Book of the Dead Exhibition - London 2010

I recently visited London to see the Book of the Dead exhibition (which is £15 a ticket). This was a real treat and an opportunity not to be missed seeing as most of the items on display have never before been available for viewing by the general public.

Here's a brief overview of the experience and a snippet of background info.

So what is the Book of the Dead?

Well, contrary to the belief that it is a book as we know it (thanks so the highly inaccurate historical details of The Mummy films!) it is a scroll of papyrus (sometimes linen) filled with spells to help the dead make their way to the hereafter. The Book of the Dead featured in many tombs for thousands of years. They began by being written in pyramids (pyramid texts) and then covered the interior of coffins and eventually made their way onto papyrus.

What is in the exhibition?

There are not only fragments and sections of the Book of the Dead from various high status individuals from ancient Egypt, but some beautiful examples of shabtis, amulets, coffins and jewellery. The array of objects were clearly chosen carefully to help put the Book of the Dead into context. It adds to the lay person's understanding of the intricacies and complexities of the ancient Egyptians' concept of the hereafter.

The most impressive display is that of the Greenfield Papyrus which is shown in a massive 96 frames. It is truly breathtaking and saving it till last was definitely a wise move by the exhibition planners. It gave me goosebumps and a feeling of awe that such effort and expense was put into something to get you safely into the hereafter based entirely on faith and tradition.

Worth the trip?

Absolutely!!