PAPYRUS OF ANI FULL VERSION
PAPYRUS OF ANI FULL

Other deities observe the proceedings: to the left of the balance, Shay (fate) and, strangely, two birth goddesses, Renenutet and Meskhenet. At the top of the scene the great gods of Egypt are shown, formally seated on thrones, waiting to deliver judgment: Ra-Horakhty, Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Isis and Nephthys, Horus and Hathor, joined by gods personifying the divine word (Hu) and perception (Sia). This creature has the head of a crocodile, the forepart of a lion, and the hindquarters of a hippopotamus. On a mat behind Thoth sits a monster ready to spring forward to consume Ani's heart if he fails to pass the test.

To the right of the balance stands Thoth, here in human form with ibis head he is the scribe of the gods, and he holds a scribe's palette and a reed brush, ready to note down the results of Ani's interrogation. The god Anubis, here shown as a jackal-headed, human-bodied, kneeling deity, described as 'he who is in the place of embalming,' holds the cord of the right-hand pan, and steadies the plumb bob of the balance. This creature is a form of the god Thoth, who acts in a different form and with a different duty elsewhere in this 'trial'.

The crossbar of the balance hangs from a feather-shaped peg attached to the upright support, on the top of which squats a small baboon. Centrally placed is a balance, holding in its two pans Ani's heart (on the left) and a feather (on the right) representing Maat, the divine personification of truth and order. As a result of this, the listener has a unique opportunity to savor all aspects of the Book of the Dead, or as it is otherwise known, The Book of the Great Awakening.'Book of the Dead', Papyrus of Ani (frame 3): Ani's Judgment: the scene is the Hall of Judgment.

PAPYRUS OF ANI FULL

Reproduced in full are a clear copy of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, an interlinear transliteration of their sounds (as reconstructed), a word-for-word translation, and separately a complete, smooth translation. Budge, who later became perhaps the world's most renowned Egyptologist.

PAPYRUS OF ANI FULL VERSION

This Papyrus of Ani, a full version of the Theban recension, is presented here by Dr. It was a copy of The Egyptian Book of the Dead, written around 1500 BC for Ani, royal scribe of Thebes, overseer of the granaries of the lords of Abydos, and scribe of the offerings of the lord of Thebes. Wallis Budge, then purchasing agent for the British Museum, followed rumors he heard of a spectacular archaeological find in Upper Egypt, and found in an 18th Dynasty tomb near Luxor 'the largest roll of papyrus I had ever seen, tied with a thick band of papyrus, and in a perfect state of preservation'. In a certain sense, it stood behind all Egyptian civilization. Chapters were carved on the pyramids of the ancient fifth dynasty, texts were written in papyrus, and selections were painted on mummy cases well into the Christian Era. Embodying a ritual to be performed for the dead, with detailed instructions for the behaviors of the disembodied spirit in the Land of the Gods, it served as the most important repository of religious authority for some 3,000 years. The Egyptian Book of the Dead is unquestionably one of the most influential books in all of history.

Papyrus of ani