Archaeologists find lost 'Book of the Dead' buried in Egyptian cemetery
- Recently, Egyptian archaeologists discovered a lost 3,500-year-old cemetery containing mummies and statues, among other discoveries.
- A particularly interesting find was a papyrus scroll of the "Book of the Dead" more than 43 feet long, a rare surviving copy of a traditional funerary object.
- The discovery team did not provide details of the text discovery.
The ancient Egyptians knew how to create a funerary scene: in the tombs there were canopic jars with the organs of the deceased and a scroll of the Book of the Dead with a text that was supposed to help navigate the world beyond the grave.
One such scene was recently discovered in central Egypt, where archaeologists uncovered a New Kingdom cemetery dating back more than 3,500 years, where mummies, canopic jars, amulets, statues and a papyrus scroll containing part of the Book of the Dead, more than 43 feet long, were found.
The scroll is the first complete papyrus found in the al-Ghuraifa area and it is "remarkable for its good condition," said Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, in an Arabic-translated statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Although the cemetery, which dates from around 1550 to 1070 BC, is notable for the hundreds of archaeological finds and rock-cut tombs located within its boundaries, the discovery of what may be a copy of the Book of the Dead has caught the attention of experts as a rare find indeed. But since little is known to the public about the contents of the scroll, believed to be between 43 and 49 feet long, many questions remain about this particular copy of the traditional Egyptian cultural book.
These texts, which may vary according to the author, first appeared at the beginning of the New Kingdom around 1550 B.C. Therefore, it is not often possible to find one in "good condition" from that era.
"If it has been preserved so long and well, it is certainly a great and interesting find," Lara Weiss, CEO of the Römer and Pelizaeum Museum in Germany, told Live Science . Foy Scalf, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago, told Live Science that it is "very rare" to find a copy in the tomb in which it was originally buried, although without photographs and an official publication describing the text, it is difficult to verify the details of the find.
The book, which is more properly translated as "Chapters/Book on How to Go About Life," played a key role in ancient Egyptian culture. Any examples of the text give researchers insight into ancient Egyptian religion and beliefs about the afterlife, according to the American Center for Egyptian Studies.
"The Book of the Dead reveals central aspects of the ancient Egyptians' belief system," the center writes, "and, like many other topics in Egyptology, our theories are constantly changing, growing, and adapting with each new translation of this text.
While the Book of the Dead may continue to interest researchers - the Egyptian ministry says the scroll will go on display at the Great Egyptian Museum - the text was not the only item found in the burial chambers.
The team discovered stone and wooden coffins with mummies, more than 25,000 Ushebti figurines, an untold number of utensils, thousands of stone and wooden amulets and canopic jars. A special place in the collection is occupied by engraved and painted wooden coffins, including the coffin of Ta-de-Isa, daughter of Eret Haru, the high priest of Jehuti at Al-Ashmunin. Next to her coffin were two wooden boxes containing her canopic vessels, as well as a complete set of ushebti statuettes and a statuette of an ostrich-like deity.