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                   BOOKS ON
               EGYPT AND CHALDEA
                      BY
     E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, M. A., LITT D., D. LIT.
       _Keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian
        Antiquities in the British Museum_
                     AND
                L. W. KING, M. A.
        _Assistant in the Department of
       Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities
             in the British Museum_

           Crown 8vo, 3S, 6d, net each

Vol I--EGYPTIAN RELIGION.
Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE

Vol II--EGYPTIAN MAGIC.
By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE

Vol. III--EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE.
Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE

Vol IV--BABYLONIAN RELIGION.
Babylonian Religion and Mythology. By L. W. King

Vol V--ASSYRIAN LANGUAGE.
Easy Lessons in the Cuneiform Texts By L. W. KING, M. A.

Vols VI, VII, VIII--THE BOOK OF THE DEAD.
an English Translation of the Chapters, Hymns, &c., of the Theban
Recension With Introduction, Notes, and numerous Illustrations By E. A.
WALLIS BUDGE, Litt. D.

Vols IX-XVI--A HISTORY OF EGYPT.
from the end of the Neolithic Period to the Death of Cleopatra VII, B.C.
30 By E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, Litt. D. 8 vols. Illustrated.

   *    *    *    *    *




VOL. I.

EGYPTIAN IDEAS OF THE FUTURE LIFE


PUBLISHERS' NOTE.

In the year 1894, Dr. Wallis Budge prepared for Messrs. Kegan Paul,
Trench, Truebner & Co. an elementary work on the Egyptian language,
entitled "First Steps in Egyptian," and two years later the companion
volume, "An Egyptian Reading Book," with transliterations of all the
texts printed in it, and a full vocabulary. The success of these works
proved that they had helped to satisfy a want long felt by students of
the Egyptian language, and as a similar want existed among students of
the languages written in the cuneiform character, Mr. L.W. King, of the
British Museum, prepared, on the same lines as the two books mentioned
above, an elementary work on the Assyrian and Babylonian languages
("First Steps in Assyrian"), which appeared in 1898. These works,
however, dealt mainly with the philological branch of Egyptology and
Assyriology, and it was impossible in the space allowed to explain much
that needed explanation in the other branches of those subjects--that is
to say, matters relating to the archaeology, history, religion, etc., of
the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. In answer to the numerous
requests which have been made, a series of short, popular handbooks on
the most important branches of Egyptology and Assyriology have been
prepared, and it is hoped that these will serve as introductions to the
larger works on these subjects. The present is the first volume of the
series, and the succeeding volumes will be published at short intervals,
and at moderate prices.




                  EGYPTIAN IDEAS
                      OF THE
                   FUTURE LIFE
                        BY
     E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, M. A., LITT. D., D. LIT.
   KEEPER Of THE EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES
              OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM

             WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS

                  _THIRD EDITION_

                       1908

To SIR JOHN EVANS, K. C. B., D. C. L., F. R. S., ETC., ETC., ETC. IN
GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF MUCH FRIENDLY HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT




PREFACE.

   *    *    *    *    *

The following pages are intended to place before the reader in a handy
form an account of the principal ideas and beliefs held by the ancient
Egyptians concerning the resurrection and the future life, which is
derived wholly from native religious works. The literature of Egypt
which deals with these subjects is large and, as was to be expected, the
product of different periods which, taken together, cover several
thousands of years; and it is exceedingly difficult at times to
reconcile the statements and beliefs of a writer of one period with
those of a writer of another. Up to the present no systematic account of
the doctrine of the resurrection and of the future life has been
discovered, and there is no reason for hoping that such a thing will
ever be found, for the Egyptians do not appear to have thought that it
was necessary to write a work of the kind. The inherent difficulty of
the subject, and the natural impossibility that different men living in
different places and at different times should think alike on matters
which must, after all, belong always to the region of faith, render it
more than probable that no college of priests, however powerful, was
able to formulate a system of beliefs which would be received throughout
Egypt by the clergy and the laity alike, and would be copied by the
scribes as a final and authoritative work on Egyptian eschatology.
Besides this, the genius and structure of the Egyptian language are such
as to preclude the possibility of composing in it works of a
philosophical or metaphysical character in the true sense of the words.
In spite of these difficulties, however, it is possible to collect a
great deal of important information on the subject from the funereal and
religious works which have come down to us, especially concerning the
great central idea of immortality, which existed unchanged for thousands
of years, and formed the pivot upon which the religious and social life
of the ancient Egyptians actually turned. From the beginning to the end
of his life the Egyptian's chief thought was of the life beyond the
grave, and the hewing of his tomb in the rock, and the providing of its
furniture, every detail of which was prescribed by the custom of the
country, absorbed the best thoughts