fascinating. My last question is, what happens to the books of the Dead? Why do they ultimately fall out of fashion? Do we have any idea?
- [52:35]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
We have some idea. So Books of the Dead come from a long tradition of funerary or mortuary beliefs, and they go back to a thousand years to the pyramid texts when the same sort of beliefs were written inside pyramids. They were an oral tradition before then. And by the time books of the Dead were beginning to fall out of fashion, they simply morphed into another tradition. So in the late Ptolemaic and Roman period, the so called books of breathing become more and more popular and they follow the same beliefs and some of them actually integrate some of the Book of the Dead texts. But it's. I suppose it's a question of fashion.
- [53:29]
Tristan Hughes
It's a question of fashion. Well, there you go.
- [53:31]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Yeah.
- [53:32]
Tristan Hughes
Katerina, this has been really interesting. Great to finally explore the Book of the Dead and what it actually is and to focus on an example that people can come and see today at the Brooklyn Museum. Tell us about this exhibition that's going on.
- [53:47]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
Well, it's very exciting to have the gilded Book of the Dead out on view. Not only is this 7 meter, 21 foot long papyrus complete, it has a beginning and an end with blank sheets of papyrus on either side. And all of the texts that should be there are there. I checked, I promise. But it has gilding on it, which is incredibly rare. There are about 10 known gilded papyri surviving from ancient Egypt and most of them are really tiny fragments. About three are close to being complete. So it's a really, really special treat to be able to witness a gilded papyrus in person. This one was the first papyrus with gilding on it that I have seen in my entire career over 20 years in Egyptology. So it's really special.
- [54:52]
Tristan Hughes
Yeah. Katerina, it just goes to me to say thank you so much for coming on the show.
- [54:56]
Dr. Yekaterina Barbash
It's been such a pleasure. Thank you.
- [55:03]
Tristan Hughes
Well, there you go. There was the Brooklyn auckland Museum's curator, Dr. Yekaterina Babash, talking you through the story of ancient Egypt's Book of the Dead and their brand new exhibition. I hope you enjoyed the episode. Thank you so much for listening. If you want more episodes on ancient Egypt, well you are in luck. We have recorded several episodes on Ancient Egypt over the years. Two we're going to put in the show notes for you to just click on straight away after this episode, if you so wish to. We'll have one which we recorded earlier last year, all about hieroglyphs with Hugo Cook and another one that we recorded live at Chalk Valley History Festival a few years ago now with Professor Toby Wilkinson about several key artifacts that were discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb alongside the boy pharaoh. That episode is called Treasures of Tutankhamun. We'll put links to both of those episodes in the show notes now. If you've been enjoying the Ancients recently, please make sure to follow the show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. That really helps us and you'll be doing us a big favour if you'd also be kind enough to leave us a rating as well, where we'd really appreciate that. Don't forget, you can also sign up to historyhit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a new release every week. Sign up@historyhit.com subscribe that is all from me. I'll you see see you in the next episode.
- [56:31]
Dr. Haruni Bhatt
What if everything you learned in history class was only half the story? I'm Dr. Haruni Bhat. I started as a clinical pharmacist and somewhere along the way I became obsessed with the mysteries that history never fully solved. That's exactly why I created Hidden History, a Rewind Studios original podcast powered by Pave Studios. Every Monday I go where history touches the unknown. Vanished civilizations, doomsday prophecies, paranormal phenomena and events that science still can't fully explain. I'll give you historical context. I'LL break down the science. I'll even interrogate the supernatural. I treat these moments like open case files, not miss, not superstition. Just incomplete explanations waiting for a closer look. And I'll ask the question, what if this happened today? Listen to and follow hidden history, available now wherever you get your podcasts.