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00:00:00four thousand years a story mired in controversy its message is timeless and mysterious
00:00:08the egyptian book of the dead is the ancient egyptians guide to the afterlife and it may
00:00:15well be the world's first religious document from the maverick archaeologist who plotted
00:00:21to smuggle it out of egypt i will not tolerate any deviation from the law either by you or by
00:00:26your native friends to a terrifying journey into the afterlife itself
00:00:31the egyptian book of the dead is a story as old as civilization the first vision of judgment day
00:00:40a book that may answer the questions mankind has been asking for millennia
00:00:56mummies the mysterious remnants of one of history's oldest civilizations
00:01:05they whisper of vast expanses of time of secrets wrapped deep within their ancient shrouds
00:01:15they are so familiar yet so alien
00:01:18a frightening reminder of our own mortality
00:01:24yet a tantalizing promise of immortality
00:01:29the mummy is only the remnant of a far greater mystery
00:01:36the ancient egyptians believed in a vast and intricate afterlife
00:01:45each mummified corpse was expected to resurrect in another world for which there was only one guide
00:01:54the egyptian book of the dead the name given to scrolls entombed with the mummified dead
00:02:01in ancient egypt the book of the dead was a kind of guidebook for the deceased and a book of spells and
00:02:09ate to aid the deceased in his journey through the afterlife and the process of becoming immortal
00:02:14it was certainly a book of magic it's a collection of spells
00:02:19the chief purpose of which is to enable life after death and immortality to the deceased
00:02:26it is a book for the dead because it tells us about what the dead will face in the afterlife
00:02:34that's why we call it the book of the dead
00:02:36it is very important because this is a quest of immortality
00:02:40it has been said that the ancient egyptians cared more about their life after death than their life on earth
00:02:53the ancient city of thebes in the 19th dynasty more than 3000 years ago
00:02:59this is the story of one egyptian whom history only records as ani
00:03:12lived during a high point of egyptian culture known as the new kingdom
00:03:33between 1600 and 1200 bc brilliant military pharaohs conquered lands from nubia to syria
00:03:44pharaohs like ramses and seti built enormous palaces and lavish religious temples
00:03:52ani enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in ancient egyptian history
00:03:56it was in these historic periods of relative prosperity that people began to contemplate
00:04:02questions of philosophy life and the afterlife
00:04:06the afterlife weighed heavily on annie's mind
00:04:25the idea of dying without proper preparation for the next world jeopardized one's chances for eternal
00:04:31paradise
00:04:58the evidence of annie's obsession with the afterlife
00:05:01is this extraordinary piece of funeral art
00:05:04known as the scroll of annie
00:05:08the scroll of annie is rightly one of the most famous copies of the book of the dead because of
00:05:12the high quality of the artistry the writing and especially the beautifully painted vignettes
00:05:18are really among the most impressive of any of the books of the dead that have survived
00:05:26archaeologists have uncovered more than 25 000 copies of the egyptian book of the dead
00:05:32the oldest text dating from 1500 bc the latest from the fourth century a d but it is here at the british
00:05:42museum in the heart of 21st century london that the famous scroll of annie the finest example of
00:05:49the egyptian book of the egyptian book of the egyptian book of the dead ever preserved
00:06:03magical spells, and over 150 colourful illustrations.
00:06:10This exquisite piece of work is one of the longest scrolls ever discovered.
00:06:16When unrolled, it measures an incredible 78 feet.
00:06:22But the way in which the museum acquired this masterpiece is steeped in controversy.
00:06:32The scroll was brought from Egypt in 1887 by a museum curator, Dr. Ernest Alfred Thomson
00:06:40Wallace Budge.
00:06:43He was a prolific author writing over a hundred books on Egyptology, most of which are still
00:06:48in print.
00:06:50He published some of the first translations of important Egyptian text.
00:06:56He collected thousands of artefacts, acknowledged as some of the finest examples of ancient
00:07:01art.
00:07:03Yet there are those who say Budge was a second-rate scholar, a poor archaeologist, and a cultural
00:07:09thief, acquiring antiquities by any means possible.
00:07:13He was out there, well, basically looting and pillaging and buying up what he could.
00:07:19People apply cultural judgements which are totally out of time.
00:07:26The fact that he took materials out of ancient cultures for its day was quite normal.
00:07:31You can't look at him from a modern point of view, you know, this is a cultural thief.
00:07:35This is not the way they looked at it in those days.
00:07:38But on the other hand, he did sail very close to the wind.
00:07:41I think he was a thief.
00:07:45Because you can be an honest man all your life, but if you steal something, you become
00:07:50a thief.
00:07:53Although Budge may be controversial today, in his lifetime he was a respected translator
00:07:59and one of the finest curators at the British Museum.
00:08:04In the autumn of 1887, the museum sent him to Egypt on an artefact collecting expedition.
00:08:10Budge's trip to Egypt was perfectly timed.
00:08:39Shortly after his arrival, news of newly discovered artefacts began to surface, which he noted in
00:08:46his autobiography.
00:08:48Before I had been in Cairo many hours, I found that everyone was talking about the discoveries
00:08:53made in Upper Egypt, and the most extraordinary stories were afloat.
00:08:58Rumours of the finds have reached all the great cities of Europe, and there were representatives
00:09:03of several continental museums in Cairo, each doing his best to secure the lion's share.
00:09:13Budge's first stop was the Egyptian Museum, to meet a fellow Egyptologist.
00:09:21There he was shocked by the shabby state of the museum's collection.
00:09:28Egypt was forced to give its owner immortality.
00:09:31In this place, it's lucky if the scarab itself lasts six months.
00:09:36Egypt doesn't have the resources that the great European museums have, Mr. Budge.
00:09:40But you think, at least, you could dust the place?
00:09:43You think, at least, they could keep the treasure from water damage?
00:09:46Well, hopefully, the new director will help change that.
00:09:49Ah, the famous Monsieur Grébeau.
00:09:54After seeing the recovery and preservation of all Egyptian artifacts, was the new head
00:09:59of colonial antiquities, a Frenchman named Eugene Grébeau.
00:10:06Mr. Grébeau would argue that the British Museum is just another thief smuggling away Egypt's
00:10:11heritage.
00:10:12Sounds just like a Frenchman.
00:10:14Mr. Budge, you learned the word of the Khans from Luxor.
00:10:20Treasure in Luxor?
00:10:22That doesn't sound like archaeology to me.
00:10:24Emile, I'd like you to meet my assistant, Ramshi.
00:10:26Madame, you're not planning on doing anything illegal, are you?
00:10:30Of course not.
00:10:32Purchasing antiquities is a theft.
00:10:35It's not a theft, as long as Egypt treats its treasures like this.
00:10:41It's preservation.
00:10:42Good day, Emile.
00:10:51Budge was determined to see these new discoveries for himself, and set about planning his trip.
00:10:59Luxor was 450 miles along the Nile from his base in Cairo.
00:11:09Budge knew he had to reach Luxor before other collectors.
00:11:15His competitive instinct served him well, for among the artifacts was a window to another
00:11:20world, one that modern man had never seen.
00:11:24The discovery of the scroll of Ani is one of Egyptology's greatest stories.
00:11:35An adventure involving conspiracy, intrigue, and a controversial hero.
00:11:42Ernest A.
00:11:43A.
00:11:44A.
00:11:45A.
00:11:46In 1887, Budge was in Egypt to acquire artifacts for the British Museum.
00:11:54I received information from a native in Egypt that some very important discoveries in Thebes
00:11:58had been made.
00:12:00He told me that a tomb had been found on the western bank of the Nile, which was the best
00:12:04he'd ever seen and that there were in it several rolls of papyrus.
00:12:07He urged me to come without delay and to take possession of all these things before the authorities
00:12:12could seize them and cast their owners into prison.
00:12:15The late 19th century was a really dynamic time in the history of Egyptology.
00:12:21On the one hand, you had the emergence of modern archaeology, but at the same time, you
00:12:25had the old, long-standing tradition of looting, of even mining sites by antiquities dealers.
00:12:32Budge rarely excavated antiquities from tombs.
00:12:35He preferred to buy them from dealers.
00:12:38This thriving black market led to an extraordinary collection for the British Museum.
00:12:45But it also helped destroy some of Egypt's archaeological treasures.
00:12:49And the black market for selling antiquities was very bad.
00:12:54Egypt was raped.
00:12:56We call it the rape of the Nile.
00:12:58They raped the Nile.
00:13:00They took this heritage out of the country, and it's now everywhere.
00:13:09Budge's assistant, Ramsey, took him to a black market antiquities dealer, where he was
00:13:14given an intriguing artifact found in Luxor.
00:13:18He protecteth the weak against the strong, and he heareth the cry of him that is bound
00:13:23in fetters.
00:13:25In 1887, Budge was one of the few Westerners who could read hieroglyphics.
00:13:31It is real, yes?
00:13:33Yes.
00:13:34I'd say it's very real.
00:13:35It's a description of the sun god Ra, its 18th dynasty.
00:13:39I would venture to say that this is from a copy of the Book of the Dead.
00:13:43I call it the Bible of the Egyptians.
00:13:45It's the oldest religious texts in the world.
00:13:48Surely not older than the Bible.
00:13:50Indeed it is.
00:13:51In fact, this piece seems to be from the so-called negative confessions.
00:13:55This was a list of sins one should not commit.
00:13:58The real source of the Ten Commandments.
00:14:01Mahmoud.
00:14:02Uh, yes?
00:14:03Is this the only piece of papyrus?
00:14:05Oh, no.
00:14:06The man who found it.
00:14:08The man who found the scroll.
00:14:10He cut it into small pieces to sell it to collectors.
00:14:12I have no more, but this is from the new discovery.
00:14:16Yes, I have someone bring you to the man who found it.
00:14:20He is in Luxor.
00:14:22The problem with black market antiquities is that people wind up stealing things and taking
00:14:28them out of their context, whether it was done in the 1800s or...
00:14:33Many believe it is the oldest example of religious writing in the world.
00:14:38You can see things are written in the Bible, in the Old Testament and Quran.
00:14:43And therefore, religion today doesn't come suddenly.
00:14:48There is stages.
00:14:49The Book of the Dead is really the first stage of the human thinking about the afterlife.
00:14:59Book of the Dead has its earliest antecedents in the oldest religious texts we have from
00:15:02ancient Egypt, the pyramid texts, and these were inscribed on pyramids during the fifth
00:15:07dynasty around 2300 BC.
00:15:09Later, royal and noble Egyptians are choosing to have those same pyramid inscriptions written
00:15:17inside their coffins.
00:15:19And that set of texts are known as the coffin texts.
00:15:22Then by the time of the New Kingdom, which was a tremendous research in literary and artistic
00:15:29production, we find mortuary literature that begins to gather all the spells from the coffins
00:15:35and write them into a papyrus roll that can be buried with your mummy.
00:15:42In 1250 BC, during Ani's lifetime, the spells in the Book of the Dead were already over a
00:15:49thousand years old.
00:15:54We know from the historical record that Ani was a temple scribe.
00:15:58Today he might be considered an accountant.
00:16:02We find out that he is a royal scribe.
00:16:05He is in charge of tallying the accounts of all of the offerings made to the gods.
00:16:13Temples were both religious institutions but also major economic ones.
00:16:16And he was in charge of offerings but also of granaries of the temple.
00:16:24Ani's position as scribe tells us he was part of an educated group within the Egyptian elite.
00:16:31He would have been very concerned about his place in the afterlife.
00:16:36Eternity could only be guaranteed by owning a Book of the Dead.
00:16:40The Book of the Dead was probably created in an institution called the House of Life, which
00:16:45is a place connected with great temple complexes where religious learning was promoted.
00:16:50This is where new rituals were designed, myths were created or at least elaborated on and
00:16:55funeral texts were generated.
00:16:57Ani would have met with the priest at one of the temples to inquire about the Book of
00:17:03the Dead.
00:17:04There were two ways of getting a Book of the Dead.
00:17:08One was you commissioned one especially and therefore probably paid a premium price to
00:17:14have a very high quality one that was designed for you precisely from the very outset.
00:17:20We also know that quite a lot of books of the dead were made without indicating who
00:17:25they belong to.
00:17:27The name of the owner, which is repeated throughout any Book of the Dead, is actually left blank.
00:17:31So that when somebody came along and said they wanted one, they would simply write in the
00:17:36name of the new owner of it and then it would be ready to be placed in his or her tomb.
00:17:47Temple complexes in the New Kingdom were both places of worship and business.
00:17:52An Egyptian scroll began life as a stalk of the papyrus plant which grew plentifully along
00:17:58the Nile.
00:18:03The stems outer rinds were removed, then laid in strips and pounded together into thin sheets.
00:18:10In a dry climate like Egypt's, papyrus was extremely stable, lasting for thousands of years, and
00:18:17it would have been used in a dry climate.
00:18:18It would have been used in a dry climate like Egypt's, papyrus was extremely stable, lasting
00:18:23for thousands of years.
00:18:24The next step in constructing a Book of the Dead was the writing of the spells.
00:18:49The scribal profession was one of the most esteemed in the ancient world.
00:18:54They controlled knowledge, and knowledge is power.
00:18:58Now the scribe didn't get to be a scribe by accident.
00:19:01It took years of rigorous training, starting with small boys who were sent to scribal schools,
00:19:07at the temples, or in the royal palace.
00:19:10They spent years and years mastering the thousands of symbols in the hieroglyphic language.
00:19:17In ancient Egypt, language is itself magical.
00:19:20It has the power to create.
00:19:23It is very much like the idea in the Gospel of John, that in the beginning is the word,
00:19:29that there is this primal principle of language, which is certainly part of the Book of the
00:19:35Dead's whole point.
00:19:36It aims to create a blessed afterlife.
00:19:42The final point in creating the Book of the Dead would be painting the individual pictures,
00:19:47or vignettes.
00:19:51Most Egyptians believed that these images had a magical power, enough to determine a man's
00:19:56destiny.
00:20:01It's all part of this manufacturing process.
00:20:04You can see this sort of mass production mode of really confecting, assembling the Book
00:20:12of the Dead according to order.
00:20:19Purchasing a Book of the Dead would have affected Annie's entire family.
00:20:24It was quite expensive.
00:20:25Perhaps a half a year's wage for a person of, let's say, Annie's status.
00:20:34The ancient records reveal that Annie's wife was named Tutu.
00:20:38The couple would have had many discussions regarding the Book of the Dead.
00:20:42The choice was a difficult one for a family in the New Kingdom, to provide for the present,
00:20:48the Book of the Dead's whole point.
00:20:49The Book of the Dead would have been a long time for eternity.
00:20:57Annie's quest to acquire a Book of the Dead did in fact bring him immortality.
00:20:58But not until the intervention of Wallace Budge, 3,000 years later.
00:21:12I assure you, I make a very unpleasant enemy.
00:21:17Ancient Egyptian civilization was a culture of death.
00:21:20Very little is left of ancient Egyptian daily life.
00:21:26But we know a great deal about them because of the lavish attention they devoted to their
00:21:29tombs, their treasures, their scrolls, and even their mummified corpses.
00:21:34Today, the religion of the pharaohs is meeting the technology of the twenty-first century.
00:21:55In an unprecedented study, Egyptologists are applying cutting-edge medical science,
00:22:04to 3,000-year-old mummies.
00:22:08The digital technology allows Egyptologists to virtually unwrap mummies, without doing
00:22:14any harm.
00:22:19Beneath the wrappings, a 2,000-year-old amulet protects the deceased from the dangers of the
00:22:27afterlife.
00:22:30Now, when they were wrapping the body, they would also put amulets, protective amulets,
00:22:36all around the body, both in the front and also in the back.
00:22:40That would help the body achieve an afterlife.
00:22:43And what's quite nice is that some of these amulets are tied into things in the Book of
00:22:48God.
00:22:49So you know that they are there to protect the body against specific perils that they're
00:22:53going to meet on the way through to the other side of the afterlife.
00:22:59But why did the ancient Egyptians go to the trouble of preserving their dead, to begin
00:23:04with?
00:23:05The ancient Egyptians mummified their dead because they believed that the soul really
00:23:09needed a more physical vehicle to enjoy all of the sort of physical delights of the afterlife.
00:23:17And so they used to mummify bodies, which meant preserving them so that they could be
00:23:21used by the soul to go back into the body, which would be perfectly preserved, and then
00:23:26could enjoy, you know, food, drink, anything else that the afterlife had to offer.
00:23:33But mummifying a body was not an easy process.
00:23:37What the embalmers would do was remove all the internal organs, the lungs, the liver, the
00:23:43stomach and the intestines.
00:23:47The organs were placed in ceremonial jars, known as canopic jars, which would later be entombed
00:23:53with the body.
00:23:56A long hook was used to pull the brain out through the nose.
00:24:01Ancient Egyptians did not believe the brain was an essential organ, so could be dispensed
00:24:06with.
00:24:07You can actually see the defect is right here, where they go in through the nose, punched
00:24:11a hole in the floor of the skull to remove the brain.
00:24:15Once the brain had been removed, they would melt resins and pour the liquid resin through
00:24:20the nostril and sort of roll the head around so that the cranium was coated.
00:24:25This was done so that they could prevent bacterial growth in the cranium.
00:24:33The heart was the only organ that would stay within the body.
00:24:38It was thought to be the centre of intelligence and feeling, and those would be needed in the
00:24:44afterlife.
00:24:46They would wash the body out, dry it using Natron, which is a kind of a salt and baking soda
00:24:52kind of mixture.
00:24:54And after 40 days of desiccation had elapsed, they would put oil and unguents on the body,
00:25:00and then wrap it with great ceremony rituals.
00:25:03And that would be the end of mummification, and it would be buried.
00:25:09Mummification was just the beginning of a long journey, a journey for the soul of the deceased.
00:25:17And the Egyptian Book of the Dead was the only guide to a life beyond the grave.
00:25:25Around the year 1250 BC, an Egyptian scribe named Ani began thinking seriously about the
00:25:32afterlife.
00:25:34He believed the Book of the Dead would offer him peace of mind.
00:25:38When you die, and you are getting to the afterlife, the way, the journey in between is very perilous.
00:25:46And the deceased spirit, before they were reborn forever, had to go through a series of tests.
00:25:53And the Book of the Dead provides answers and protection against the perils of the journey.
00:26:00This is a quest of immortality, without knowing what is in the Book of the Dead.
00:26:05The deceased will never go to the afterlife.
00:26:08The most important thing for the ancient Egyptian is the afterlife.
00:26:13The Book of the Dead was a costly proposition, and the decision to purchase one, a difficult
00:26:18and complicated process.
00:26:23With 186 spells to choose from, a scroll would be produced based on a person's needs and budget.
00:26:33The priests of the temples helped a person choose which spells would be needed in the afterlife.
00:26:37But I found a giant Turk-Khurba.
00:26:38The spirit of the dead was a巨大 and a woman of thought a person's needs.
00:26:39I have been
00:26:43In Suplified, and I will see that this woman is aDelaw, and in Hesuit was the same.
00:26:44The spirit of the dead is to the dead.
00:26:45That is not a solid.
00:26:46The person who led to the dead is to the dead.
00:26:47And he is, as anointed, there is no reason for the dead.
00:26:49They are all demon.
00:26:50They are all humanized.
00:26:51This is a mortal, and lessen car, and more then.
00:26:52This is a very human.
00:26:53That is an Dollar Tree.
00:26:54I have a humanized kampush, so I have a humanizedruction.
00:26:57I sometimes wonder if these Book of the Dead didn't start out, in some ways, as a little extra moonlighting for money.
00:27:15Once you convince all the rich people that they just have to have this thing,
00:27:19then, I mean, the sky is the limit in how much you could charge.
00:27:22The creation of one's very own Book of the Dead may also have been a status symbol.
00:27:31The Book of the Dead would have been quite expensive for any ordinary person to afford,
00:27:36and, in fact, we can see this play out archaeologically.
00:27:39We find that the Book of the Dead is only possessed by members of the elite.
00:27:48This was very different from the earliest days of Egyptian culture.
00:27:52Originally, mummification and an afterlife among the gods was reserved for the pharaoh only.
00:28:01Yet, by Annie's time, the middle classes, and even the poor, hoped for a life after death and were willing to pay for it.
00:28:09It shows democratization of the afterlife, because originally those texts were only for the king.
00:28:17Then, when we get to the Middle Kingdom, they become accessible to sort of the high nobility.
00:28:23And then, when we get to the Middle Kingdom, all of a sudden, a much larger group gets access to these texts.
00:28:31But in the New Kingdom, the Book of the Dead was written for everyone.
00:28:36It was found in the private tombs.
00:28:38It was found in the nobles' tombs.
00:28:40It was found in the tombs of the artisans.
00:28:42The spread of belief in the afterlife affected more than just the newly emerging middle class.
00:28:50Some scholars say the Book of the Dead influenced Jewish and Christian scripture.
00:28:56Ancient Christianity owes a great deal to ancient Egypt for its concept of heaven.
00:29:02This makes sense, because most of the early Christian fathers were native Egyptians.
00:29:07And so, when documents were being written concerning the nature and substance of the afterlife,
00:29:12since these things were not originally written in the Bible,
00:29:15the ancient Egyptians sort of filled in the blanks.
00:29:19The idea of spending one's afterlife with your loved ones,
00:29:23in a pleasant place where you could do what you like,
00:29:26is the same in both Christianity and in ancient Egyptian religion.
00:29:32There's even a case to be made that the Egyptian Book of the Dead
00:29:36influenced New Testament and Christian religious imagery.
00:29:41It's very clear when we study the history of the New Testament
00:29:44that, in fact, their main competition for the religion of Jesus
00:29:50was the religion of Isis and Osiris and their child, Horus.
00:29:57Many of the early figurations of the Virgin Mary,
00:30:01sitting with baby Jesus on her lap,
00:30:04are actually based on Isis statues,
00:30:06where Isis is holding Pharaoh, now her symbolic son.
00:30:11One of the first people to notice the connection between the Book of the Dead
00:30:15and the Bible
00:30:16was Wallace Budge.
00:30:19The fact remains the Egyptians did believe in one God.
00:30:27Osiris, who had lived upon the earth,
00:30:29had suffered a cruel death and had risen from the dead.
00:30:33There is no doubt that certain views and religious ideas of Christian sects
00:30:37may be traced directly to the Egyptians.
00:30:39It's interesting to see how people's ethical beliefs and religious beliefs,
00:30:46no matter where they are from or what century they were sort of written in,
00:30:51all have a great deal in common.
00:30:53When Wallace Budge arrived in Egypt in 1887,
00:31:04the country was controlled by a European coalition.
00:31:08Following a nationalist rebellion in 1882,
00:31:11Great Britain and France shared control of the country
00:31:14and the vital Suez Canal.
00:31:16Their coalition would control the politics and economy of Egypt for decades.
00:31:23But it was an uncomfortable union.
00:31:27And men like Budge didn't make the alliance any easier.
00:31:33Budge had heard rumours of an enormous discovery in Luxor,
00:31:36and his plans to find it were about to put him on a collision course
00:31:40with the new policies of the French head of colonial antiquities,
00:31:44Eugene Grebo.
00:31:46Mr. Budge?
00:31:48Yes?
00:31:50You will come with me.
00:31:51I will? What's this about?
00:31:53It is Monsieur Grebo. He must see you.
00:31:56He must, must he?
00:31:58Ramsey, I'll see you in front of the hotel tomorrow morning at nine.
00:32:04Monsieur Grebo had published one very good book on Egyptian religion,
00:32:09but by nature and disposition and training,
00:32:11he was unsuited for the post in which he was thrust.
00:32:14Set, you are to wait here.
00:32:17Here?
00:32:18And all those who had at heart the welfare of Egypt regretted the appointment.
00:32:22Pardon the subterfuge, Mr. Budge.
00:32:32I thought it might be unseemly for the director of the Egyptian museum
00:32:35to be seen in public with a man of your reputation.
00:32:38Monsieur Grebo, I presume.
00:32:41My reputation and that of my museum are among my most cherished honours.
00:32:47Will you join me for tea?
00:32:49I'm afraid you will have to return to the British museum empty-handed, Mr. Budge.
00:32:55As the keeper of Egypt's antiquities,
00:32:58I must inform you it is my intention to prevent any looting of the nation's treasures.
00:33:03Monsieur Grebo, the goal of the British museum
00:33:06is the preservation of the world's heritage.
00:33:11My predecessor tells me that on your last trip,
00:33:13you left Egypt with over 1,400 illegal antiquities.
00:33:17Your predecessor sent nearly the same amount back to the Louvre.
00:33:21It is illegal to remove antiquities from the country, Mr. Budge.
00:33:24I intend to enforce the law strictly.
00:33:27Anyone suspected of illegal antiquity trading will face painful scrutiny,
00:33:31perhaps even torture.
00:33:32Threatening the men and women who live here
00:33:34is not the way to gain their trust.
00:33:37I do not need their trust.
00:33:39I need their obedience.
00:33:42All antiquities belong to the state and to the state's museums.
00:33:45But these people have made their living from antiquities for generations.
00:33:50Rather than fight them, you should make an alliance with them.
00:33:53They will lead you to even greater fines.
00:33:56The law is quite clear.
00:33:58All antiquities, whether discovered or not,
00:34:00fall under my jurisdiction.
00:34:03I will not tolerate any deviation from the law,
00:34:05either by you or by your native friends.
00:34:08Well,
00:34:10I'm sorry we don't see eye to eye.
00:34:16Do not oppose me, Mr. Budge.
00:34:19I assure you, I make a very unpleasant enemy.
00:34:22I don't see you as an enemy.
00:34:27Just unpleasant.
00:34:29Good day to you.
00:34:34Budge knew the French authorities would arrest him
00:34:36if they discovered him buying antiquities.
00:34:38He had to get to Luxor as quickly as possible
00:34:41to see for himself the enormous horde.
00:34:44This thing's supposed to take me all the way to Luxor, is it?
00:34:49Wallace Budge was willing to risk arrest, jail,
00:34:53and even worse,
00:34:54to get the treasure.
00:34:55Ani!
00:35:21Abend!
00:35:21If an ancient Egyptian wanted to guarantee himself eternal life,
00:35:36there was only one answer.
00:35:38The Book of the Dead.
00:35:41The Book of the Dead varied from individual to individual.
00:35:53We have up to 189 chapters
00:35:55that could be in the Book of the Dead.
00:35:57In fact, that's almost never the case,
00:36:00that we have all 189.
00:36:02So we find that the scribes,
00:36:03based on their own theology
00:36:05or the preferences of their customers,
00:36:07had a lot of leeway
00:36:08in how they would put the Book of the Dead together.
00:36:12Now, a spell is a magical utterance or incantation,
00:36:17and the purpose of these was to help
00:36:19the deceased achieve eternal life,
00:36:22or immortality, life after death.
00:36:25The spells included in the Book of the Dead
00:36:27contained protections from demons
00:36:29that might attack the deceased.
00:36:31There's even a spell to protect the deceased
00:36:33from dying a second time.
00:36:35Egyptians faced hard physical labor in the afterlife
00:36:38as they plowed the soil
00:36:39and tilled the fields of the gods.
00:36:42Chapter 6 allows the deceased,
00:37:01whenever called upon,
00:37:03to perform any manual labor.
00:37:05The deceased brings to life
00:37:07little clones of him or herself,
00:37:10and they do all the dirty work.
00:37:12So everybody had to take Chapter 6 with them,
00:37:14because otherwise,
00:37:15you'd be there in the underworld
00:37:16without your maid.
00:37:17The Egyptians even raided some of the spells.
00:37:21Some of them were annotated,
00:37:22truly excellent,
00:37:23good a million times.
00:37:25Now, how a dead person
00:37:26could report back on them,
00:37:27I don't know.
00:37:28The Egyptians believed that the heart
00:37:35was the most important organ
00:37:36that one possessed,
00:37:37and that was where one's soul lived,
00:37:39that was where one's essence was,
00:37:42where you thought, believed,
00:37:44everything came from there.
00:37:46And thus, they left the heart inside the body
00:37:48because they felt that your heart was necessary
00:37:50as part of the process of getting to the afterlife.
00:37:53Such an important organ needed extra protection.
00:38:00That protection came in the form
00:38:02of the heart scarab.
00:38:05The heart scarab is a representation
00:38:07of a scarab beetle.
00:38:09The reason why it's a beetle
00:38:10is that the rising sun in Egypt
00:38:13was symbolized by a beetle,
00:38:16a winged beetle,
00:38:17rising up above the horizon.
00:38:19So this scarab beetle was associated
00:38:21with the idea of the rising sun,
00:38:23the rising sun was a symbol
00:38:25for the rebirth of dead Egyptians.
00:38:28The scarab would be inscribed on the back
00:38:31with one of the spells
00:38:31that you see in the Book of the Dead,
00:38:33which basically explains why I did not lie,
00:38:36I did not steal, I did not cheat,
00:38:37and my heart is good, it is justified.
00:38:40The heart scarab's a bit like a crib sheet
00:38:42for the deceased.
00:38:44They were very concerned
00:38:45that their heart might reveal
00:38:47certain things that they had done
00:38:49while they were living
00:38:50that could be injurious to their chances.
00:38:53in the afterlife.
00:39:02Just as important as the text
00:39:12in the Book of the Dead
00:39:13were the lavish illustrations.
00:39:19The illustrations in the Book of the Dead
00:39:20give a little extra oomph
00:39:22to existing spells.
00:39:23For example, the spell against the demon beetle
00:39:26that might eat you up
00:39:26had a big depiction of the demon beetle on it
00:39:29being fended off by someone.
00:39:30So this would magically help enact the spell
00:39:32and help the deceased fend off
00:39:35this nasty critter that was about to eat him.
00:39:36Ani's scroll may have taken months,
00:39:41perhaps more than a year,
00:39:42to put together.
00:39:47To an ancient Egyptian,
00:39:49it was well worth the time and effort
00:39:51for it was meant to last for eternity.
00:39:54One can only imagine
00:39:58the relief and joy Ani must have felt
00:40:00when his scroll was finally complete.
00:40:08There are many scrolls from ancient Egypt,
00:40:11but few have the elaborateness
00:40:13and artistic splendor
00:40:14as the scroll of Ani.
00:40:16James Wasserman is a graphics artist and publisher.
00:40:25When I saw this scroll,
00:40:27my breath was taken away.
00:40:28It was just unbelievable.
00:40:30You know, the color, the richness,
00:40:32the mystery of the images,
00:40:34the power that was obviously in there
00:40:37was phenomenal.
00:40:39At the same time,
00:40:40I was studying the text,
00:40:41trying to learn what the heck
00:40:42the book was supposed to be.
00:40:45Wasserman produced a book
00:40:46from Ani's scroll,
00:40:48which not only includes
00:40:49the entire 78-foot parchment,
00:40:52but also its English translation.
00:40:57It is now possible
00:40:58to read Ani's Book of the Dead
00:41:00as Ani himself would have read it.
00:41:03If one reads and studies
00:41:05and meditates upon the images
00:41:07and the stories
00:41:08that are in the Book of the Dead,
00:41:10one sees a sense of pride,
00:41:14a sense of belonging,
00:41:15the initiate is seeking to learn
00:41:18and to persevere
00:41:21through tests of his moral character.
00:41:25Here we see Ani and Tutu
00:41:27approaching the most dramatic scene
00:41:30of the entire papyrus,
00:41:32where Ani's heart
00:41:34will be placed on a scale
00:41:36and balanced against
00:41:38the feather of truth
00:41:39of the goddess Mott.
00:41:41If his heart is found too heavy,
00:41:44he will immediately
00:41:45be devoured by this monster,
00:41:48Amit.
00:41:56For the ancient Egyptians,
00:41:59death was the first step
00:42:00towards salvation.
00:42:01When Ani's wife died,
00:42:08the scroll may not have been placed
00:42:09in her tomb,
00:42:10but it would guide her.
00:42:13A single scroll meant to unite
00:42:15a couple in the field of reeds.
00:42:17Three thousand years after Ani lived,
00:42:42Ernest Wallace Budge
00:42:44was on a mission.
00:42:45He'd been told of a rumored treasure
00:42:47recently discovered in Luxor,
00:42:49the modern name for the ancient city
00:42:51of Thebes.
00:42:53And he intended to be the first one
00:42:56to the ancient trove.
00:42:57Thank you, gentlemen.
00:42:58There will be bigger batches
00:42:59on my return.
00:43:01But his quest was about to be interrupted.
00:43:03Sir.
00:43:05Mr. Batch?
00:43:05You again?
00:43:06What is it this time?
00:43:08You are under arrest.
00:43:09Under the orders of Eugène Grebeau,
00:43:12the new and zealous guardian
00:43:13of Egyptian antiquities,
00:43:15who was also on his way to Luxor.
00:43:16Mr. Batch's assistant, Ramsey,
00:43:33had learned that Grebeau
00:43:33was leaving for Luxor
00:43:35that very morning
00:43:35and had told the captain of Grebeau's barge
00:43:38that if he ran it ashore,
00:43:40Budge would give him 50 British pounds.
00:43:42And so I will.
00:43:43A fine piece of work, Ramsey, my boy.
00:43:46Budge already had a reputation
00:43:48for deception.
00:43:49His questionable methods of acquisition
00:43:51are still being debated today.
00:43:54One problem with Budge
00:43:55is that he wasn't an archaeologist.
00:43:57He cut corners and vended rules
00:44:00at a time when you could
00:44:01pretty much buy anything you wanted.
00:44:03And so he was also thought of
00:44:04as being perhaps a little less
00:44:06than ethical
00:44:06in terms of his collecting methods.
00:44:09I get the impression
00:44:11that Budge,
00:44:12with some of his wheeling and dealing,
00:44:14was much more
00:44:15on the Indiana Jones side
00:44:17than on the side
00:44:19of the little old scholar,
00:44:21you know,
00:44:21who just wants to sit
00:44:22in the back room
00:44:23of the British Museum.
00:44:25But others suggest
00:44:26that Budge's approach
00:44:27to collecting
00:44:28was common at the time.
00:44:29When one considers
00:44:33the number of antiquities
00:44:35that were lost,
00:44:37destroyed,
00:44:38stolen,
00:44:39one can only thank somebody
00:44:41who is a bit of a scoundrel
00:44:42like Budge
00:44:43for having the wherewithal
00:44:45to go in
00:44:46and kind of bribe officials
00:44:48and engage in these
00:44:49bizarre little subterfuges
00:44:51because he preserved
00:44:53these things.
00:44:54Then he used his influence
00:44:58and he used his scholarship
00:45:01at that time.
00:45:02He used his presence
00:45:03and his friendship
00:45:04to the foreign Egyptologist
00:45:05in Egypt
00:45:06to steal many antiquities
00:45:09and take it out of the country
00:45:10and put it at the British Museum.
00:45:12That was not fair.
00:45:15At last,
00:45:16Budge set off for Luxor,
00:45:18still one step ahead
00:45:19of his nemesis.
00:45:20The treasure he sought
00:45:23was said to include
00:45:24rare pieces
00:45:25of an Egyptian book of the dead.
00:45:31When I arrived in Luxor,
00:45:32I found that the dealers
00:45:33had indeed collected
00:45:35many valuable things
00:45:36from the tombs
00:45:37at Western Thebes.
00:45:38This is antiquity.
00:45:41The natives treated
00:45:43the government's claim
00:45:44to all antiquities
00:45:45in Egypt with contempt.
00:45:48Antiquities were plentiful.
00:45:49Camp.
00:45:50Asher bound.
00:45:51Duck.
00:45:52Duck at there.
00:45:53Five pounds.
00:45:55But money was not.
00:45:59Shakram.
00:45:59Oh, shakram.
00:46:00Afra.
00:46:01Afra.
00:46:02Afra.
00:46:10Budge could only imagine
00:46:11what these ruins
00:46:12would have looked like
00:46:13in the time
00:46:14of the pharaohs.
00:46:19Some 3,000 years earlier,
00:46:22when Luxor was known
00:46:23as Thebes,
00:46:24a scribe named Ani
00:46:25commissioned his own
00:46:26Book of the Dead
00:46:27at a cost of
00:46:29half a year's salary.
00:46:33Its value to him
00:46:35in the afterlife
00:46:35would soon be tested.
00:46:37The book of the dead
00:46:39We do not know
00:46:54how Ani died,
00:46:55but we have a good idea
00:46:56of how he was buried.
00:46:59As a royal scribe,
00:47:00Ani was a member
00:47:01of the elite.
00:47:03His entombment
00:47:03would have been elaborate
00:47:04and expensive.
00:47:08We know there were
00:47:09different, shall we say,
00:47:10price ranges
00:47:11for mummification.
00:47:13Poor people
00:47:14would choose
00:47:15a mummification form
00:47:16that was really
00:47:17very low rent.
00:47:19The poor person
00:47:19would be taken
00:47:20by his or her family
00:47:22and buried in the sand
00:47:24outside somebody else's
00:47:25tomb or pyramid.
00:47:27And the hope there
00:47:28was that the poor person
00:47:29could sort of follow along.
00:47:31There was kind of
00:47:32a trickle down.
00:47:33If you got
00:47:35the high-end funeral,
00:47:37your mummification
00:47:38could take up
00:47:39to 272 days.
00:47:41You got all the best
00:47:42coffins and sarcophagi.
00:47:46After mummification,
00:47:47the deceased was placed
00:47:49on a boat-shaped sledge
00:47:50pulled by oxen
00:47:51and taken to his tomb
00:47:53in one of the large cemeteries
00:47:54that dotted
00:47:55the western shore
00:47:56of the Nile.
00:48:03and the last
00:48:04of the Nile.
00:48:06The last
00:48:07of the Nile
00:48:09were not
00:48:09a
00:48:11mishap.
00:48:11The last
00:48:12of the Nile
00:48:12was placed
00:48:12in the
00:48:14the last
00:48:14of the Nile.
00:48:15The last
00:48:15of the Nile
00:48:17was placed
00:48:17in the
00:48:17the Nile.
00:48:17The last
00:48:18of the Nile.
00:48:18The last
00:48:19of the Nile.
00:48:19The last
00:48:19of the Nile.
00:48:20Illustrations
00:48:21of Egyptian funerals
00:48:22show not only grieving relatives,
00:48:24but also musicians,
00:48:26dancers,
00:48:27priests,
00:48:28and professional mourners.
00:48:30the final ritual was the placement of the book of the dead
00:48:50now the deceased had everything he needed for his journey to a mysterious new world
00:49:00no idea
00:49:13bishop at all and show it is shot on the race
00:49:30The pharaohs of ancient Egypt were buried in elaborate tombs, from the first pyramids
00:49:51built in 2600 BC to the famous Valley of the Kings, where generations of royal families
00:49:58were buried for five centuries. The elite and middle class of ancient Egypt also had their
00:50:05own cemeteries and individual tombs. And these tombs, with their rich hoards of jewellery
00:50:11and goods, were for centuries the targets of tomb raiders.
00:50:17When Ernest Wallace Budge arrived in Luxor in 1887, tomb robbing was an ancient profession
00:50:23handed down from father to son for generations.
00:50:28Many natives dealt openly in antiquities. They detested the officials of the service of antiquities,
00:50:34for they were convinced that their one object was to get hold of antiquities, not to preserve
00:50:39in the Museum of Cairo, but to sell on their own behalf. They were ready to deal with anyone
00:50:46who was not a servant of the Egyptian government.
00:50:49I am selling to you, because you bought from my family before. But you must not lead the
00:50:58Frenchmen here. Understood?
00:51:01I will not. I can promise you that, Hassan. Budge is often rather vague about exactly where
00:51:11he found things. And that's because he was dealing with antiquities dealers, who would
00:51:15tell him second hand where they might have found them.
00:51:24Budge was most likely taken to Kerna, a village on the west bank of the Nile, very close to
00:51:30the Valley of the Kings. Here, the inhabitants built their homes on top of a cemetery of nobles,
00:51:37which they systematically plundered throughout the 19th century.
00:51:42These are the best treasures. The 19th dynasty. I may be able to give you a good price.
00:51:50Hassan, what do you want for it all?
00:51:54Two hundred pounds. Done. Can I look at that?
00:52:00It is trash. Broken treasure. It is worth nothing. Take it.
00:52:07Oh, my God. The seal is unbroken.
00:52:23Gentlemen, I believe we are looking at a document that has lain undisturbed for 30 or more centuries.
00:52:35Hail to you, Ra, creator of the gods.
00:52:46Ramsey, what we are seeing here is an untouched, pristine Egyptian book of the dead, made for Arnie, scribe to the Pharaoh.
00:53:07To an Egyptologist like Budge, a scroll was a fascinating artifact.
00:53:22But to an ancient Egyptian like Ani, the scroll was the key to life in the hereafter.
00:53:28The Egyptians believed that the afterlife was a dangerous place.
00:53:41And this probably symbolized the crisis of death.
00:53:44For the Egyptians who loved life, death was a tearing of the fabric of society.
00:53:49To the ancient Egyptians, death was only the beginning of a journey, fraught with peril.
00:54:13For the Egyptians, death was a crisis to be overcome.
00:54:17But they were optimistic, so they believed that it could be overcome, but not without a series of trials or travails.
00:54:24The Book of the Dead illustrates a dangerous world where the deceased is threatened by terrifying beings.
00:54:31When hieroglyphs were used in a magical book like the Book of the Dead, they became magically active.
00:54:37You might liken it to a video game where you had to go through a series of episodes where you would have to fight off enemies or go past clever obstacles.
00:54:47In fact, they would damage hieroglyphs that had a threatening aspect because they might kind of get out of control.
00:54:53So for example, one of the most common hieroglyphs is in the form of a horned viper, one of the most deadly snakes in the world.
00:55:00It's used a lot in spells and different texts, so they would chop it in half so the snake couldn't leap off the wall and attack the owner.
00:55:12But if the hieroglyph was not damaged, it could come alive and attack.
00:55:17For Ani, his protection was the spells from the Book of the Dead.
00:55:29The Egyptian afterlife also included allies.
00:55:33Based on texts like the Book of the Dead, we believe that the deceased would have immediately been greeted by the god Anubis,
00:55:40who was known as also opener of ways and the guide of the dead through the afterlife.
00:55:45Anubis is a very prominent god in the netherworld and also in connection with the actual mummification and ritual burial of the dead.
00:56:08He always appears with the head of a canine and he's identified with the jackals and the other kind of wild canines that existed in Egypt
00:56:16and tend to live on the fringes of the valley where the cemeteries are.
00:56:20So there was always a kind of close association between these wild dogs and the world of the dead.
00:56:26The god Anubis is both a guardian and a guide for the deceased.
00:56:31It's his job to make sure that you get to judgment safely and that you can get to everywhere that you need to go.
00:56:36One of the most important chapters in the Book of the Dead is a mysterious ritual called the opening of the mouth.
00:56:43What I love about this ritual is they didn't just symbolically open the mouth, but they also opened the eyes and the ears, which is very much a philosophical statement.
00:57:12The opening of the mouth ceremony was a spiritual awakening of the body.
00:57:17So once the deceased had died, his senses were shut down.
00:57:21And this would allow the body to become a vessel for the soul of the deceased.
00:57:25So they could see, they could taste offerings, they could smell incense, they could hear the prayers that were being said, and then they could actually actively use objects like the Book of the Dead to help in their journey through the afterlife.
00:57:40The dead person has a goal in the underworld, to reach the field of reeds or field of offerings, a blessed place where the deceased can live for eternity.
00:57:59But to get to the field of offerings is a long, difficult journey fraught with many dangers.
00:58:08Any one of them could jeopardize Annie's chances for paradise.
00:58:12Now in Luxor, Budge was only one step away from the French and Egyptian authorities.
00:58:22His unorthodox methods clearly got results, but they were making him powerful enemies.
00:58:28Look at this, Ramsay. Over 3,000 years old, and the colors on the scroll still glow.
00:58:38It is almost as if he is still alive. Are all books of the dead like this?
00:58:43No. No, and I have seen my share. This is the discovery of a lifetime, or several lifetimes.
00:58:51So we better make sure this gets home safely.
00:58:55Aywa, aywa, merhaba, merhaba, efendi.
00:58:58Mr. Budge, will you join me and my family for some coffee?
00:59:02Budge was almost ready to go when he was interrupted by some very unwelcome guests.
00:59:08Turkish coffee for all the workers. Coffee, coffee, coffee.
00:59:14Coffee. No, thank you, Mr. Budge.
00:59:19I'm far too busy arresting antiquities thieves.
00:59:23Omar, tell the men to confiscate all these items.
00:59:27These belong to me.
00:59:29These belong to the nation of Egypt, and you belong in jail.
00:59:33We've already arrested all the other treasure hunters in this neighborhood.
00:59:36But it looks like we've saved the best till last.
00:59:39See here, Greber. These men are employees of the British government.
00:59:45Please be quiet, Mr. Budge.
00:59:47You have made me look like a fool once, but you will not do it again.
00:59:53Make sure the caravan is loaded in the morning and ready to leave for Cairo.
00:59:57Let's go.
00:59:58Let's go.
00:59:59Let's go.
01:00:04With the scroll in the hands of the authorities, Budge knew it might be lost to the world forever.
01:00:10Or worse, stolen and cut up for souvenirs on the black market.
01:00:15I find myself in most dire circumstances, jailed in Luxor, accused by the French of all people of being a tomb raider.
01:00:25And all this after having discovered perhaps the greatest find of my career.
01:00:30An ancient burial scroll belonging to a scribe named Arnie.
01:00:35Rich in color and full of fantastic images, thousands of years old.
01:00:40I believe it represents perhaps the first time man has expressed his spiritual beliefs in writing.
01:00:49Truly a profound discovery.
01:00:51Of course, I need time to study it in order to fully grasp its meaning.
01:00:57Sadly, I am unlikely to ever hold it in my hands again.
01:01:10For the scribe Arnie, his Book of the Dead was now a map to the Hall of Judgment,
01:01:16where the gods would determine whether or not he deserved to live for eternity in the Field of Reeds.
01:01:24But getting there could be treacherous.
01:01:27The spells included in the Book of the Dead provided protection from demons that could attack the deceased.
01:01:33One spell provided protection against a giant beetle called the Asharu that could eat the deceased.
01:01:55The underworld was a strange place.
01:01:58The Egyptians thought of it as a confrontation with chaos.
01:02:03After creation, there was this island of rightful order created.
01:02:08But a large part of the universe remains uncreated and chaotic and therefore irrational.
01:02:15A lot of the Book of the Dead deals with this type of irrational magic of fighting irrational forces with irrational means.
01:02:293,000 years later, in 1887, the scroll of Annie was in the hands of authorities.
01:02:323,000 years later, in 1887, the scroll of Annie was in the hands of authorities.
01:02:50And Ernest Wallace Budge had his own obstacles to overcome.
01:02:55The sense of helplessness is overwhelming, knowing that every moment I sit here in this wretched cell, the scroll of Annie is further from my reach.
01:03:091, 2,000 years later, in 1887, the scroll of Annie was in the middle of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill.
01:03:19You're poor. You're buried. You're hiking.
01:03:23You've to be ainhas.
01:03:25That is the same here.
01:03:26Far to the hill of the hill of the hill of the hill.
01:03:29How does he just go out?
01:03:30He hit the hill of the hill.
01:03:33prés FDPES
01:03:35experience it taught budge that the scroll may not be safe even from the guards
01:03:43they know the scroll is worth more if they break it up into 20 smaller pieces
01:03:49grabo won't even notice anything is missing until all the pieces are sold
01:03:52oh dear this is worse than i had imagined once it leaves that storehouse it will never be put
01:03:58back together again any ideas i did notice something that hotel the storehouse is built
01:04:06against its wall paulis budge has always had a mixed reputation even then he was notorious
01:04:13for the levels that he would go to in order to acquire things for the british museum budge
01:04:21revealed in his autobiography how he developed a plan now among the houses that were sealed
01:04:28and guarded was a small one that abutted on the wall of the garden of the old luxor hotel
01:04:32this house was a source of considerable anxiety to me for in it they had stored the papyrus of arnie
01:04:40a talk with the hotel manager was my only hope so you see the treasures of egypt are about to be
01:04:47destroyed or at the very least shipped away to france all due to an unfortunate misunderstanding
01:04:53with monsieur grabo however the treasure can be saved in fact some small treasure might even find
01:04:59its way onto the walls of your inn and only certain accommodations would be necessary what kind of
01:05:06accommodations
01:05:06budge hired several local men to tunnel through the hotel wall and into the storeroom holding the scroll
01:05:17of annie it's astonishing how fast they work men like these been digging out treasures from tombs in their
01:05:25basements for centuries 50 year old hotel wall means nothing to them but with only a night before the scroll was due to be
01:05:33moved by authorities would budget's daring plan be enough or would his discovery of a lifetime
01:05:40be lost forever
01:05:42for the ancient egyptians life didn't end with death
01:05:52death was just the beginning of a long and arduous journey
01:05:58a journey that could end with salvation or annihilation
01:06:04annie hoped his book of the dead would bring him to a life in paradise
01:06:09but he would have many tests to come and anything could happen
01:06:14if the wandering soul followed the directions in the scroll
01:06:22he would eventually find his way to a final challenge
01:06:26the hall of judgment
01:06:29here he would face 42 separate gods in front of 42 separate doors
01:06:36in front of each god he would have to deny having committed a particular sin
01:06:42it was one of the greatest challenges of the afterlife
01:06:46if you don't know the correct answers the correct thing to say at this point
01:06:53you presumably are not going to be able to get through that gate
01:06:57and pass successfully into the next life
01:07:00these 42 commandments that annie would have to deny having broke
01:07:05are called the negative confessions
01:07:07it's a litany of things that the deceased didn't do
01:07:12so he says i did not go out and murder anybody
01:07:16i didn't steal anything
01:07:17i didn't fool around with somebody's wife
01:07:19i didn't do this that and the other thing
01:07:20it's very informative and revealing about what probably a lot of egyptians did do
01:07:25but only through the spells in the book of the dead
01:07:29could a person make it through the negative confessions
01:07:33one should not confuse this with the notion of confession and repentance
01:07:39this is really a magical incantation to wipe the board clean
01:07:45of whatever you might have done on earth
01:07:47one interesting fact is that most of the ten commandments
01:07:52can be found in the negative confession
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