Book Plate Spine Title Prospectus
Gibson's letter(see below) Explanation of Book of the Dead
Please click on the thumbnails to enlarge images !
The presentation of Ani,triumphant to Osiris.The god enthroned within a
shrine; behind him Isis and Nephthys; in front a lotus flower,on which are the four
children of Horus,genii of the dead. On the left Horus leads forward Ani ; who again
kneels, with whitened hair, and presents offerings. 
Above twelve gods seated in order, as judges
before a table of offerings. Below the Psychotasia of weighing of the conscience. The
Jackal headed Anubis trying in the balance of the heart of the deceased against the
feather, symbolical of law. On the left Ani and his wife in an attitude of devotion; on
the right the Ibis headed Thoth, the Scribe of the gods, noting down the result of the
trial, and behind him the monster Amemit, the Devourer. On the left of the balance, Shai
(Destiny) with the two goddesses Renenit and Meschenit behind him; above them the Soul of
Ani, as a human headed hawk and the symbol of the cradle. 
Above Hunefer kneeling before a table of offerings in adoration , in
presence of fourteen gods, seated in order of judges. Below the Psychotasia, or weighing
of the conscience; the jakal headed Anubis examines the pointer of the balance, wherein
the heart (conscience)of the deceased is being weighed against the feather , symbolical of
law or of right and truth ; on the left a jakalheaded deity is leading the deceased by the
left hand.On the right are the monster Amemit, the Devourer, and the Ibisheaded God Thoth,
the scibe of the Gods, who notes down the result of the trial. Next the deceased going to
be introduced to Osiris by Horus " The Avenger of his father" 
Above, some gods sitting
as judges.Below,the Ibisheaded God Thoth, noting down the results of the weighing of the
heart (conscience) of Hunefer : - on the right Hunefer going to be introduced into the
presence of the God Osiris enthroned within a shrine.Behind him Isis and Nephtys.In front
a lotus flower on which stand the four children of Horus, or gods of the cardinal points.
The throne of the god is set upon the waters. 
The God
Ptah-Socharis-Osiris within a shrine.Behind him Isis and Nephthys.On his right his emblem
the Hawk with the Solar Disk.Before him the goddesses of the North and the South. On the
left the the Goddess Maat being embraced by the goddess Amentet (mark the feathers which
represent the law). 
Above ten gods sitting in
judgement. Below is the Psychostasia or weighing of the conscience. The jakalheaded god
Anubis trying in the Balance the heart (conscience) against a figure of the goddess Maat,
holding on the head the feather Symbol of the law and in the hand the sign of life. On the
left is the Goddess Maat and the Ibisheaded god Thoth the scribe of the Gods noting down
the result.Before him is the monster Amemit, theDevourer. Above the balance is the emblem
of the goddesses Shai (Destiny) and Renenit on the right is Horus leading Lady Anhai.
(a) Lady Anhai decorated
in a position of adoration (b)The occupations of Lady Anhai with her Husband in the
Elesian fields worshipping gods, harvesting and ploughing. Mark the quantity of water and
the boat. 
Above a funeral procession ; a
priest officiating, followed by mourners and by a servant carrying sepulchral tablet, in
front of which Anubis supports the mummy the mourning wife and daughter (?) kneeling
before it. Facing the mummy stand two priests holding instruments connected with the
ceremony of "opening of the mouth"; behind them is a priest burning incense and
pouring out a libation before a table of offerings. Below this : a cow and a calf for
sacrifice , men bringing a haunch of beef as offering, a funeral coffer, a flower stand
and a table with instruments connected with the ceremony of opening the mouth.
Ani and his wife Tutu drinking water from the
Celestial Nile
The soul of Ani in the form of a hawk with the
head of Ani visiting his mummy holding the sign of Life. 
(a) The god Nu raising the solar bark which contains the beetle and
Solar Disk and seven gods. Above this is the Puat or under World. (b) The mummy of
Anhai lying on the top of the double staircase which is the city of Khemmenu and two
ramheaded gods standing one on the head and the other on the feet . (c) Lady
Anhai standing in a position of adoration. 
(a) The god Horus wearing
the crowns of the North and South, and holding the scepter and flail. (b) The mummy of
Hunefer within a shrine and Isis and Nephthys as hawks (?) on a tomb. (c)
Hunefer kneeling in adoration before two serpents coiled around papyrus and lotus plants
emlematic of the North and the South. (d) A group of offerings . (e) A god seated holding
in his left hand the sign of strength ( a scepter?) his right hand stretched over the eye
of Horus. (f) A god seated holding in his left hand the emblem of Millions of years and
his right hand between the lakes 'Maat' and 'Hesmen' (g) Hunefer and his wife in a
position of adoration.
(a) The occupation of Ani
in the Elesian fields through which flows water. - Thoth first introducing Ani
into the presence of a triad of gods. (b) Ani adores Ra before two altars with vases
and lotus flowers. 
(a) Hunefer and his
wife overseer of the palace of the lord of the two lands (i.e. North and South)
Men-Maat-Ra (Seti 1,abt B.C.) and overseer of the cattle of the two lands, the Royal
Scribe and his wife Nasha a lady of the college of the God Amen-Ra at Thebes, in an
attitude of adoration. (b) The God Thoth , Ibisheaded, holding in his left hand the
emblems of 'strength' and 'life'. 
Funeral procession;
the mummy on a boatshaped hearse, drawn by oxen besides it kneels the mourning wife; in
front a priest officiates; behind follow mourners and servants drawing a funeral shrine
and bearing articles for the tomb and sepulchral furniture. A band of female mourners. On
the right the tomb in front of which Anubis supports the mummy. Facing the mummy two
priests officiate and a priest reads the funeral service. 
Isis and Nephthys the sisters of Osiris
adoring on the right and left of the Tat a Symbol of Osiris. The ornaments upon the heads
of the two goddesses are the hieroglyphic signs of their names. Above is the Hawk
emblematic of the rising Sun; on one side are four and on the other side three cynoxephali
or dog headed apes the transformed openers the Eastern portal of Heaven, raising their
hands in adoration.
Isis and Nephthys
the sisters of Osiris kneeling in adoration on the right and left of the standard of the
West which stands upon the solar mount and supports the hawk emblematic of Ra-Harmachis.
The two twin birds on a tomb with a flame before them are Isis and Nephthys again
transformed to represent the soul and immortality. On each side are two dogheaded apes the
transformed openers of the eastern portals of heaven raising their hands in adoration .
Near the hawk is the feather the Symbol of the Law. On the top the Solar Disk and two
hawkwinged eyes (which sees everything the good and the bad). 
Osiris, Isis within a
shrine before them a lotus flower on which stand the four children of Horus, genii of the
dead.
The God
Heru-Netsch-Atef leads Lady Anhai a singer in the choir of Amen-Ra at Thebes into the
presence of some gods.
Wall murals of the Scribe of Ani at the British Museum.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPYRUS OF ANI
by Egyptologist Thomas Gibson, 1910
(Chronological dates accepted at that time)
It is evident that from the most remote period of Antiquity, Egyptian burial rites included the recitation of a number of spells intended to assist the dead in their life beyond the grave, to preserve them against the attacks of demons, and to secure them full enjoyment of the good things that the gods lived upon. These spells and others were ultimately inscribed about the tomb, with the idea that the dead himself would thus be enabled to recite the formulae at need. Such inscriptions of immense length, have been found in Pryamids of the Kings of the VIth Dynasty, perhaps over 3,000 years BC (Professor Flinders Petrie has shown from the large slab of Unas in the Museum of Cairo, that Pepys, the middle King of the VIth Dynasty, reigned about 3,400 years BC and the same or similar texts were inscribed on coffins, as well as on the walls of the tombs throughout the Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI to XIII) apparently to be consulted by the deceased in case of difficulty.
In the XVIIIth Dynasty, about 1500 BC, the wealthy included amongst their tomb furniture a roll of papyrus on which was written a selection of magic formulae, ready for quotation when occasion arose. The use of these Papyrus rolls, or "Books of the Dead", as they are now called, became more and more common, and in the XXVIth Dynasty, about 650BC, the order of the sections, which had hitherto been quite arbitary, was fixed within narrow limits of variation.
The Standard Text is that of a very long and complete Papyrus of the XXVIth Dynasty published by the celebrated Lepsius, in which he numbered the sections or chapters consecutively. These numbers, 1 to CLXV, are now retained in describing such Papyri.
Most of the chapters found in the Papyri of the XVIIIth to XXth Dynasty occur also in Lepsius' Text; and as new chapters are discovered in fresh documents, they can be indicated by fresh numbers. The Papyri of the "Book of the Dead" are usually illustrated. In the New Kingdom (XVIIIth to XXth Dynasty) the illustrations or vignettes are often on a large scale, and in colours; and are executed with great elaboration and delicacy.
"The Papryus of Ani" dates probably from the XVIIIth Dynasty, about 1400BC and is the most richly illustrated of all known copies of the "Book of the Dead". It is of great length, measuring no less than 76 feet. Some of the Texts in it are of great antiquity, and had ceased to be intelligible even to the scribes of the time. A comparison of this with other copies shows not only the extreme corruption which the texts had undergone, but also the great carelessness of the copyists. Even those portions which were of recent composition such as the Hymns to the Sun in Chapter XV, and which were therfore as yet ungarbled, are full of mistakes and clerical errors; though the penmanship, like the drawing of the Vignettes, may show a perfect mastery of the technique.
"The Papryus of Ani" was purchased for the British Museum in 1888 by Dr E. Wallis Budge, and is said to have been found at Thebes, 450 miles above Cairo. The name and titles of Ani occur from time to timeand thus we learn that he was, "A veritable Royal Scribe", "Scribe of the accounts of the Revenues of the Gods", "Superindent of the Granary of the Lords Divinities of Abydos", "And Scribe of the Revenues of the Lords of Thebes".
His high rank is shown by the statement that "He was beloved by the "Lord of the two lands (i.e. Pharaoh) whom he loved; but unfortuneatly we cannot tell which Pharaoh is here referred to. Ani is often represented in the Vignettes as accompanied by his wife Tu Tu "Mistress of the House", "Musician of Amen". These titles indicated that she was a Lady who held the honorable office of Singer or Musician in the Temple of the principal God of Thebes.
It is instructive to compare the illustrations of Ani with those collected from Papyri of about the same age in Dr.Budge's "Book of the Dead", the "Papyrus of Hu-nefer", and Mr Naville's Todtenbuch Vol 1, also to consult the descriptions in Dr. Budge's "Book of the Dead" (3 vols) and also Le Page Renouf's, published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 1891 and following years, and separately. Note the use of red ink in the Text, to mark the Rubrics and certain catch words. Note also that owing to a superstitious objection to red, names of gods etc, when occurring in the Rubrics, are always written in black.
In common with many other similar Papyri, this text opens with Hymns to Ra, the Sun God, "supreme god of Heaven and of the living" and to Osiris, the God of the dead, into whose special realm the deceased man was passing. The Hymns to the sun are not found earlier than the latter half of the XVIIIth Dynasty, and may be connected with the sudden development of Sun Worship which culminated in the heresy of Akhen Aten (Amen-hetep IV) in the XVIIIth Dynasty.
The First Section (Plates I to IV ) is carefully written, and the Text is very correct, being of nearly contemporary origin.It was copied expressly for Ani, and was prefixed to the rest of the Papyrus - which may have been bought ready made, for in it the name Ani appears to have been filled in by a later hand, in spaces left blank for the purchaser to utilize.
The First Section contained 1st, A Hymn to Ra on his rising; 2nd, A Hymn to Osiris 3rd, The Judgment of the Heart before Osiris. Together, these alone would make a complete and sufficient manual for the deceased; as Ani and his wife here propitiate the Sun God, whose realm he leaves, but hope to revisit it at will. They propitiate Osiris, whose realm he is entering, and in which he will have lasting habitation. And at the subsequent judgement the deceased is pronounced JUST, and his future bliss is assured.
On Plate V the Papyrus starts afresh, with the procession of the body to the Tomb. In the subsequent parts, many allied chapters of Transformations on Plates XXV to XXVIII, and the Hymns to Ra and Osiris on Plates XVIII to XXII. But it is difficult to detect any continuity to plan.
The "Book of the Dead" must not be confounded with the Funeral Ritual: but in it, as throughout the funeral ceremonial, the deceased is called "The Osiris", and is generally by appeal to the analogy of Osiris, and by assimilation to him, that the dead were supposed to attain Everlasting Bliss. The Funeral Ritual was intended as a re-enactment, for the benefit of the deceased, of what had been done to re-constitute and re-animate the Body of the God-king Osiris, after he had suffered death and dismemberment at the hands of the wicked brother Set. According to the Osirian Legend, Isis,wife and sister of Osiris, sought and found the scattered remains of her husband; and restored his body to unity and life by means of her powerful magic with the help of her sister Nephthys, of her son Horus, and of other Deities, including Anubis, the God of Embalment. Thenceforth Osiris-un-nefer, "the good being" reigned beneficiently over the Egyptian dead, as he had in life reigned over the living. Thus to be identified with Osiris after death was the great hope of every pious Egyptian. And so in this Papyrus, Ani is always called "Osiris-Ani".
NOTES ON SYMBOLS USED THROUGHOUT THE PAPYRUS OF ANI
BA this sign is often translated "Soul", which was frequently represented as a human headed bird (assumed to be the Hawk because they saw that it could fy up and face the Sun). The first sign hieroglyphically represents a burning censer in the name.
KA this sign denotes the intangible but active principle of life on earth, the arms upheld representing activity. The Mummy itself denoted SAHOU which was the dead body which was mummified and laid in the Tomb, and was prserved from decay by spells and drugs. It was "of the earth, earthy" These all separated at death, but if all the funeral ceremonies were properly accomplished, they might afterwards communicate with one another.
The Ba, the Soul, was supposed to leave the Sahou or body, and to dwell generally in the Sky. Its hope was ultimately to become Akh, sometimes called Khu in modern writings: i.e. spiritualized, to associate with and become as the Gods, and to be able to assume any form at will. Prayers and Spells, but not food, were necessary to its well being.
The Ka, the active intangible principle set in motion by the Ba, remained in the Tomb; but was subject to Hunger, Thirst, and Weariness; so it then ascended to the upper chapel to partake spiritually of the offerings , either real or represented pictorially. It is then supposed to return to the Sahou in the Tomb. The sahou was thus then the resting place for the Ka, until the Ba came and claimed it at the Sothic period; when the further usefulness of the sahou ceased, and like "John Brown's body", it "lay mouldering in the Grave".
The dead were called "The Westerners". The sandy region of the West, over which the Egyptians saw the Sun Set, being unknown territory, was regarded as the home of the dead. Osiris is called "Chief of the Westerners".
Kher-neter literally means "That which belongs to a God" It denotes the Necropolis, the City or place of the dead, (compare with the German "Gottesacker") and it was the domain of the dead Osiris. It is often translated "Underworld" in the description of the Papyrus of Ani.
ANKH Sign of life; Time, as distinguished from Eternity, (see Shen) some say it is a girdle or head fillet, but I differ altogether from this view.
ARYT Perhaps a door, perhaps a Hall.
ATEF CROWN One of the Osirian head-dresses or Crowns. Not very commonly used.
BENU BIRD The sacred bird of On or Heliopolis, appeared both as Ra and Osiris. It is the Egret, Heron or fabled Phoenix.
DED or TET This was a symbol of Stability and of Osiris. It is said to be a Sculptor's worktable fixed firmly or stably to the floor in the middle of his studio, to hold his tools and clay while modelling
HEQ The crook or sceptre, the Symbol of Dominion. It is carried even now by Bishops.
AMSU Scourge. The emblem of Rule. Symbol of kingly power. Borne by Osiris as a Mummy.
KHEKER An architectural cresting or cornice ornanment.
KHER-HEB Bearer of the Ritual Roll. The Sector who held the Papyrus Roll, containing the directions and formulae for the funerary service and ceremonies.
MAAT The name of Truth and Justice: Frequently personified as one or two goddesses, also as an ostrich feather in the Judgement scene.
MENAT Frequently used in the Temple ceremonies and services. It also symbolized protection
NUB Symbol for Gold. A necklace with pendants.
PET The Sky, Vault of Heaven SA Sign of Protection, an amuletic Knot
SEBEKH Doubtful. Perhaps a court or Gateway.
SEKHEM Sceptre Symbol of Authority and Power.
SEM-PRIEST An officiating Priest at Funerary rites. Then he generally wears a Panther skin or has one in front of him.
SHEN Symbol of Eternity (see Ankh; the line at the bottom is life, a small part of eternity)
SHETYT The Mysterious Coffin of Osiris
SISTRUM Sacred Musical instrument, shaken by Priestesses in Temple provessions abd Ceremonies, making a sonorous sound. Sacred to Hathor.
TET Buckle of Isis, a symbol of protection. When in carnelian it represents the Blood of Isis.
UAS SCEPTRE Sceptre of Power; the top is carved with Animals' head. It os the Symbol of Longevity and power.
USEK A broad necklace or collar, made of beads or Jewelry. It is ordered to be worn by deceased, by the Rubric of Chapter 158, on the day of the Funeral.
UZAT The Sacred Eye. It was worn as a charm against the evil eye. It was called "the Eye of Horus".
It may be noted that the original Roll of Papyrus of Ani is in one length viz 76 feet. The facsimile has been divided unequally into 37 plates by the British Museum for convenience of editing and reference.