2.+Egyptian+Religion+and+Afterlife

= ** 2. Egyptian Religion and the Afterlife ** = = = Ancient Egyptians had a strong belief in life after death and made elaborate preparations for their journey into the afterworld. You’re probably familiar with mummies and the pyramids, but have you ever noticed the hieroglyphic writing that was often placed in coffins, on papyrus (paper), or on pyramid walls? In this activity, you’ll read some excerpts from the Coffin Texts and the // Book of the // // Dead //. Each of these texts is a group of spells that helped protect and provide for a dead person in the afterlife. An individual would select and purchase parts of the text to be placed in his coffin.
 * Introduction: **
 * Directions ** :

Place information that will help answer the following questions in Noodles Note cards. Share your notecards with me. Mrs. Peckham will instruct on how to use the Note cards and save your site information. All Web links for this lesson can be found at: [] [] Read the text on this page then answer the following questions. Remember that this text speaks to a regular person who has just died—not necessarily a pharaoh. Here are some vocabulary words to help you: • Osiris: god of the underworld • Anubis: god of funerals; sometimes known as the son of Osiris
 * The Coffin Texts **

1. Imagine that you’re an ancient Egyptian. You’re quite old, and you know you won’t live much longer. You’ve just read or heard this text. How might it make you feel about your impending death? Why?

2. What do you think is the purpose of this text? Why would the Egyptians have written it in their coffins?

[] Click on “The Declaration of Innocence,” the third chapter in the book ( [] ).
 * The ****// Book of the Dead //**

Skip the introduction, and scroll down to the heading “Declaration of Innocence Before the Gods of the Tribunal.”

Read the italicized part of the Introduction (the first paragraph).

Read the first fifteen sentences of this section, through “I have not stolen bread.” Here are some vocabulary words to help you: • rapacious: extremely greedy and aggressive • sullen: gloomy, dull, or somber • transgressed: sinned • perjury: lying

3. Name at least five things that a dead person had to promise upon entering the Hall of Justice shortly after death.

4. Why do you think this text was an important part of the // Book of the Dead // ?

Use your browser’s Back button to return to the table of contents for the // Book of the Dead //. Scroll to a little more than halfway down the page. Click on the link to “[The Chapter of] Making the Transformation into a Hawk of Gold” ( [] ).

Read this chapter. Note that the chapter starts with “The Osiris Ani saith,” which means that the text is what Osiris, god of the underworld, has said.

5. What has Osiris done in this chapter?