rulers. “Jackals and Hounds,” one of the most popular
of the board amusements, used wands to determine
moves.
Bocchoris See BAKENRENEF.
Bokkenenife(fl. seventh century B.C.E.) Scribe and
priest of Ptah in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty (664–525 B.C.E.)
Bockkenenife was memorialized by a schist portrait
statue. This statue, particularly striking and depicting
Bokkenenife holding a shrine of the god, was discovered
in SAQQARA.
Book of Caverns Aform of the traditional funerary
texts on tomb walls or enclosed in burials on papyri pro-
viding spells and incantations to safeguard the deceased
beyond the grave, the Book of Cavernsillustrated RÉon
his six-stage journey through the Tuat, or Underworld.
The moral imperatives of the various episodes in the
land beyond the grave are quite striking. The Book of
Cavernsmirrors the traditional didactic LITERATUREof
Egypt and guides the dead to moral enlightenment and
eternal bliss.
See also TOMB TEXTS.
Book of Overthrowing Apophis See OVERTHROWING
APOPHIS.
Book of the Dead A loose collection of magical spells
and incantations that were normally written on papyrus,
sometimes illustrated, and popular in Egypt from the
New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.), the originals were on
the walls of the TOMBS in SAQQARA. Middle Kingdom
(2040–1640 B.C.E.) coffins also contained early versions.
The Book of the Dead was later called the pert em hru
(Chapters of the Coming Forth By Day). The AmDuat,
or Am Tuat,was to instruct the deceased on how to over-
come the dangers of the afterlife, by enabling them to
assume the form of several mythical creatures, and to
give them the passwords necessary for admittance to cer-
tain stages of the Underworld. The spells also allowed
the deceased to proclaim themselves as bearing the iden-
tity of many gods. It is estimated that there were approx-
imately 190 independent “chapters” or sections of the
Book of the Dead, although there is no single extant
papyrus containing all of them.
The spells and passwords were placed in the tombs
of the ancient Egyptians from about 1600 B.C.E. onward,
although there are indications that they were included in
the sections called “Chapters” as early as the Twelfth
Dynasty (1900 B.C.E.). These spells and passwords were
not part of a ritual but were fashioned for the deceased,
to be recited in the afterlife. Egyptians believed in the
efficacy of MAGICand in the cultic powers of the gods. At
the same time they had considerable faith in life after
death, a belief that included specific paradises and activi-
ties. The abundance of their material world was some-
thing cherished by the Egyptians, who translated paradise
into similar terms, with the same fertile fields, light, and
sacred waters.
In the early periods the funerary texts were reserved
to the reigning families and other aristocrats. In time,
however, these texts became more and more available to
the commoners. The Book of the Dead became a normal
item of manufacturing, and the individual could decide
the number of chapters to be included, the types of illus-
trations, and the quality of the papyrus used. The indi-
vidual was limited only by his or her financial resources.
During the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.), the
papyri were lengthy and involved collections of spells
and passwords, some magnificently illustrated in color.
The versions of the Theban RECENSIONS Book of the
Dead, a formadopted at the time, averaged between 15
and 90 feet in length and about 13 inches in width. Some
papyri were made to order for special clients, but great
stocks of the Book of the Dead were available for those
who could afford them, and individual names were put
into them when purchased.
The extant papyri of the Book of the Dead were writ-
ten in hieroglyphic script, called the hieratic. They con-
tained vignettes, protests of innocence, spells, and magic
words to provide comfort and security in Tuat. Three of
the most famous versions of the Book of the Dead, dis-
covered in the tombs of Egyptians, called ANI,ANHAI, and
HUNEFER, are now in the British Museum, London.
Other religious documents provided for the
deceased during various historical periods have also
been discovered. The Book of the Gatescontains formu-
las for making the sun rise and traces the road of the72 BocchorisAn illustration of daily life from the Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead, used in all eras of Egypt.(Hulton Archive.)