The ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead is a series of magical spells that promised to transform any living person into an immortal divinity in the afterlife. This exhibit of more than 50 objects explores what the Book of the Dead was, what it was believed to do, how it worked, how was it was made, and what happened to it. Featured are two spectacular Book of the Dead papyrus manuscripts which are shown in their entirely for the first time in nearly a century. A recreation of a burial with a rarely exhibited mummy shows how many objects inscribed with the Book of the Dead literally surrounded the deceased, some spells being written on linen bandages, others on amulets that were placed on the mummy, yet others on bricks that were embedded in the walls of the burial chamber. The exhibit presents the newest research on the Book of the Dead, what it meant to the ancient Egyptians, and how through text and elaborate imagery, they sought to live forever as gods.
Book of the Dead: Becoming God in Ancient Egypt
On View at the Oriental Institute Museum
October 3, 2017 — March 31, 2018