Title: Death and salvation in ancient Egypt /
Authors: Assmann, Jan
Publisher: Cornell University Press,
Year: 2005
Subjects: Eschatology, Egyptian.; Death Religious aspects; Burial history; Death history.; Thanatology history; Embalming history; Egypt Religion.
Abstract: "In his new book, Egyptologist Jan Assmann explores images of death and of death rites in ancient Egypt to provide new insights into the particular character of the civilization as a whole. Drawing on the unfamiliar genre of the death liturgy, he arrives at a comprehensive view of the religion of death in ancient Egypt." "Assmann describes in detail nine different images of death: death as the body being torn apart, as social isolation, the notion of the court of the dead, the dead body, the mummy, the soul and ancestral spirit of the dead, death as separation and transition, as homecoming, and as secret. Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt also includes a discussion of rites that reflect beliefs about death through language and ritual."--Jacket.
Contents: Death and culture : Death as culture generator ; Principal distinctions in the relationship between death and culture -- pt. 1. Images of death. 1. Death as dismemberment : The opening scene of the Osiris Myth ; The Egyptian image of the body ; Salvation from death by piecing together -- 2. Death as social isolation : The physical and social sphere of man ; "One lives, if his name is mentioned" ; "One lives, if another guides him" ; Subjection to death through social isolation ; "I am one with you": salvation from death through inclusion -- 3. Death as enemy : The lawsuit in Heliopolis ; The moralizing of death: the idea of the judgment of the dead ; Death as enemy and the life-giving significance of the judgment of the dead -- 4. Death as dissociation: the person of the deceased and its constituent elements : The Ba ; The deceased and his Ka ; The heart ; Image and body --^