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DEATH AND
INITIATION
IN THE FUNERARY RELIGION
OF ANCIENT EGYPT*
Jan
Assmann
1 Introduction
The
idea of interpreting the r i tual and conceptual s tructure of the funerary religion of
Ancient
Egypt in the l ight of the anthropological topic of init ia tion is certa inly not
new.
Thirty years ago, in a f ine study on the Egyptian background of the Magic Flute ,
1
Siegfried M ore nz expre ssed the view that a central aspect of A ncien t Eg yptia n b urial
ceremonies lay in a sort of priestly init ia tion to the realm of the dead. Twenty years
later
h i s f o r m e r s t u d e n t R . G r i e s h a m m e r w a s a b l e t o s u b s t a n t i a t e t h i s g e n e r a l
hypothesis
by capi ta l iz ing on one c ruc ia l e lemen t , the Ne gat ive Co nfes s ion in Th e
Judgement of the Dead,
2
thereby elevating i t to the realm of fact. In 1956, in his
article e n t it l ed Z e r g l i e d e r n u n d Z u s a m m e n f u g e n ,
3
A l f r e d H e r m a n n h a d d r a w n
attention
to n u m e r o u s p a r a l l e l s f r o m i n i t i a t i o n r i t u a l s t h r o u g h o u t c o m p a r a t i v e
religious
h i s t o r y w h i c h c o u l d b e r e l a t e d t o a n a r c h a i c E g y p t i a n , a l b e i t o n l y
sporadically
a t t e s t e d , b u r i a l c u s t o m , a s w e l l a s t o t h e a d m i t t e d l y m u c h l a t e r
documented
my th-cons t i tuent kno wn as the dism em bering of the body of Osir is . Yet
again twenty years la ter , G.R.H. Wright arrived independently a t the same conclusion,
obviously wi thou t any knowledge o f He rmann ' s work , though he was now ab le to
draw
e x t e n s iv e ly o n t h e m a te r i a l w h ic h M i r c e a E l i a d e
4
h a d s i n c e g a th e r e d a n d
interpreted.
In his opinion, the shamanis t ic in i t ia t ion r i tes or igina ted f rom a funerary
context
and were m ode led a f te r the pa t te rn o f anc ien t fu ne r a ry ce rem onie s . T h is
Translated by M. Grauer and R. Meyer. The German version appeared in H. P. Duerr (ed.), Sehnsucht
n h
dem U rsprung. Zu Mircea Eliade Frankfurt 1983, 338-359.
1
See Morenz 1952.
2
Grieshamm er 1974; cf . Merkelbach 1987.
3
Hermann 1956.
4
Wright 1979, cf . Eliade 1975, 47 0 s.v. Init iationszerstiickelung . For the mo tif of dism emb erm ent in
the
Cretan Zagreus Myth see also B. Gallist l 1981, with references to the Egyptian embalming
ritual
B. Gladigow 1976 traces the topic of dismemberment back to hunting rituals and places
the
theme in the broader context of ethics and immortality.
[135]
Originalveröffentlichung in: W.K.Simpson (H rsg.), Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, Yale Egyptological
Studies 3, 1989, S. 135-159
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136
JAN
ASSMANN
hypothesis
c o m b i n e s p r i o r c o n t r i b u t i o n s o n t h i s s u b j e c t w h i l e f o l l o w i n g i n t h e s a m e
vein . R . G r i e s h a m m e r ' s c o n c l u s i o n s , h o w e v e r , le a d t o t h e i n v e r s e l y f o r m u l a t e d
premi se
t h a t t h e i n i t i a t i o n r i t e s , a n d n o t v i c e v e r s a , f u r n i s h e d th e p r o t o t y p e s o f
Egypt ian
f u n e r a r y r e l i g i o n : a v i e w w h i c h h a s s o f a r b e e n t r e a t e d w i t h g r e a t r e s e r v e .
5
Our i n t e n t i o n h e r e i s t o e x a m i n e , u n d e r t h e s p e c i f i c a s p e c t o f i n i t i a t i o n , a n u m b e r o f
ways
i n w h i c h t h e g e n e r a l i d e a o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d i n t o t h e n e x t w a s
expressed i n t h e E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e . T h e s e f u n e r a r y t e x t s a r e p r i m a r i l y
known
as t h e E g y p t i a n B o o k o f t h e D e a d ,
6
a l a t e c a n o n i z e d c o r p u s o f s p e l l s w h i c h
f irs t
a p p e a r e d o n p a p y r u s - s c r o l l s , in v a r y i n g o r d e r a n d c o m b i n a t i o n , i n t h e t o m b
equipment
o f d e c e a s e d p e r s o n s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g 1 6 t h c e n t u r y B . C . ( N e w K i n g d o m ) .
Quite
a f e w o f t h e s e s p e l l s c a n b e f o u n d c e n t u r i e s e a r l i e r , i n a n o l d e r a n d u s u a l l y
better
v e rs i o n , o n M i d d l e K i n g d o m c o f f i n s ( 2 1 5 0 - 1 7 5 0 B . C . ) . T h e s e a n d m a n y o t h e r s
are
k n o w n a s t h e C o f f i n T e x t s .
7
A m o n g t h e m , a b a s i c s t o c k c a n b e t r a c e d b a c k e v e n
as
f a r a s t h e O l d K i n g d o m , w h e r e , t o g e t h e r w i t h o t h e r s p e l l s s u b s e q u e n t l y o m i t t e d b y
funerary
t r a d i t i o n , t h e y w e r e u s e d to i n s c r i b e t h e w a l l s o f r o y a l b u r i a l c h a m b e r s f r o m
the
e n d o f t h e 5 t h d y n a s t y o n ( c a . 2 4 5 0 B . C . ) .
8
T h e s e P y r a m i d T e x t s r e p r e s e n t t h e
oldes t
s u b s t a n t i a l c o r p u s o f r e l i g i o u s t e x t s k n o w n to m a n k i n d . A p a r t f r o m t h i s
funerary
l i t e r a t u r e , w h i c h w a s p l a c e d i n t h e t o m b o f t h e d e c e a s e d s o t h a t h e m i g h t
secure
h i s e x i s t e n c e i n t h e n e x t w o r l d t h r o u g h c o m m a n d o f t h e a p p r o p r i a t e k n o w l e d g e
and w h i c h s h o u l d b e q u a l i f i e d a s e s o t e r i c i n t h e s e n s e t h a t i t w a s n o t m e a n t t o b e
seen
b y t h e e y e s o f m o r t a l s a n d t h e r e f o r e d i d n o t s h a r e i n t h e p r o c e s s o f l i t e r a r y
communicat ion,
t h e r e e x i s t s y e t a n o t h e r c a t e g o r y o f f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e w h i c h m i g h t b e
descr ibed
a s e x o t e r i c . S u c h t e x t s , t h e i m p o r t a n c e a n d e x t e n t o f w h i c h g r a d u a l l y
i nc r eas ed
i n t h e c o u r s e o f t i m e , t o o k t h e f o r m o f i n s c r i p t i o n s , a c c o m p a n i e d b y
representat ions, i n t h o s e p a r t s o f t h e t o m b a c c e s s i b l e t o v i s i t o r s . W e s h a l l d r a w o n
texts
f r o m b o t h t h e s e s o u r c e s f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f o u r a n a l y s i s ; f r o m w h i c h s o u r c e i n
particular n e e d n o t , a s a r u l e , c o n c e r n u s h e r e , s i n c e b o t h s e e m l a r g e l y t o c o n c u r i n
their
r e s p e c t i v e t r e a t m e n t o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d i n t o t h e n e x t .
The g e n e r a l i d e a o f t r a n s i t i o n u n d e r l y i n g a ll c o n c r e t e f o r m u l a t i o n s o f t h i s t h e m e
is
o f o n t i c n a t u r e : i t i s c o n c e i v e d a s a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n f r o m o n e s t a t e o f b e i n g t o
another w h i c h th e d e c e a s e d m u s t u n d e r g o . T h e E g y p t i a n l a n g u a g e h a s a s p e c i f i c w o r d
for t h i s o t h e r s t a t e o f b e i n g : 3h ( a k h ) , w h i c h i s u s u a l l y r e n d e r e d a s s p i r i t a n d
s p i r i t - s t a t e . T h e p h o n e t i c r o o t j)3h c o n v e y s t h e b a s i c m e a n i n g s o f l i g h t ,
br ightness a n d r a d i a n c e . T h e f e m i n i n e f o r m Sh t ( a k h e t ) d e s i g n a t e s t h a t r a d i a n t
place
i n t h e h e a v e n s w h e r e t h e s u n rise s a n d s e t s , b u t a l s o t h e l a n d o f t h e b l e s s e d t o
5 Bes ides the work of M orenz 1952, which is representative of the general att itude, cf . Bonnet 1952,
9 96; J.G. Griffiths, in: Lexikon der gyptologie IV 198 0), 276. Esp ecially careful is C.J.
Bleeker 1965, but he ignores or excludes the evidence on which this study is based.
6 Th e latest translations are due to R.O . Faulkner 198 5.
7 de Buck 19 35 -19 61 ; translations: R.O. Faulkner 19 73 -19 78 ; P. Barguet 1986.
8 Sethe 193 5-1 92 2; latest translation: R.O. Faulkner 1969.
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Death a n d I n i t i a t io n in t h e F u n e r a r y R e l i g i o n o f A n c i e n t E g y p t
137
which
t h e d e c e a s e d j o u r n e y a f t e r d e a t h . R a d i a n t p l a c e , i n t h e O l d K i n g d o m , i s a l s o
the
n a m e of t h e k i n g ' s p y r a m i d - t o m b , a n i n d i c a t i o n th a t h i s e n t o m b m e n t is th e
pref igurat ion
o r t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f h i s a s c e n t t o t h e h e a v e n s .
9
T h e A K H - s p h e r e is a
world
o f m y t h i c a l
1 0
v a l u e s a n d r e a l i t i e s w h i c h , i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h e O l d K i n g d o m ,
gradually
o v e r l a y e d a n e v e n m o r e a n c i e n t w o r l d o f t a n g i b l e c u l t ic o b j e c t s a n d r i t u a l s .
The s p o k e n w o r d p r o v i d e s t h e i d e a l m e a n s o f t r a n s p o s i n g t h e r e a l i t i e s o f y o n d e r
world i n t o t h i s w o r l d o f s y m b o l i c o b j e c t s a n d r i t u a l s , b u t a l s o o f t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e
decea s ed
t o t h e b e y o n d , w h i l e e n a b l i n g h i m t o r e t a i n h i s e a r t h l y c a p a c i t y . T h e
Egyptian
d e s c r i b e s t h i s f u n c t i o n o f t h e s p o k e n w o r d w i t h t h e c a u s a t i v e d e r i v a t i o n o f
the
p h o n e t i c r o o t j)3h, t h u s a r r i v i n g a t s-3h t o t r a n s f i g u r e . I t i s t h i s b a s i c b i p o l a r
structure
o f E g y p t i a n r e l i g i o u s t e x t s i n g e n e r a l , b u t m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y o f t h e f u n e r a r y
literature
o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h i s w o r l d o f v i s u a l r e a l i t i e s a n d y o n d e r w o r l d
of
m y t h i c a l r e a l i t i e s w h i c h s h a l l c o n c e r n u s a g a i n a n d a g a i n i n t h e f o l l o w i n g
discourse. W i t h i n t h i s o n t i c d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n t h e h e r e a n d y o n d e r , b e t w e e n v i su a l
and
m y t h i c a l r e a l i t y , l i e s t h e i n i t i a t o r y a n d m y s t i c a l c h a r a c t e r o f t h e E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y
religion. T h e w o r l d o f m y t h i c a l r e a l it y s t a n d s f o r a c e r t a i n k n o w l e d g e , t o w h i c h t h e
deceased
i s i n i t i a t e d , f o r a c o s m i c s p h e r e , t o w h i c h h e i s t r a n s f e r r e d , a n d f o r a s t a t e o f
being
w h i c h h e m u s t a t t a i n . L e t u s d i s t i n g u i s h , f o r t h e s a k e o f c l a r i t y , b e t w e e n t w o
variants
f o u n d i n t h e f o r m u l a t i o n s a n d i l l u s t r a t i o n s o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d t o
the
n e x t : f i r s tl y , t h o s e c o n c e r n e d p r i m a r i l y w i t h t h e s p a ti a l a s p e c t ( t r a n s i t i o n ) a n d
secondly
t h o s e p r e s e n t i n g a m o r e b i o m o r p h i c m o d e l ( r e b i r t h ) . T h a t b o t h v a r i a n t s i n
no
w a y e x c l u d e o n e a n o t h e r , b u t a c t u a l l y s t a n d in a c o m p l e m e n t a r y r e l a t i o n s h i p a n d i n
many
w a y s o v e r l a p , n e e d s n o e x p l a n a t i o n . A r e w e n o t , a f t e r a l l , d e a l i n g w i t h
metaphors
o f a n o n t i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w h i c h c a n n e i t h e r b e d e p i c t e d n o r f o r m u l a t e d ?
2. The Biomorph ic M ode l s o f Transformat ion
2.1 Dismemberment and Rejo in ing
Dismemberment
o f t h e c o r p s e i s a t t e s t e d i n E g y p t b o t h a r c h e o l o g i c a l l y , i . e . i n b u r i a l
practices
a n d i n f u n e r a r y l it e r a t u r e , w h e r e i t r e p r e s e n t s a c e n t r a l a s p e c t o f r e l i g i o u s
thought.
A r c h e o l o g i c a l a n d li t e r a r y e v i d e n c e , h o w e v e r , a r e s e p a r a t e d b y a l o n g s p a n o f
t ime a n d a r e , f o r a n u m b e r o f f u r t h e r r e a s o n s , d i f f i c u l t t o r e l a t e t o e a c h o t h e r . E v i d e n c e
of
t h e b u r i a l p r a c t i c e s p a n s t h e t i m e f r o m t h e E a r l y D y n a s t i c P e r i o d t o t h e b e g i n n i n g
9 C f . t h e w i d e s p r e a d p a r a p h r a s e f o r t h e f u n e r a r y p r o c e s s i o n : t o l e t t h e g o d a s c e n d t o h i s h o r i z o n
Luddeckens 1 9 4 3 , 5 5 f f . , # 2 1 ) , p r o b a b l y o f r o y a l o r i g i n . T h i s t e x t i s o b v i o u s l y q u o t e d a t t h e
beginning o f inuhe (R 7) as a des cr ip t ion o f a roya l funera l .
10 I a m u s i n g h e r e t h e t e r m m y t h i c a l i n t h e s e n s e o f r e f e r r i n g t o t h e d i v i n e w o r l d ; c f . A s s m a n n
1977a 7 - 4 2 , w h e r e I p r o p o s e d t o d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n t h i s b r o a d s e n s e o f th e te r m , w h i c h i s t h e
usual
o n e i n E g y p t o l o g y , a n d a m o r e s t r ic t o n e r e s t r i c te d t o m y t h a s a k i n d o f n a r r a t i v e .
11 S c h o t t 1 9 4 5 ; A s s m a n n 1 9 8 4 , 1 0 2 - 1 1 7 .
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138
JAN
ASSMANN
of
the 4 th dynas ty , though i t a lways repre sen ts an excep t ion to the ru le and an
exclusive preroga t ive of high s tanding individua ls .
1 2
The cus tom d isappea rs in the
wake
of the deve lopment and gene ra l adop t ion o f emba lment and mummif ica t ion ,
1 3
and
must rank as i ts predecessor . As a l i te ra ry motif , the concept of d ismemberment
clearly appears in an exclusively negative context:
14
it is e ither one of the dangers in
the
ne therworld , which must be avoided a t a l l cos t ,
15
or a metaphorical i l lustra tion of
the
init ia l s ta te of want, which the manifold resuscita tion ri tes of the funerary cult take
up
in the sense of a
restitutio ad integrum
The concep t o f d i smemberment appea rs
here solely as the logical prerequisite of r i tual acts , which are conceived as a re joining
of
the body.
In
the context of the myth of Osir is , the dismemberment of the god 's body has dua l
function
and meaning, to which corresponds a dua l t radi t ion. Se th has not only ki l led
his
brother Osiris , but a lso, in a second act of violence, cut his corpse to pieces and
thrown
the se in to the wa te r . So fa r , a l l ve r s ions o f the myth agree . For the one
tradition
however , th is d ismemberment represents nothing e lse but a ca tas t rophic s ta te
of
want, precisely as the funerary texts describe i t . This s ta te now becomes the starting
point
of res tora t ive ac ts , the goa l of which is to cure the condi t ion of dea th . The
rejoining
of the l imbs of Osiris , found only after a long search, became the prototype
for
the ov erco m ing of dea th and furn ished the my thica l precedent
17
for emba lment .
Embalment and mummification, in the l ight of the myth of Osiris , are equated with the
restoration of l i fe to the body, which had by no means to be r i tua l ly dismembered
beforehand
s ince i ts l i fe lessness a lone was mythica l ly in te rpre ted as dismemberment .
Dismemberment
i s thus a symbol fo r the d i s in tegra t ion o f a l iv ing en t i ty and a
mythical image for the condi t ion of dea th i tse l f .
18
In the other t radi t ion, th is same
mythical
episode becomes an e t io logica l myth expla ining the spreading of the cul t of
Osiris
throughout Egypt . The water has carr ied away the pieces of Osir is ' body and
washed them a shore in 14 diff ere nt place s in the coun try, w here they w ere p reserv ed
as
holy relics and formed the nucleus of the Osiris-cult .
19
Only the f irs t of these traditions shall concern us here . The embalming process, to
which it refers , is re la ted to the topic of init ia tion in manifold ways. I t is conceived not
so
mu ch as a preserva t ion of the corpse , but ra ther as i ts t ransf igura t ion to a new bod y:
See Hermann 1956 and G.R.H. Wright 1979.
3
For Egypt ian m um m if icat ion techniques see David 1979. For the purpose of the present study
Sethe 1934 is still valid.
4
In this respect I agree com pletely with Griff iths 1980 5I ff .
5
Cf. Zand ee 1960 esp. p. 147ff .
6
Cf . Assmann 1973 121-1 25 .
7
For th is t erm c f . van der Leeuw 19 33 161 -18 0; El iade 19 54 /58 194 -20 4 .
8
Cf . Assm ann 1973.
9
See Beinl ich 1984.
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Death
and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
139
one
fil led with magic ,
20
the perishable substances of which have been replaced by
everlasting ones,
21
resting in the mummy-cover as if i t were a kind of magic garment.
The Egypt ian word fo r mummy, s
c
h, a lso mea ns nobi l i ty , d ign i ty and denotes the
elevated sphere of existence to which the deceased has been transferred and init ia ted
in the course of the process of embalment . The mummy-case i tse l f gradua l ly evolved
into
increas ingly lavishly decora ted s tucco-car tonnage and woo den anthropoid coff ins ,
whereby the pictoria l motifs and decoration patterns merely represent an iconographic
formulation of the exact same AKH-sphere which is expressed in funerary l i terature
by means of the spoken and written word.
2 2 Rebirth
2 2 1
Placement in the coff in as regressus ad uterum
In acco rdan ce with the pr in c iple of t ran sf ig ur a t io n, as the corre la t io n of th is
world's
symbolic objects and actions with yonder world of values and reali t ies , the
coffin beco me s the body of the sky- and mo ther-go ddess , thus enabling the placin g
of
the bod y in the co ff in to be transfigu red into the ascent of the dece ased to the
heavens
and the return to the mother-goddess {regressus ad uterum .
22
In Egy pt, the
sky
i s conce ived a s a f ema le en t i ty , which means tha t we a re no t dea l ing wi th
mother-earth,
but with mo ther-sky. The sky-godd ess is the Egypt ian manifes ta t ion
of the Grea t Mother . A centra l aspec t of th is be l ie f is the fac t tha t the Egypt ians
imagined the deceased a s be ing the ch i ld ren o f th i s Mothe r -of -a l l -Be ings . Th is
mother-child relationship could be atta ined in death only, through absorption into the
goddess:
The mother of mill ions, who receives hundreds of thousands.
2 3
She loves the entering, she loathes emerging;
the entire land longs to be there.
24
Their mother is she, who created them all:
they enter her, all (of them).
25
20 For some exx. of this formula see Assmann 1969, p.196, n.22.
21 Cf. similar m otifs in the contex t of the sham anistic initiatory dism em berm ent, see Eliade 19 75.
22 Cf. Rus ch 1922; Ass ma nn 1972, 115ff.; id., in:
Lexikon der gyptologie
IV 1980) , 266 -27 1 .
23
Dav ies 1933, pi . 55.
24
Pap. Dub lin 4, ed. Pierret 1874, pp. 83 ff.
25
Cairo, Sarcoph agus of Harem hab Late Period) ed. Piehl III, 67 ff.
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JAN
A S S M A N N
O thou wetnurse, into whom it is good to enter ,
O thou, in to whom each and everyone ente rs , day a f te r day
O
Grea t Mother , whose chi ldren a re not de l ivered "
2 6
The
texts underline the indissolubili ty of this bond, or more precisely of the embrace
into
which the decea sed, w hen la id in his coff i n , ente rs with the sky- the m oth er-
goddess
the goddess of the dead. The concept of rebir th , however , s t i l l p lays an
important
role . " I sha l l bear thee anew, re juvena ted," exc la ims the sky-goddess to the
deceased in one of m any such texts inscribed on or in nearly ev ery co ffin and tom b.
27
I
have spread myse l f ove r thee , I have born thee aga in a s a god . " Through th i s
rebirth
the deceased becomes a s ta r -god, a member of the AKH-sphere , a new ent i ty .
This rebirth, however, does not imply a de-livery, a separation, but takes place inside
the
mother ' s womb, ins ide the coff in and sky.
28
The constella tive rela tionship of the
deceased and the mother-goddess, as shown in pictoria l representations and texts , is
interpreted
and activated in the sense of affi l ia tion and rebirth. I t does not represent a
transitional
s ta te , but the e te rna l , una l te rable bas is for a new and higher form of
existence.
B y t r a n s f i g u r i n g t h e a c t o f " l a y in g t h e d e c e a s e d i n t h e c o f f i n " t o a
r r ssus ad uterum the path of l ife is given a cyclic orientation. The deceased thus
gains access to a realm of existence inside her body and is a llowed to take part in the
cyclic
e ternity of the stars , the r is ing and sett ing of which the Egyptians interpreted as
an
e ternally repeated entering and being born in the sky-goddess.
29
2.2.2
Coronation and Rebirth
The
d e c e a s e d , n o w r e b o r n t h r o u g h t h e s k y - g o d d e s s a s a g o d h i m s e l f , is
subsequently
b r e a s t - f e d b y d i v i n e n u r s e s a n d e l e v a t e d t o t h e h e a v e n s . T h i s
sacramental
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n "
3 0
ha s i t s roo ts in a d i f fe ren t s e t o f r i t e s than those
surrounding
the " laying of the dece ased in the cof f in ," nota bly in the "bur nin g of
incense
31
( the r i s ing fu m es be ing a sym bol o f the a scen t to the hea ven s ) and in
26 Pap. Louvre 3148 , XI. The se and other quotes from Lexikon der Agyptologie IV, 26 8ff .
27 For a very incomplete com pilation of these texts see Rusch 1922. About 70 different texts in am ong
1000 variants are known to me.
28 In one of these texts the mother and sky-g odd ess asserts: I shall never give birth to thee , see S chott
1965 8 1 -8 7 . Th e Egy pt ian desired to rejuvenate in the cof f in (cf . e .g . the ta le of the
hipwre ked Sailor .
29
For the terminolog y of t ime and eternity see Ass ma nn 1975.
30 Sakramentale Aus deutung , for this term see Assm ann 1977a, 15-2 8.
31 E.g. Otto 1960, scene 64.
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libation
32
(fluids being a symbol of divine milk). I t should be noted that sacramental
interpretations
such a s r eb i r th th rou gh the sky -go dd ess o r the re jo in ing o f the
limbs,
in the ir capac i ty of events taking place in the divine or AKH-sphere , of ten
enough
belong to completely different sets of cultic actions than those connected with
the lay in g of the deceased in the co f f i n . A seconda ry app l ica t ion o f one o f the
aforementioned
sacramenta l in te rpre ta t ions , for exam ple , may be found in the context
of
the r i te of anointm ent , wh ich migh t be accom panied by the word s : Thy mo ther
Nut has born thee on this day.
33
Where the action is concerned with the rearing of the
child-god,
a conspicuous role is p layed by the two goddesses personifying the c rowns
of
the Eg yp t ian do uble K ing dom . On the ba s i s of th i s fun c t io n , the G reek s ev en
identified one o f them wi th E le i thy ia , the Greek goddess r e spons ib le fo r he lp ing
women
to give birth.
34
We can therefore hardly go wrong in assuming that the r i tes
explained
as the nu rsing of the chi ld-g od origina ted in the royal coro natio n ri tual.
35
Seen
under these aspec ts , the fam ou s cyc le of representa t ions know n as the myth of
the divine bir th , which , in som e N ew Kingd om temp les , depic ts the annou ncem ent ,
begettal,
bir th , nurs ing and c ircumcis ion of the roya l chi ld ,
36
appear: , in a different
light.
Until now, i t had always been interpreted as an elevation of the actual bir th of
the king to a mythica l sphere .
3 7
I t s eems to me , howeve r , tha t a r e fe rence to the
coronation
or, better yet, to an init ia tion to kingship preceding the coronation in the
sense
of a na issance myst ique
38
would be much nearer to the mark.
39
It is admittedly
not the sky-goddess, but the actual earthly mother of the child-king who appears as
protagonist
in the cycle of divine begetta l and birth. In the nursing scene, however, the
action
is taken over by the cow-shaped manifes ta t ions of the sky-goddess , the exac t
same
ones , in fac t , f rom wh ich the deceased w ishes : O h, tha t I may aga in come into
being under her udders.
40
It is precisely this mythical icon of the child-king suckling
under
the Hathor-cow which became the pr imary cul t image in the Hathor temple of
Hatshepsut
in Der e l-Bahri .
The
con cept of an init ia tion to kin gsh ip bring s us, with out any dou bt, to the heart
of
the problem. I f such an ini t ia t ion t ruly exis ted and ac tua l ly took the form of a
3
See e.g. ibd., scene 63.
33
Otto, op.ci t . , scen e 55A . The fol lo wi ng sen tence se em s to refer to the idea of in i t iat ion ( the
translation is not com pletely certain): Thou art made into one w ho know eth the unknown .
34
Heerm a van Voss 1980, 366 .
35
See Leclant 1951, 123 -127 .
36 See Brunner 1964.
37
Brunner 196 4; for the interpretation as a ritual (of birth), see Barta 1975 .
38
Eliade 1958.
39 This interpretation is exp laine d in As sm ann 1982 .
4
Book of the Dead 148. Cf. es-Sayed 1980.
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JAN ASSMANN
naissance myst iq ue wi th subseq uent nurs ing and e levat ion to the heavens,
4 1
then,
and only then , may we consider the in i t ia t ion ceremony to be the source and the
prototype
of the corresponding funerary bel iefs. In this case, the ini t iat ion ceremonies
of l iving human beings could not possibly have originated from the ri tes surrounding
the pas sage to the nex t wo rld. It wo uld, on the contrary, seem m ore logical , if the
initiation ri tes of this wor ld had been transp osed , togeth er with their correspo ndin g
sacramental interpretat ions, into the next world. Unfortunately, this happens to be a
very disputed area of research, where evidence is not only sparse, but also extremely
difficult
to interpret . Th e aforem entio ned corr elat ions can in no way be con sidered to
be establ ished fact . They are, however, far less bold than those formulated in another
contribution to the topic of reb irth. I m ention i t here — with out going into detai l —
because
i t has begun to exert considerable influence in the field of Egyptology. It is
the e ighth chapter of Chr . Desroches-Noblecourt ' s book on Tutankhamun, in which
the hardly disturbed findings of his tomb are interpreted with remarkable, i f somewhat
overstrained sen s i t i v ity a s a com plex o f fune ra r y equ ipm en t m ean t t o in su re the
rebirth
of the deceased king.
42
The idea of the ascent to heaven is not realized in the birth cycle, but expressed in a coronation text
of Thutm osis III, which has obviou s initiatory associations:
He opened for me the door-leaves of heaven
and unfolded the gates of his horizon.
I rose to heaven as a divine falcon
and saw his secret image in heaven.
I worshipped His Ma jesty . . .)
I beheld the transformations of khti
on his secret ways of heaven.
Re himself established me
by distinguishing me with the crowns on his head,
his
Uraeus remaining at my forehead.
I
was furnished with his <z
£/i-power
and acquainted with the wisdom of the gods like Horus,
when he coun ted his body i.e. beca me m ature)
in the house of his father Am un-R e etc.)
Compare for the ascent to heaven also n.43.
Cf. Desroches Noblecourt 1963; cf. Westendorf 1967.
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Death
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3 Tran sition as a physical pa ssag e
3 Kno w l e dg e
Those form ula tion s of the transit ion to the next wo rld where the idea of a phy sical
passage
predomina tes speak of a pa th , a long which the deceased must proceed. Such
texts desc ribe the aspired high er sphere of existe nce princip ally as a so jo ur n in one
specific
fa r off p lace . The Pyramid Texts , our oldes t corpus of funerary l i te ra ture ,
locate
this e ternal abode in the northern sky. The path along which the deceased must
travel in order to reach this place is a lmost entire ly restr ic ted to the idea of ascending
the
heavens and to the manifold ways of maste r ing both the ascent
43
and the crossing
of
the sky.
44
This re la t ive ly s imple scheme was subsequent ly (a t the t ime when the
Coffin
Texts becom e our representa t ive source) enorm ously com plica ted by the fac t
that
a conception of the netherworld, which had originally been the sole privilege of
the
king, suddenly becom es access ible to a l l. We now f ind an und erw orld , cente red
around the god Osir is , s tanding in a complementary re la t ionship to the Old Kingdom's
exclusively
c o s m i c c o n c e p t i o n o f a h e r e a f t e r r u l e d b y th e s u n - g o d R e . A s a
consequence
of th i s ve r i t ab le r evo lu t ion o f idea s , theo log ica l specu la t ion on the
hereafter
unde rgoes a process of d if fe rent ia t ion and deve lo pm ent of h i ther to u nkn ow n
extent.
The maste r ing of th is complex and s teadi ly growing body of knowledge on the
next
world now becomes the pr imary concern of the deceased. The main purpose of
this
n e w g e n r e of f u n e r a r y l i t e r a tu r e i s t o e q u i p t h e d e a d w i th t h e n e c e s s a r y
knowledge.
T h e f o r m u la t i o n o f t h i s k n o w le d g e g iv e s t h e im p r e s s io n o f b e in g a
science
of i t s own and , cur ious ly enough , i t r e f le c t s the typ ica l bureauc ra t ic and
systematic
style of Egyptian daily l ife , transposed to the next world.
45
This media t ive
literary qua l i ty has the advantag e of mak ing the e te rna l d imen sion of the hereaf te r
accessible
to the ear thly sphere of unders tanding. In other words , i t a l lows for the
possibility
of describing it as a conceivable plurali ty of consti tuents , which may be
carefully
ordered and named: the 2 ways, the 7 gates, the 21 portals , the 7 heavenly
cows and their bull , the 14 hil ls , the 12 crypts , the f ie ld of reeds, the offering-fie lds,
the
door-keepers and heralds, the councils and judges, the individual parts of the ferry
and
of the catching net, e tc . e tc . .
.
46
The deceased must not only know the names of a l l
these
e n t i t i e s a n d e v e r y d e t a i l c o n c e r n in g t h e i r n a tu r e , h e m u s t a l s o h a v e f u l l
command
of the words needed to face each and everyone of them. The topography of
43
See Assm ann 1977c; Da vis 1977; J.M. Paysas 1979.
44
Cf. Kees 1977, 67 -9 7.
45
The most important study of this codif icat ion of kno wled ge is Kee s, 1977. For the scient i f ic
character
of the cosmographic branch of funerary l iterature see Hornung 1979b, 217-224; D.
Mueller 1972, 100, speaks of scientif ic systematization .
46
For early scien tific cod ifica tion s in respect to the field of offer ing s and the field of reeds see D.
Mueller
1972; Lesko 197 1-72. For B D 153 see Dino Bidol i 1976, pp.81ff .
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JAN ASSMANN
the hereafter described in these spel ls is so ful l of dangers because of the demonic
creatures inhabit ing i t . The netherworld appears therein fi rst and foremost as a social
sphere,
in which the deceased must move and, eventual ly, integrate himself by means
of the spoken word: by appeal ing , conjur ing , in t imidat ing , beseeching, threa tening ,
answering, e tc . . . The accumulat ion of such an enormous body of knowledge based on
pure specu la t ion and mean t t o in su re ind iv idua l sa lva t ion ( i . e . i n t he sense o f
overcoming death) reminds one of the Gnosis and must surely represent one of i ts
roots.
Puri ty, in the sense of del iverance from the burdens of earthly existence, may
only be a t ta ined through knowledge. Puri ty and knowledge, these two concept are
closely interw oven ; doe s not the dece ased assert : I kno w the nam es . . . I am pu re ?
3.2 The path to eternal sustenance
In
the many spel ls concerned with the sustenance of the dead, the dest inat ion of the
deceased's
voy age is def ined again and again as yon der shore, upo n which the gods
stand;
47
he wh o set tles there shal l not perish
48
or shal l com e forth as a god .
49
His
wish is to set t le there, ben eath yo n sycam ore . . . in the mid st of plenty; he wh o lands
there, he grows not weary, he who tarries beneath her (i .e . the sycamore), he is as the
Great God .
5 0
To reach th is p lace wh ere M aat i s,
51
th is d iv ine abode hold ing the
promise
of eternal l i fe and god-l ike existence, the deceased must undergo a series of
examinations: he must rouse the ferryman from his s leep and induce h im to make the
crossing, he must secure a ferryboat , avoid the ca tching-net s t re tched out be tween
heaven
and earth and convince the inhabitants of the heavenly world that he is one of
them. T h e o n l y w a y o f s u c c e s s fu l l y w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e s e e x a m i n a t i o n s i s t h ro u g h
knowledge, for these take place in the form of interrogat ions. He is fi rst interrogated
by
the ferryman fol lowing a pat tern of examination which Dino Bidoli interprets as an
initiation
to the secre ts of a pro fes s ion . I t s consis t s of a cros s-ex am inat ion wi th
predetermined quest ions and answers, a typical craftman's examination at tested in the
most varied ages and cul tures and even found, unt i l recently, in the guilds of modern
Egypt.
52
The deceased must not only proclaim his identi ty, prove his competence and
give the dest inat ion of his voyage, he must , above al l , know the secret names of the
individual parts of the ferry and be able to put togeth er a m yst ica l ship by the sole
means of this my st ical lang uag e. Th is langu age cons ists of nothin g else but name s,
roles
and even t s be long ing to the d iv ine AKH-sphere , t he pu rpose o f wh ich i s t o
transpose the individual parts of the ferry into the AKH-sphere by making use of the
47 CT IV 38 i-1; sim ilarly III 98 k-1; 145 a-e etc.
48 B D 98 and e lsewhere .
49 CT III 145.
5 CT III spell 203.
5 CT III 143.
52 Bidoli 1976 p.30.
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Death
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same type of sacramental explanation as that found in connection with cultic objects
and r i t e s . T h e d e c e a s e d a v o id s t h e c a t c h in g - n e t i n p r e c i s e ly t h e s a m e w a y : b y
successfully
using the mystical language to apply specific names to the various parts
of th e n e t , h e t r a n s p o s e s t h e a c t i o n i n to t h e A K H - s p h e r e a n d p r o j e c t s h i s o w n
dangerous
situation onto a mythical plane, where i t may be resolved in the context of
an
appropriate mythical precedent.
53
There are many more spells of this type which I
should like to mention here , despite the fact that they do not s tr ic tly belong within the
frame of this discussion. Before entering the hall of judgement (see also section 3.3),
the deceased must again be able to transpose the individual parts of the gate onto a
specific
mythical plane;
54
similarly, in the so-called spells for the deifi catio n of the
limbs, his body is sacramently interpreted by equating each part of his body with a
deity.
55
Sacramental explanation is a lso the principle behind the glossed funerary texts ,
notably the we l l -known 17 th chap te r f rom the Book of the Dead . I t thus seems
justified to consider whether a dramatic init ia tory interrogation, ra ther than the mere
philological need fo r com m enta ry , unde r l i e s the se spe ll s .
56
If we may genera l ize
Bidoli's
informative remarks on this matter , i t seems reasonable to assume that these
spells
or igina ted in the in i t ia t ion r i tes of var ious profess ions , such as : ne t-makers ,
bird-catchers, fish erm en, carpenters , emba lm ers (with respect to the deific ation of the
limbs ) and priests.
At
the term of his voyage through the hereafter , the deceased is subjected to an
interrogation at the hand s of thos e wh om he wish es to joi n. Here , as in the M agic
Flute, the interrogator remains anonymous.
57
Through his answers , the deceased must
prove himself a god: one who sits where they sit , s tands where they stand and eats
from that which they eat.
58
The gods l ive in a redis t r ibut ive community ,
5 9
itself a
projection
of earthly society. Membership in this community is the only way for the
deceased to partake of the sustenance of the gods; it is, on the other hand, the sharing
in
the divine nour ishment which makes him a member of the community of gods . This
specific m o t i f a p p e a r s r e p e a t e d ly a s a s a c r a m e n ta l e x p l a n a t i o n i n t h o s e s p e l l s
concerned
with the concre te ac t ion of ea t ing and dr inking, i .e . dea l ing with the
53
Bido li 1976.
54
Boo k of the De ad 125, end .
55
Book of the Dead 42. For the orig in of th is topic in the r i tual of em balm m ent see Al tenm ii l ler 1976,
624-627.
56
For a d i ffer ent in terpre ta t ion of BD 17 see RoGler-Kohler 1976. But in Egy pt , even com m enta ry ma y
assume
a r i tual for m , cf . Schot t 1954, 13ff . see a lso pp .31 ff . for the for m of in terrogat ion .
57
M o z a r t / S c h i k a n e d e r b o r r o w e d t h e c h a r a c t e r o f a n a n o n y m o u s i n t e r l o c u t e u r f r o m T e r r a s s o n ,
thon
(1731).
58 In Co ffin Texts Spel l 195 the god s address the candid ate to the her eaf ter wi th the wo rds: He l ives
from
what we l ive , he ea ts from what we eat , he drinks from what we drink .
59 Verso rgungsg eme inscha f t . S ee fo r t h is t e rm Assm ann 1976 , 16 -20 .
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JAN ASSMANN
reception of funerary offer ings .
6 0
The m eans an d the end are fu l ly in terc hange able :
eating a n d d r i n k i n g ( a s o c i a l a c t o f p a r a d i g m a t i c s i g n i f i c a n c e ) a r e t h e i d e a l
concretizations
of the desi red socia l in tegra t ion , whi le socia l in tegra t ion inverse ly
represents the prerequisi te for sustenance in the hereafter. This peculiar relat ionship
between
sus t enance and communi ty re f l ec t s t he s t ruc tu re o f Egyp t i an soc ie ty , i n
which the officials not only received n o (or li t tle) salary, but were actual ly dep end ent
on
the household (the table) of their superior. The supply of earthly needs, especial ly
of food, thus becomes the symbol of social integrat ion: (a) in a group of fel low human
beings depending on the same source and (b) in relat ion to the patron, from whom the
nourishment issues . The exact same s t ructure may be found in the funerary tex ts ,
where
the deceased i s descr ibed as l iv ing , together wi th the o ther gods, f rom the
offering table of the sun-god . His me als co m e fr om the al tar of Re in Heliopolis.
6 1
3.3 The p ath to just i f icat ion
Justification
i s the cent ra l concept of Egypt ian funerary re l ig ion in which a l l
aspects o f t he ov er co m ing o f de a t h and o f sa lv a t ion in the nex t w or ld co m e
together.
62
It is as important , as i t is complex. We alone, who look upon the matter
from a sufficient ly detached point of view, might at tempt to describe i ts complexity by
means
of a conceptual analysis. In the Egyptian mind, i .e . from the point of view of
those l iving within this conceptual world, any such analyt ical approach would have
been unth inkable . The s t ructure of those funerary tex ts concerned wi th jus t i f ica t ion
may be divided into a number of aspects. The deceased must just i fy himself: (a) with
respect to the enemy (as the personificat ion of death), (b) with respect to n enemy,
who
might face him in the next world and perhaps bring forth accusat ions against him
in yo nd er court of just ic e and, final ly, (c) with respe ct to the divine prosecu tor and
judge,
in whose presence the deceased must answer for his conduct on earth and prove
himself worthy of eternal salvat ion. Aspect (a) forms the basis of the myth of Osiris,
63
(b) is especial ly important in the Coffin Texts
64
and (c) appears in i ts purest form in
60
It wo uld lead us too far astray to quote ex am ple s of this very co m m on top ic. Just to illustrate the
point
let me quote the following passage from a funerary l iturgy:
Thy bread is the bread of Re,
thy
beer is the beer of Hathor.
Thou getst up and siteth dow n for thy m eal
and
joinest the gods wh o fol low the god (Re) .
61
See espe cially CT III, passim .
62
justified m3c-hrw) is the usual epithet for a dece ased pe rson since the beginning o f the secon d
millenium.
See R. Anthes 1954, 2If f .
63
See Griff iths 1970 id., 1980; see also BD (translation Hornu ng) 166 , vers es 3-5; 151, 36 ff . 169,
62-64.
64
See Grieshammer 1970.
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Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
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conjunct ion w i t h t h e g e n e r a l a c c e p t a n c e o f a j u d g e m e n t o f t h e d e a d , w h i c h , t h o u g h
already
r e c o g n i z a b l e t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e 3 r d m i l l e n n i u m B . C . ,
6 5
o n l y b e c o m e s t h e
overal l d o m i n a n t a n d o b l i g a t o r y t r a it o f E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e i n t h e N e w
Kingdom. I t s c a n o n i c a l f o r m , a s f o u n d i n C h a p t e r 1 2 5 o f t h e B o o k o f t h e D e a d ,
6 6
h a s
in
a n y c a s e n o k n o w n p r e d e c e s s o r s i n t h e o l d e r f u n e r a r y l i t e r a tu r e . O u r d i s c o u r s e s h a l l
be
r e s t r i c t e d t o t h i s o n e a s p e c t o f j u s t i f i c a t i o n .
3.3.1 The gates
May
y o u r s o u l bS ) k n o w t h e p a t h s o f y o n d e r w o r l d l e a d i n g t o t h e g a t e o f ' h e , w h o
conceals t h e w e a r y o n e ' . T h u s r u n s t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y p o l i t e w i s h o f a w i s e m a n t o a
pr ince i n a l a t e M i d d l e K i n g d o m t a l e.
6 7
T h e g a t e is a m o s t p r e g n a n t s y m b o l o f
transition. I n t h e 1 4 5 t h a n d 1 4 6 t h c h a p t e r s o f t h e B o o k o f t h e D e a d , t h i s i d e a f i n d s
itself s y s t e m a t i c a l l y e l a b o r a t e d i n t o a s e q u e n c e o f 2 1 g a t e s w h i c h t h e d e c e a s e d m u s t
pass
i n o r d e r t o r e a c h t h e o n e , w h o m t h e y c o n c e a l , t h e w e a r y o n e , i .e . O s i r is .
6 8
The g a t e s a r e g u a r d e d b y d e m o n s o r b e t t e r , a s o f l a t e m o r e c o r r e c t l j d i f f e r e n t i a t e d ,
6 9
by
a p o t r o p a i c g o d s . T h e i r i c o n o g r a p h y , c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y a n i m a l m a s k s a n d k n i v e s ,
ident if ies t h e m a s d a n g e r o u s a n d t e r r i f y i n g be in g s. ™ T h e d e c e a s e d w a r d s o f f th e i r
threat
b y c a l l i n g t h e m b y n a m e , b u t a l s o b y k n o w i n g t h e n a m e s o f t h e g a t e s ; h e
secures u n h i n d e r e d p a s s a g e b y s h o w i n g p r o o f o f h i s p u r i t y . H e k n o w s t h e m y t h i c a l
significance o f t h e w a t e r , i n w h i c h h e h a s b a t h e d , a n d w e a r s t h e a p p r o p r i a t e c l o t h i n g .
The n a t u r e o f t h e d o o r k e e p e r s ( a n d o f t h e a p o t r o p a i c g o d s i n g e n e r a l ) i s a m b i g u o u s :
the
t e r r o r t h e y e m b o d y i s m e a n t t o w a r d o f f e v i l , t h e c o n c e p t u a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f
which a r e i g n o r a n c e , i m p u r i t y a n d v i o l e n c e . T h e g a t e s a n d t h e i r k e e p e r s b u i l d a 2 1 - ,
65 Instruction for Merikare P 53 -5 7, F echt 1972, p. 147 with postscripts p.2 22 and p.2 28 f, Jansen-
Winkeln
1988.
66 For the history of the idea of the Judgment of the Dead, see especially Grieshamm er 1 970, 4 6- 7 0,
cf. also the excellent study by Brandon 1967 and the contribution by J. Yoyotte 1961. See also
the iconographical study by Seeber 1976.
67 pWestcar 7 , 25 -2 6, see A.M . Blackm an (ed. W.V. Da vies ) 1988, 8 . The gates sbhwt) of the
underworld and the doors sb3w) of the field of reeds are me ntione d in the Inscription of king
Neferhotep as objects of royal knowledge in connection with the theology of Osiris: W. Helck
1975 26 line 23.
68 Esp ecially im press ive depiction s of these gates are found in the tom bs of quee ns Nefertari and
Tausret.
I have published a funerary text dealing with the knowle dge and passage of these gates
in Assmann 1973, 94-97. This text is frequently written at the entrance of the tomb which
thereby bec om es transf igured, so that by entering the tom b the dec eas ed s ym bol ical l y
effectuates the transition into the underworld.
69 te Velde, Lexikon der Agyptologie I, 98 0-9 84 ; Altenmiil ler 1976, 63 5-6 40 . See also Meek s 1971,
19-84.
70 For the apotropaic function of terror and the mon struous, se e Lexikon der Agyptologie II, 36 2-3 67 ,
cf. also the contribution by H.G. Fischer in Fs.E.Porada.
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JAN ASSMANN
14- 1 5 ) o r 7 - fo l d ( t h e n u m b e r a s s u c h n o t b e i n g a l l t h a t i m p o r t a n t ) p ro t e c t i v e
enclosure around the wea ry one , nam ely the dead Osi r i s , wh o l ives on as a deceased
god within the concealment of these walls. The wish of the deceased human being is
to identify his fate with that of Osiris. Only within the innermost enclosure of this
most secluded and therefore holiest
71
of all cosmic spheres will he also live as Osiris.
The
terrifying creatures at the gates wil l then be his own guards, protect ing him from
all evil.
72
In the Egyptian conception of the hereafter, the underworld is not thought of as a
realm
of darkn ess where death, the great level ler, caus es al l to sink indiscrim inately
into oblivion. It is, on the contrary, divided into three parts: a sphere of light, where
the
just i fie d dead l ive in a divine com mu nity centered a roun d the sun-god and Osiris,
a sphere of chaot ic darknes s , whe re the dam ned suffe r e ternal punishment ,
7 1
and a
sphere no t o f pu rg ing — th i s i dea seems to be fu l ly absen t f rom the Egyp t i an
conception of the her eaf ter — but of f i l te r in g , wh ere the evi l a re cau ght in the
catching-net or destroyed by the demons guarding the gates. The concept of a zone of
transition
is substant iated by the many formulat ions in which the idea of a qual ifying
passage is expre ssed in Eg yptian fu ner ary texts: in the B oo k of the Tw o Ways,
74
the
spells
of the seven gate-paths,
7 5
the chap ter on the 14 ab od es of the underw orld
7 6
and
the spell of the 12 crypts.
77
This idea was even adapted into a board game with the
characteristic nam e pa ssa ge . It require s two players . The object of the gam e is to
find
oneself a passage through 30 fields of salutary or evi l nature unti l one arrives in
the v i c i n i t y o f t h e g o d , w h o t h e n g r a n t s s u s t e n a n c e ( b r e a d a n d w a t e r ) a n d
71
For the correlation between the concep ts of seclusion and holiness, see Ho ffmeie r 1985.
72 The do uble fun ction of the guardians of the doors, to spread terror (averting the evi l) and to provid e
protection ( covering the weary , eg.
hbs b3gj ,
may be expressed less in the text itself than by
its
location in tomb decoration. In a tomb of the Late Period, one version o f this text (BD 145)
is written on the walls of the staircase leading from the upper to the subterranean part of the
tomb, i.e. from the upperworld to the underworld. It enh ance s the apotropaic aspect of the
gates and the meaning of their passage as a sort of qualifying examination. The guards face the
people who enter or descend. In another version, located further inside the tomb, they face from
outside in towards the owner of the tomb, who begs for their protection. See A ssma nn 1977b,
32-34, 5 9 - 6 4 .
73
See Hornung 1968.
74 Le sk o 197 2. For a very interesting thou gh rather spe cula tive interpretation of this text as texte
d initiation see Barguet 1969.
75 B D 144 with 147, see also CT spell 901 concerning the 7 chambers of the tomb (equated with the
underworld). The seven
c
rjjt (po rchw ays ) are also understoo d as the wa y to the field of
reeds,
the Elysian fields of the Egyptians, e.g. in chamber III of the Tanitic tomb of Osorkon.
76
B D 149 with many precursors in the CT. See for individual references Hornung 197 9a 506 ff .
77 B D 168, see A. Pianko ff and H. Jacquet-Gordon 1974.
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Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
149
justification.
78
It was, w ithout any dou bt, a lso played in l ife tim e for the sole pu rpo se of
enjoyment
shmh jb, E gypt ian for en joy m ent , l it .: to cause the hear t to forge t ) ,
but
h a s a l m o s t e x c l u s i v e l y c o m e to u s f r o m a f u n e r a r y c o n t e x t . P a r t i c u l a r l y
informative
in this matter is the evidence form the tomb of Sennedjem: here , the scene
is fou nd abov e a door, thus already impartin g the sense of pa ssa ge thro ugh its very
location.
F u r th e r m o r e , n e a r t h e g a m e - b o a r d , a t a b l e c o v e r e d w i th f o o d o f f e r i n g s
figuratively
conv eys the purpo se and goa l of the pass age : secur ing access to and
availability
of e ternal sustenance.
79
In the demotic ta le of Setne, Osiris s i ts enthroned in the seventh of seven halls
which
the decea sed m us t c ross in o rde r to r each the p lace o f jus t i f i c a t io n . T h is
sequence
of seven ga tes a lso seems to have been an important pr inc iple in temple
architecture, especially in the Late Period. I t appears in a particularly stra ightforward
manner
on a la te type of fa lse door (funerary ste lae), where up to seven interlocked
gates,
shown in super imposed
en face
relief , represen t a corre spo ndin g sequen ce of
rooms.
80
According to this conception, the underworld is imagined as a temple, in the
innermost and holiest part of which Osiris s i ts enthroned.
8
' T he pa th of vhe dec eas ed to
Osiris corresponds to the path of the priest on his way to the inne rm ost san ctuar y of
the
god. The path of the priest is furthermore sacramentally explained as an ascent to
the
heav ens. He ope ns the doo r-win gs of the sky in Karnak
82
and sees the my steries
of
the horizon.
83
If I mention these correlations, i t is to demonstrate yet once more
that Egy pt ian fun e ra ry m yth o lo gy in no way repre sen ts an au ton om ous f ie ld o f
religious
speculation, but is actually deeply interwoven with the ideas and concepts of
the
earthly cult of the gods. I t therefore would not seem justif ied to accept the idea of
an
init ia tion for funerary religion (as comm unis opinio presently sees i t) on the one
hand, while categorically re jecting i t for a ll other forms of Egyptian religion on the
other.
84
The fol lowing paragraph should, in my opinion, furnish the dec is ive proof for
this
theory.
78 Pusch 1979. Timothy Kendall , Passing Through the Netherworld (Belm ont, Ma ss.) has produced a
modern
reconstruction of the game.
79 Theba n Tom b TT 1, see Pusch 1979 , pl.28. The last part of the gam e deals with nourishm ent ( bread
in the hou se of breads, coo l w ater in the hou se of c oo l water ) and justif ica tion ( thou art
justified he says to me, namely Mehen ) .
8 L e C o r s u l 9 6 8 .
81 For the Setn e narrat ive, see the translat ion of Lich theim 1980 , 12 5- 15 1, esp. 139 f . For the
underworld of the temple, see Barguet 1969. According to its title, ch. 145 of the Book of the
Dead
descr ibes the gate of the field of reeds of the tem ple of Osiris and loc aliz es the field of
reeds in the innermost part of the temple (the holy of holiest).
82 For the title wn
c
3wj pt see Brovarski 1977.
83
For this, see Assm ann 1973, 19ff.
84 Cf. e.g. Hornung 1979b; Mo renz 1952.
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JAN
ASSMANN
3 3
The Trial
The
goa l of the dece ased 's pas sag e is to reach the ha l l of twin t ruths , wh ere the
judgement
of the dead takes place. Access to this hall is the last of the qualifying
examinations
he must undergo simply to gain admittance to the tr ibunal. I t again takes
the
typical form of a cross-examination. He is f irs t questioned on his identity, then on
his
competence :
"Who
art tho u?, say they to m e,
"What
is thy na m e? , say they to m e.
"I
am the lower root of the papyrus-plant,
'He in the ol ive- t ree ' i s my name.
"Where
hast thou gone past? , say they to m e.
"I
have gone past the place to the north of the thicket.
"What has t thou seen there?
"It
was a leg and a thigh.
"What
has t thou sa id to them?
"I
have seen the jubi la t ion in yon lands of the Pho enic ian s .
"What
have they given thee?
"It
was a f laming f i re and a fayence amule t .
"What
has t thou done therewith?
"I
bur ied them on the shores of the Maat i wate rs dur ing evening sacr i f ice .
Etc, e tc . . .
That the ques t ions put forward here re fe r to a myst ica l knowledge , and more prec ise ly
yet to knowledge f rom the Osir is myste r ies , i s obvious .
8 5
They a re fol lowed by the
final
summons :
"Come
then and s tep through this ga te of the twin t ruths , for thou knowest
us "
In
the fol lowing examina t ion, the candida te must name the individua l par ts of the
door
using the mystical language, i .e . he must be able to interpret them on the divine
mythical p l a n e . T h i s p r o c e s s o f s a c r a m e n t a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n h a s a l r e a d y b e e n
discussed.
8 6
T h e t h i r d a n d s h o r t e s t e x a m i n a t i o n i s c a r r i e d o u t b y T h o t , t h e
psychopompos,
w ho leads the decease d into the ha l l of jus t ice . H e asks only fou r
questions:
W hy has t thou com e? — To be announ ced . W ha t i s thy condi t ion ? — I
am
free of every s in . W ho m sha l l I ann oun ce thee to? — To him , wh ose ce i ling is
fire,
wh ose wal ls a re l iv ing urae i , wh ose hou se-f loo r is the f loo d. W ho is tha t? —
85
Cf. Gr iffiths 198 0 30 ff. with further refer enc es.
86 C f . n . 3 0 .
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Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
151
Osiris.
"The n be take thyse l f th i the r : beho ld , thou a rt ann ou nce d " Th e fo l low ing
verdict anticipates the tribunal's decision. We shall return to it later.
The ac tua l t r ia l , f igura t ive ly formula ted by the weighing of the hear t aga ins t a
symbol of t ruth , and the "nega t ive confess ion" of the candida te , who must enumera te
42
sins in the presen ce of 42 fune rary jud ges w hile swearin g not to hav e com mitte d
them, t ru ly be long to the fundamenta l s o f Egypt ian re l ig ion . They have been the
subject of extens ive research.
87
We sha l l there fore be br ie f in our descr ipt ion. The
negative
form of the "confess ion" should not surpr ise us : i t i s mere ly the logica l
consequence
o f t h e n e g a t i v e s t r u c tu r e o f e t h i c s ( t h e " f o r b id d e n f r u i t "
8 8
) , f i rs t
articulated in s en te nc es s uc h a s " th o u s ha lt n o t w h e r e u p o n f o ll o w s t he a n sw e r: "I
have not This type of form ulatio n is inherent to the subject ma tter and doe s not
necessarily point to i ts original "Sitz im Leben." R. Grieshammer, who brought up this
question, therefore a lso bases his argumentation on the actual content of the "negative
confession.
89
He divides the 42 sins into three approximately equally large categories:
offenses of s tr ic t ly cul t ic na tur e , v iola t ions w ithin the tem ple adm inis t ra t ion , and
infringements
with regard to e thical principles of more general character . The same
tripartite structure is a lso found in texts inscribed in the temple doorways used by the
priests of the Late Egyptian Period.
90
To all appearances, they would seem to reflect
'admittance
l i turgies ' which the priests had to recite upon entering the temple,
91
but
probably
a lso had to swear by dur ing pr ies t ly in i t ia t ion ceremonies .
9 2
"Just as the
priest had to vow, during his f irs t init ia tion and upon entering the temple, not to have
committed certa in actions, the deceased must, in the same way, give assurance of his
purity upon entering the sacred sphere of the hereafter ."
93
I t would there fore appear
that
we a re dea l ing here with a pr ies t ly in i t ia t ion r i tua l , which only subsequent ly
became
part of the l i terary and conceptual vocabulary of funerary religion.
The outcome of the tr ia l , however, has aspects other than simply gaining admittance
to the divine sphere of existence. First of a ll , the survival of the deceased's individual
personality depends on it . Personal identity is , for the Egyptian, a function of social
integration and approval.
94
A human being is a person only within the l imits of the
image
which the (significant) others hold of him. The justif ication brought forth in the
judgement of the dead is itself a formulation of this social approval and is meant to
ensure
the e te rna l su rv iva l o f h i s pe r sona l i ty among the b le s sed sp i r i t s o f the
87 Cf. especially Yoyotte 1961; Brandon 1967; R. Grieshammer 1970 and Seeber 1 976.
88 Cf. Bergson 1932/1982, p . l .
89 Ibid. (n.2).
90 Griesham mer, 1974 , p.2 2 ff., add Gutbub 1973, 149ff.
91 The remarkable parallels in Biblica l Texts have been pointed out by Koch 1961 .
92 Such an oath in Greek is published by Merke lbach 1968 , cf. also the recent article by M erkelbac h
1987
93 Grieshamm er 1974, p.25 cf . also Griff iths 1988.
94 Cf. Lexikon der gyptologie IV (198 2), 96 3- 97 8 s.v. Personlichkeitsbegriff und -bewuBtsein .
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JAN ASSMANN
underworld. He is henceforth no longer an immaterial shadow, but , for instance, the
high s teward A me nem ope w ho may now place h is ear th ly off ices and name s be tween
the new t it les Os i r i s and jus t i f ied , both acqui red in the judg em ent of the dead. The
second aspect of the t rial is the acceptance of the deceased into the ' redistribut ive
community,'
in which gods and spiri ts are thought to l ive in and which is modeled
after the pat tern of ear th ly socie ty . Sus tena nce and soc ia l in tegra t ion e xis t , in the
Egyptian
mind, as one indivisible whole: they merely represent two aspects of one and
the same thing. The desired verdict of the funera ry jud ge ap propria tely form ulate s it :
A
truly righteous one.
Let him be given the bread and beer,
which issues forth from Osiris.
He shal l be forever amongst the fol lowers of Horus.
95
The con cep t ion of the jud ge m en t of the dead i s thus f i t ted in to the mor e gene ra l
context of ideas, which, as discussed in the previous sect ion, see in sustenance and
social integrat ion the prerequisi tes of a blessed state of being in afterl i fe.
4 Death and Ini t iat ion in the Is i s-Myster ies of Apule ius
Accessi confin ium mort i s
et calcato Proserpinae l imine
per omnia vectus e lementa remeavi ,
nocte media vidi solem
candido coruscantem lumine
deos inferos et deos superos
accessi coram
et adoravi de proxumo.
9 6
I entered the boundary of death,
and as I stepped across Proserpina 's threshold,
I was carried by al l elements and returned;
At
midnight , I caught sight of the sun,
dazzling in radiant light,
I approached the lower and upper gods
and
prayed to them face to face.
95 Pap. BM 104 70 (Pap.Ani) col.3^ 4 cf. Seeber 1976 , p. 114. For the correlation of jurisdiction and
provision in'the Egyptian world, cf. Assmann 1970, 58-65.
96
Apu leius of Madauros,
etamorphoseon
XL , 285 cap. 23.
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Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
153
The
Egypt ian assoc ia t ions present in th is descr ipt ion have of ten been emphas ized.
9 7
We
are dealing here with a
katabasis,
i .e . a r i tual desce nt into the und erw orld , w hich,
in
this case , is v isua l ly and a rchi tec tonica l ly ac tua l ized by a descent in to a c rypt
decorated
wi th cosmograph ic repre sen ta t ions . In the p rec i se same way , the roya l
tombs
of the New Kingdom are decora ted with representa t ions of the underworld ,
thereby equa t ing the entombment of the king to a descensus ad inferos.
96
The wal l -
paintings of these tombs a re cosmographies : they descr ibe the pa th of the sun-god,
sailing in his bark through the hourly regions of the underworld and of the sky. The
mystical character of these bo ok s, in the sense of a cod ificatio n of an esoteric and
secret
knowledge, is c learly expressed in these representations, as are the clues that
the
origins of this l i terature are to be found not in funerary religion, but in the solar
cult.
Admittedly, we cannot produce the decisive source materia l in support of our
hypothesis.
As a result of fortuitous circumstances, the tombs on the edge of the ferti le
Nile
Valley have been preserved, while the temple-libraries in the valley i tself have
been lost in the wake of expanding agriculture and urbanization. The reservations of
Egyptologists,
wh o cannot conce ive of m yste ry and ini t ia t ion outs ide the context
of
funerary religion, appear, in the l ight of the manifold evidence brought together in
this discourse , as an untenable a rgum ent e silentio.
In the cosm ograp hic bo ok s of the roya l tom bs, both dei inferi and dei superi are
found together. The dei inferi are the inhabitants of the underworld, to whom the sun-
god,
accompanied by his divine retainers, descends nightly in his bark. The deceased
king
sails a long in the solar bark and prays to the gods
de proxumo.
The concept ion
that
a human be ing , once dead , mee ts the gods face to f ace ,
10 0
a f te r hav ing on ly
worshiped
them in their symbolic representations during his earthly existence, is an
oft
repeated motif in Egy ptian fun erary li turgies ( V erklaru ngen ):
All
the gods, whom thou hast worshiped since thou existe th,
thou
shalls t enter face to face with them.
They are ready to receive thy 'Ba '
and
to protect thy mummy.
101
Even the pa ssa ge of the decea sed throug h the 21 gates, the 7 halls , the 15 places
(BD
149), e tc . . . of the underworld represents a descensus ad inferos which br ings him
at
long last in the physical presence of Osiris and of his divine retainers:
97
For details see Griff iths 1975, 29 6- 30 8. Cf. espec ially Bergman 1982.
98 Cf . Brunner 1980, 21 5-2 28 .
99 Pace Barta 1985 and Wente 19 82. See Assma nn 1970, and, for further substantiation, Ass m ann
1983 chapter 1.
1
For
adoravi de proxumo
cf . the numerous parallels in Griffiths 1975, 3 03 -3 08 , but also Gardiner,
in: PSBA
35 (1913), 169ff .
1 1
Theban Tomb TT 50, harper s song, see M. Lichtheim, in: JNE S 4, 1945, 198.
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JAN ASSMANN
To
separate NN from al l his sins,
to see the face of all gods
is the t i tle of the psy cho stas ia in the Bo ok of the Dead.
10 2
But by the same act the
deceased
enters also into the presence of the sun-god, who travels nightly through the
underworld with his ow n divine ret inue. To look upon the sun, w hen i t sets and is
worshiped by the go ds is the pro fess ed goal of the fun era ry spel ls.
103
In the ini t iat ion of Lucius, the voyage through the underworld stands for a symbolic
death,
fol lowed on the next morning by his resurrect ion as the sun-god: adorned with
a palm wreath ad instar solis he appears to the cheering crowd,
104
just as the just i fied
deceased at the judgement of the dead. The fol lowing quote is taken from one of the
oldest texts, in which this conception may be recognized:
Trembling befal ls the eastern horizon,
announced
are the paths of i ts remoteness
to
Osi r i s NN, who hath come for th as Re
and looms h igh above as Atum,
after Ha thor hath anointed him
after
she hath given him (eternal) l i fe in the West
like Re, day by day.
O Osiris NN, there is nei ther god nor goddess,
who might bring forth a charge against thee
on
the day o f reckon ing (= judgemen t o f t he dead)
before the Great One, the Lord of the West .
Thou eatest bread from the offering table of Re
in the company of the Great Ones at the gates.
105
No one doubts that the ini t iat ion ri tes of the Isis-mysteries, as Apuleius ventures to
describe
them, are deeply rooted in the uniquely elaborated ri tuals and conceptions of
Egyptian
funerary rel igion. The same holds t rue for other ini t iat ion ri tuals. Seen from
this
aspect , a relat ionship between death and ini t iat ion is not disputed. A number of
clues l i s ted in th is survey, however , have g iven us reason to look in the opposi te
102 pap.BM 10470 col .3, see n.95.
103
Assm ann 1 969, 28 ff .; Griffiths 1975 , 30 3- 30 8. M agical spells have the pow er to ma ke the sun-go d
and his circle of deities appear, even for one who is in the underworld.
104 Con cernin g Ap uleiu s, ch.2 4, Griffiths correctly calls attention to the wreath of justifica tion ,
which the vindicated individual receiv es in the judgm ent of the dead (B D 19), cf. Derchain
1955 225-287.
105 CT spell 45 .
106
Cf. Hornung 1979c und 1977; Assm ann 198 3 ch.2.
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Death
and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt
155
direction.
Let us at tempt to formulate our results into a hypothesis : the funerary r i tes
take
the fo rm of an in i t i a t ion in to the my s te r i e s o f the un de rw or ld (Ho rnun g) ,
because
they ref lect the corresp ond ing r i tes and conce ptions of cult ic r i tuals in this
world
of which, for obvious reasons, we know next to nothing.
The
appea rance o f the deceased , r e sp . o f the in i t i a t ed a s the sun -god , b r ings
together
b o t h c o n c e p t u a l s p h e r e s w h i c h w e h a d l a b e l l e d — a g a i n : m e r e l y f o r
demonstrative purposes — biom orph ic and t rans i t ional mo dels . The mul t ip l ic ity
of
concepts , through which the nature of the sun is expressed in Egyptian mythical
thought
combines the mystery of the passage with that of rebir th. The solar cycle, a
mythical
event of archetypal and fundamenta l s igni f icance , takes p lace not only in
o
tempore bu t th roug hou t p re sen t e t e rn ity . Du r ing h i s n igh t ly descensus ad
inferos
the sun-god crosses the 12 gates and hourly regions of the underworld, only to
be
reborn every morning in his new appearance: having entered the tai l of a snake as
an
old man, he emerges from its mouth as a youth; he is swallowed by the goddess of
the
heavens in the evening and reborn through her in the morning. Within this world
of
endless representat ional and conceptual possibil i t ies for the solar cycle,
10 6
we f ind
that
all Egyptian contemplations of change, renewal, rebir th and eternal l i fe have been
paired
with a corresponding world of mythical precedents and reali t ies .
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