The Mummy: Funereal Rites & Customs in Ancient Egypt

Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge

Senate, 1995 - Egypt - 404 pages

To obtain eternal life the ancient Egyptians believed the body, upon death, had to undergo a mummification or embalming process. The author gives an account of the history of ancient Egypt and describes the techniques used in mummification and the rituals and artefacts associated with this funereal rite. To the Egyptian, the embalming of a dead body acted as a barrier against decay and prepared it for the return of the soul (and thereafter everlasting life). As the author notes, great care was taken in the preparation of the tombs to repel attacks by demons; to ensure the mummy rested in comfort the tombs were decorated with familiar scenes and with everyday objects from the person's life. This volume will interest anyone wishing to understand not only the process of mummification but also the cultural background of a ritual upon which an entire civilization was built.

Contents

• The Land of Egypt: 1
• 99: 23
• List of Nomes of Upper and Lower Egypt: 108
• Modern hieroglyphical literature: 138
• 148152: 153
• Mummy Cloth and Akhmim Embroideries: 189
• Chests for Canopic Jars: 201
• Pillows: 210
• PtahSekerAusår figures: 216
• Necklaces Rings Bracelets: 230
• The Buckle or: 256
• Ptab: 273
• Anpu Anubis: 280
• Sati and Anget: 287
• Nehebka: 295
• Figures of Kings and Private Persons: 301
• Sarcophagi: 310
• Egyptian Writing Materials: 349
• The Egyptian Months and their names in Coptic Greek: 363
• A List of Common Determinatives: 375
• Sechet: 389

About the author

E.A. Wallis Budge, 1857 - 1934 Budge was the Curator of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum from 1894 to 1924. He was also a Sometime Scholar of Christ's College, a scholar at the University of Cambridge, Tyrwhitt, and a Hebrew Scholar. He collected a large number of Coptic, Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Egyptian Papyri manuscripts. He was involved in numerous archaeology digs in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Sudan. Budge is known for translating the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is also known as The Papyrus of Ani. He also analyzed many of the practices of Egyptian religion, language and ritual. His written works consisted of translated texts and hieroglyphs and a complete dictionary of hieroglyphs. Budge's published works covered areas of Egyptian culture ranging from Egyptian religion, Egyptian mythology and magical practices. He was knighted in 1920. E.A. Wallis Budge died on November 23, 1934 in London, England.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Mummy: Funereal Rites & Customs in Ancient Egypt
• Author: Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis Budge
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: Senate, 1995
• ISBN: 1859580718, 9781859580714
• Length: 404 pages