In April we installed a thirty-foot-long archival case in the Brooklyn Museum’s Egyptian Gallery to house an early version of the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead was intended to assist the deceased in the afterlife and comprised a collection of hymns, spells and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife. The Book of the Dead was most commonly written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased. This particular scroll contains nearly one hundred “chapters,” almost half of the total known group of Book of the Dead texts.
The Mummy Chamber, May 05, 2010 through Current (Image: DIG_E_2013_Mummy_Chamber_10_PS4.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010)