Le Livre des Morts d'Ani

Silvia Einaudi

2024-01-01

---

Abstract

The papyrus of Ani is universally recognised as one of the finest extant example, a "masterpiece", of Egyptian funerary art. Complete and largely intact, it is considered to be a reference model of the so-called Book of the Dead - or ‘Spells for going forth by day", as the ancient Egyptians called this collection of texts. The papyrus dates back to the 19th dynasty, around 1275 BC, and its provenance is probably Thebes, today's Luxor. Acquired in 1888 by the English Egyptologist Sir Ernest A. T Wallis Budge, it soon entered the collections of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities of the British Museum. The Book of the Dead, a kind of "guidebook" for the deceased for his/her life in the hereafter, first appeared in Thebes in the Second Intermediate Period (mainly from the 17th dynasty: 1600-1539 BC). Its purpose was to enable the deceased to go forth (‘during the day’) after his/her nocturnal journey through the underworld, the realm of Osiris. Thanks to its magical spells, the Book of the Dead was thus meant to provide the deceased with "magic tools" necessary to escape dangers and to become a blessed spirit. This papyrus, belonged to the royal scribe Ani, is remarkable both for the finesse of its execution and for the richness of the narrative it describes.