David P. Silverman | The Other Book of the Dead

Presented by David P. Silverman, Eckley B. Coxe Jr. Professor of Egyptology, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania; Curator in Charge of the Egyptian Collection, Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Book of the Dead (the modern term for the ancient Egyptian Book of Going Forth in the Day) is usually described as a roll of papyri with inscribed funerary texts that often included illustrated vignettes. From the New kingdom on, it became part of the equipment Egyptians wanted for their afterlife. The spells, however, were not limited to papyri and appear on coffins, figurines, jewelry, amulets, chests, shrines, wrappings, shrouds, tombs walls, etc. This lecture focuses on this latter group and its use of these magical tests.
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[@Xscott1000]

Fascinating! Thanks so much for posting these I learn so much and right from the source.

[@llkk9797]

Thank you, Dr Silverman, always great to learn from you! Love your course in Coursera, all the best.

[@bryan5549]

Love the shade that Mr. Silverman threw at whomever introduced him... "I'll have to cut my talk 10 mins short"... lol. AKA "Dude wouldn't shut up, and loved hearing himself talk before letting me on."

[@tarekmohamed3263]

Thanks for the informative representation.

[@Phorquieu]

Excellent discussion of ancient Egypt's religious and cultural legacy - with fascinating implications for its influence on ancient Hebrew and early Christian religious inheritance.

[@gandolph999]

Thank you for posting this infornative presentation. I have two questions. 1) Why was Tutankhamun's mummy placed in three coffins? 2) Why were the texts titled the "Book of Going Forth by Day"? (What is the significant meaning if any?)

[@gandolph999]

About weighing the heart: If the feather (that is the deity Ma'at) represents truth or a governing standard, then the heart cannot exceed the ultimate standard. A heart cannot be more truthful (heavier with truth or compliance) than truth (Ma'at) iherself. A heart that exceeds truth offends the deity Ma'at that is the paragon of truth. Nothing can be more truthful than the goddess that is truth. So, the pans of the scale at most extreme must equally balance. If the balance is unequal, the heart is less than truthful, not compliant, or the universal order is violated. This is the significance of the weighing of the heart.

[@daveunknown3799]

had to stop at 3:24, if he clears his throat one more time I will scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@scottbrown4536]

Take a drink everytime he says ummm

[@martinlee6694]

The quistien about if the heart is heavy if or light Is like that bad is heavy frekvens Light is the same as god. Lee1🙄

[@kellyfretz7559]

See the UFO and that one picture

[@hanswissmeyer9950]

Fascinating topic, but how, ah, come, ahumm, that this aah, man inserted so many aah, in his, chum ah, script he, hold on...excuse me, is reading from?

[@JeremyMcGuire-mq3ye]

I'm praying in Jeremy Odin Scott Hammer Armstrong McGuire Senior Name as Hebrew Lord of All Flesh And Souls and Spirits Bodies of just My property of The Worlds in my name Amen

[@JeremyMcGuire-mq3ye]

TY in Bible I'm Hebrew Lord Joseph of Egypt

[@imageinkdesign]

Still imagining ancient people’s technology enabled the cutting and placing and drilling of monolithic block structures .. our engineers still can’t reproduce work on this scale without heavy machinery...where’s the work on this conundrum?

[@annascott3542]

That subject is inconvenient so it’s just ignored entirely. Out of the scholarly presentations I’ve seen online about ancient egypt, I’ve only found 1, single piece about construction-not so much methods, but more about the actual structure, and it only skimmed the surface IMO. It’s entitled: “Analyzing Egyptian Pyramids in the digital age,” by a Japanese scholar, it’s on Harvard Semitic Museum. Pretty interesting but that’s it, so far as I can tell.

[@martinodler5939]

@@annascott3542 Maybe you should look further, there is a book on the technology www.amazon.com/Experiments-Egyptian-Archaeology-Stoneworking-Technology/dp/0415306647 and another book on the metal tools of pyramid builders archaeopress.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/metal-tools-of-the-pyramid-builders-and-other-craftsmen-in-the-old-kingdom/

[@artistjoh]

Victoria Layrisse What conundrum? Ancient engineers used heavy machinery as well in the form of levers, fulcrums, cranes, rollers, ramps, wedges, hammers, etc. instead of internal combustion and electric engine power, they used teams of people, ropes, etc. The steam engine was comparatively recent and we know quite a lot about how large engineering projects were designed and executed prior to the steam engine. From massive cathedrals to bridges, buildings, aqueducts, defensive walls etc, there is a chain of technologies that stretches back into the distant past. Despite our many impressive machines, the fundamental principles of engineering are surprisingly similar over time. We now have a wider range of materials that can do things impossible for the ancients, and engines make building projects much faster than before. We have also come to learn that stacking massive stone blocks is not a viable way to build the largest structures compared to using modern materials and clever thinking to build ever greater structures.

[@ThisSentenceIsFalse]

We've never replicated megolithic building with just wooden ramps and levers. Or carved massive blocks with bronze age tools. There was a devolution in architecture. It's actually a giant conundrum.

[@johnd2058]

25:30 -- it requires large numbers of experienced workers engaging in prolonged, backbreaking labor under a merciless sun. The kind of thing the fussy snowflake buying spells here wanted to avoid an eternity of.

[@anvilbrunner.2013]

Aum, he's an aum Buddhist, aum. Maybe ? Aum.

[@spiderprint]

Ah

[@bean5618]

This guy is a Penn professor? Wow. First of all, how can you be so nervous presenting when that is literally your job? Secondly, what evidence do you have to suggest that they began to use the Valley of the Kings as a burial site because the mountain “resembles a pyramid”? We don’t even have proof of burial chambers inside of the great pyramids or saqqara for that matter. Please explain to me how the dynastic Egyptians supposedly moved from huge pyramids to small, relatively unmarked burials because of “thieves”. What a joke.

[@faarsight]

The introductions are often annoyingly long. We get it, the lecturer is an amazing person with lots of credentials. We don't need to know their high-school grades to appreciate the presentation.

[@dawnj2360]

Ah! Had to stop listening because he kept saying 'ah'. So annoying!

[@GnomeInPlaid]

Use the transcript function and read it. It's faster and easier.