Essay About Negative Confessions And Ancient European Civilizationsdevaughn Sparks

The Negative Confessions in Book of the Dead
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EUH 2011: Ancient European CivilizationsDeVaughn Sparks: Early European Civilizations Mini PaperDeadline: Sunday, September 24, 2017 11:59 PM“The Negative Confessions” in Book of the Dead        The Book of the Dead to the Egyptians was a funerary text. An ancient Egyptian funerary text was a collection of religious documents that were used in ancient Egypt, usually to help the spirit of the people mentioned to make it to the afterlife, which they called the Duat, safely. The Negative confessions in the Book of the Dead are a part of their tradition where they recite its text swearing they had not committed any sin within the text. Egyptians used this as a moral absolute that must be met to make it through the afterlife as they must have led a good life to successfully pass the Gods’ judgement. This was flawed as the writing implies that the deceased could pass through the afterlife without being entirely pure or pure at all.        These confessions are called negative because it only affirms what the person who is reciting the text has not done and does not address any sins that the speaker has done that does not fall within those 42 sins. “Tem-Sepu from Tetu – I havent worked witchcraft against the Pharaoh.” and “Hept-khet from Kher-aha – I havent committed robbery with violence.”  (“Book Of The Dead”, accessed September 23, 2017.