3. Book of the Dead: A collection of spells and stories that would help a ba journey through the underworld

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1 Guided Reading 11 Have a Nice Afterlife! Pre-Reading Directions: Skim the reading and find each of the underlined or highlighted vocabulary words listed below. Then, beside or above each word, write a synonym or a short definition to help you as you read. 1. Afterlife: A life after death 2. Ba: A person s spirit or soul. The Egyptians believed that a person had a ba, which was their spirit and personality, and a ka which was their body. 3. Book of the Dead: A collection of spells and stories that would help a ba journey through the underworld 4. Osiris: The Egyptian god of the dead 5. Chamber of Osiris: The room where Osiris judged people s ba and decided whether they should enter the afterlife. 6. Underworld: The world underneath the earth, where Egyptian spirits went after they died. 7. Descendants: people s children, grandchildren, etc. During-Reading Directions: The aim of this reading is to give you information on the Egyptian afterlife. The Egyptians believed that a person had to journey through the underworld to reach the Chamber of Osiris. The journey took

2 12 hours, and each hour had different challenges. As you read, underline anything that is frightening. The ancient Egyptians believed strongly in a life after death. For the Egyptians, death was the end of their first life on earth. But, it could be the beginning of a second life among the gods, in the underworld. They called this second life the afterlife. Not everyone was able to reach the afterlife. In order to reach the afterlife, a person s ba would need to go on a dangerous journey through the underworld. When some Americans think of the underworld, they often think of a terrible place underground. Egyptians did not believe in a heaven or a hell. Egyptians believed that the underworld was literally underneath the earth. It was separated from the earth by a large river of flames. There was another large river flowing through the underworld. Some parts of the underworld were dangerous and full of terrible monsters. Other parts were beautiful fields where spirits could live with the gods. In order to get to the beautiful parts of the underworld, a ba would need to travel successfully through the dangerous parts. In order to make sure that a person s ba was able to successfully travel through the underworld, ancient Egyptians wrote The Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead was a collection of stories and spells which told spirits what to expect in the afterlife. Scribes would write pieces of the Book of the Dead on papyrus or on coffins. The scribes placed these writings in

3 tombs. By studying them, archaeologists can figure out what Egyptians thought would happen after death. The journey through the underworld always started in the west, and it took exactly12 hours. The ba would begin his or her journey in a boat. He or she would travel down the river for three hours, avoiding crocodiles and evil spirits. During the fourth hour, the ba would have to leave the boat and travel through the wilderness on the back of a great snake. Traveling through the desert, the ba would meet evil spirits. Those spirits would take the form of scorpions and snakes that would attack the ba. The ba would need to fight them off in order to continue the journey. During the fifth hour, the ba would pass a great island of sand. It would have to go around the island and find six gates. It would find one gate for each hour. Each gate would be guarded by a monster or a god. The ba would have to know the name of each monster or god. If the ba didn t know the name, he or she would be turned away. If the ba did know the name, he or she was allowed to pass through the gates. By the 12 th hour, the ba needed to find the gate to the Chamber of Osiris. In the Chamber of Osiris, Osiris, the god of the underworld, would weigh the ba s heart. The heart was weighed against a feather provided by the goddess Ma at. Ma at was the goddess of justice and balance. If the heart weighed exactly the same as the feather, the ba was allowed to enter the afterlife. If the heart did not balance with the feather, the heart was eaten by a crocodile monster and the ba disappeared.

4 If the ba was allowed to enter the afterlife, Osiris took it to go find its body. Once the ba found its body, it was taken to the Fields of Offerings. These beautiful fields were in the underworld. There, the ba would live forever with the gods. It was possible that the ba would not be able to complete their journey in 12 hours. If this happened, the ba would return to the beginning and try again the next night. The Egyptians believed that unless a ba was well prepared for their journey, it was possible for the ba to fail every night and never reach the afterlife. Bas that did not reach the afterlife were unhappy, evil, and would haunt their descendants. This was a terrible fate, which the Egyptians wanted to avoid. Post-Reading Activity: Illustrate and describe what you think are the most important three parts of the afterlife journey below. 1.

5 Using specific evidence from the above article, your notes, and your knowledge of, answer the following epic question below in at least 10 sentences. How did the ians belief in the afterlife increase the pharaoh s power?

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