Lecture VIII. The Sacred Books. 177
the Osirian are now granted to the soul who has passed unscathed
through the hall of judgment. Not only the fields of Alu are
his, but the solar bark as well, to which the school of Heliopolis
looked forward; even the old belief which confined the Ka to the
narrow precincts of the tomb was not forgotten, and the 132nd
chapter instructs the Osirian how to“wander at will to see his
house.”Like Osiris himself, he can take part in the festival of
the dead, and share in the offerings that are presented at it. Free
access is allowed him to all parts of the other world: whatever
heaven or hell had been imagined in the local sanctuaries of
Egypt was open to him to visit as he would.
The later chapters of the Book of the Dead take us back to the
earth. They are concerned with the mummy and its resting-place,
with the charms and amulets which preserved the body from
decay, or enabled the soul to inspire it once more with life.
They form a sort of appendix, dealing rather with the beliefs and
superstitions of the people, than with the ideas of the theologians,
about the gods and the future life.^159
The order in which I have referred to the chapters of the book
are those of the Theban texts as edited by Dr. Naville. But it
must not be supposed that it constitutes an integral part of the [193]
original work. As a matter of fact there are very few copies of
the book, even among those which belong to the Theban period,
in which anything like all the chapters is to be found. Indeed,
it is difficult to say how many chapters a complete edition of it
ought to contain. Pierret made them one hundred and sixty-five;
the latest editors raise them to over two hundred. The reason
of this is easy to explain. The separate chapters are for the
most part intended for special purposes or special occasions,
and each, therefore, has had a separate origin. They have been
collected from all sides, and thrown together with very little
attempt at arrangement or order. They belong to different periods
(^159) The Book of the Dead has been analysed by Maspero,Études de Mythologie
et d'Archéologie égyptiennes, i. pp. 325-387.