Question

1.) What is happening in the excerpt?

Answer 1

1) “The Protestation of Guiltlessness” comes from “The Book of the Dead” and talks about the underworld, afterlife and judgment. The excerpt chosen for this activity show us a long list of sins. Ancient Egyptians believed that once a person died, this person would face judgment and would have to read this list during this judgement, claiming that he or she have never committed any of the sins from that list.  

2) The text doesn’t necessarily show any Egyptian religious morals, but it mentions what the society at the time considered a sin, such as being violent with a poor man or acting in an evil way. Since each civilization has several different types of religions, morals and traditions, one can not confirm for sure that this is what most Egyptians used to do or believe. However, it is clear that a sinless life was expected from their population.  Now, when it comes to the “judgement” part, one can say that it reminds the law as it is nowadays. We (as a society) have created laws based on what we believed was wrong and criminal - and whoever breaks those rules is judged and might be punished for it. In that sense, it is correct to say that being judged for a crime (or a “sin”, as the text claims) resemble what we do nowadays in several parts of the world.  

3) Some cultures used to believe that gods, spirits and/or powerful forces of the nature would rule the world and determine people’s destiny. According to the Egyptian Mythology, those beliefs were sacred and cultural, being commonly accepted at that time (between 3150BC and 525BC). In Ancient Egypt, for instance, magic was not a circus trick or a mere illusion; some Egyptians used the powers of mother nature to achieve certain goals. That was extensively practiced and then registered and mentioned in several books and art objects.