Death as an Enemy 2
Oct. 18th, 2017 05:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikhet_sekhmetContinuing to read through Jan Zandee's book on Ancient Egypt. When the Egyptians wrote about death, they talked about its physical manifestations: decay; being motionless (rigor mortis; plus being tired, sleeping, and being bound, are used as analogies); the senses and limbs not working; to depart on a journey, or be carried off.
As "absolute destruction", death is like ceasing to exist; like being burned away to nothing (the netherworld is full of fire, and fire-breathing entities); like being cut with blades, butchered, beheaded. There are demons who devour the deceased, erasing them completely. These punishments were applied to the enemies of Re or Osiris or to "sinners". On the other hand, the deceased may also be tied to a post and subjected to torture (which Zandee describes as "eternal punishment"), imprisoned, caught in a net or with a lasso, or seized by demons.
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Zandee, J. Death as an Enemy According to Ancient Egyptian Conceptions. (Studies in the Histories of Religions, Supplement to Numen, V). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1960.
As "absolute destruction", death is like ceasing to exist; like being burned away to nothing (the netherworld is full of fire, and fire-breathing entities); like being cut with blades, butchered, beheaded. There are demons who devour the deceased, erasing them completely. These punishments were applied to the enemies of Re or Osiris or to "sinners". On the other hand, the deceased may also be tied to a post and subjected to torture (which Zandee describes as "eternal punishment"), imprisoned, caught in a net or with a lasso, or seized by demons.
A person needs all their different parts to survive - their body (ẖ3.t), shadow (šw.t), name (rn), heart (ib, ḥ3ty), b3, and aḫ are all subject to attack, as well as their magical power (ḥk3).
Various spells were intended to ward off all of these dangers.
Next bit: the journey through the netherworld, and the judgement of the soul.
Various spells were intended to ward off all of these dangers.
Next bit: the journey through the netherworld, and the judgement of the soul.
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Zandee, J. Death as an Enemy According to Ancient Egyptian Conceptions. (Studies in the Histories of Religions, Supplement to Numen, V). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1960.
