Tod und Jenseits im alten Ägypten

by Jan Assmann

"Human beings," the acclaimed Egyptologist Jan Assmann writes, "are the animals that have to live with the knowledge of their death, and culture is the world they create so they can live with that knowledge." In his new book, Assmann explores images of death and of death rites in ancient Egypt to provide startling new insights into the particular character of the civilization as a whole. Drawing on the unfamiliar genre of the death liturgy, he arrives at a remarkably comprehensive view of the religion of death in ancient Egypt. Assmann describes in detail nine different images of death as the body being torn apart, as social isolation, the notion of the court of the dead, the dead body, the mummy, the soul and ancestral spirit of the dead, death as separation and transition, as homecoming, and as secret. Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt also includes a fascinating discussion of rites that reflect beliefs about death through language and ritual.

Genres: Egypt, History, Religion, Nonfiction, Mythology, Egyptology, Death

624 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Assmann studied Egyptology and classical archaeology in Munich, Heidelberg, Paris, and Göttingen. In 1966-67, he was a fellow of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, where he continued as an independent scholar from 1967 to 1971. After completing his habilitation in 1971, he was named a professor of Egyptology at the University of Heidelberg in 1976, where he taught until his retirement in 2003. He was then named an honorary professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Constance, where he is today.

In the 1990s Assmann and his wife Aleida Assmann developed a theory of cultural and communicative memory that has received much international attention. He is also known beyond Egyptology circles for his interpretation of the origins of monotheism, which he considers as a break from earlier cosmotheism, first with Atenism and later with the Exodus from Egypt of the Israelites.

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very scholarly book that applies several disciples to examine death in Egyptian culture. Assman surveys the ancient literature, the archaeology, linguistics, forensic analysis, and comparative anthropology. He notes that although immortalization projects for the greatest humans could seem like an ultimate elitism, the Egyptians were also big on ensuring proper afterlives for animals of every description. He compares Egyptian ideas on death with those of modern philosophers like Martin Heidegger or Kierkegaard. As he claims, "death is the origin and the center of culture."

[Rick Rapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assmann's book was suggested reading for a class I am taking on Death in Ancient Egypt. It is extremely well-written; Assmann is incredibly knowledgeable on the subject. The book is well-organized and gives tremendous detail into the various aspects of the funerary practices of Ancient Egyptians. It is not an "easy" read; the information is dense and this was not be a good book for a "beginner" exploring the field of Egyptology. But it contains a wealth of old and new information and, for me, helped so many puzzle pieces fall into place.

[❀ Diana ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like an ancient Egyptian's long-lasting journey through the realms of Amduat and Elysium, so was my journey in reading this book. A complex piece of writing that serves as a standpoint for anyone interested in Egyptology. It's not particularly aimed at beginners as Assmann goes deep into the funerary poetry of ancient Egyptians and their significance, significant even for the lowest-ranked mortal in the kingdom.

[Julia Herdman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assmann's approach to the subject of ancient Egyptian religion is detailed, complex and at the time of writing on the verge of unorthodox. This was my introduction to a marvelous world and I am very grateful to Assmann for this wonderful book.

[أحمد الدين · Rating 5 out of 5]

كتاب رائع ومفاجئ أن يجد المرء هذا الاخلاص والمثابرة في عمل يتناول موضوع واحد من كل الزوايا الممكنة ألا وهو الموت والعالم الآخر في مصر القديمة، فكما يمكننا بسهولة أن نربط الحضارة المصرية القديمة بالموت بسبب الآثار الباقية من حضارتهم، إلا أن إدراك دور الموت في الحضارة المصرية أهم وأوسع من مجرد اثار بقيت، فالكتاب به من الفلسفة ما يكفي لتغيير منظور الفرد تجاه تشكل الحضارات وكيف أن الموت كحقيقة مطلقة ربما مع عدد محدود من الحقائق يمكن أن تشكل كل الحضارات وهي حجر الزاوية في تطور وتشكل تلك الحضارات.
كتاب ممتع ومجهود مذهل من عالم المصريات الأشهر يان أسمان، فكل التحية والتقدير له على عمله وعمل المترجم محمود محمد قاسم المميز جدا لولا هفوات بسيطة للغاية لا تؤثر أبدا على دقة الترجمة أو سلاستها.

[Ayşe Naz]

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[DAJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tombs, funeral rites, and burial goods are the most familiar and best-understood aspect of ancient Egyptian culture, and plenty of books describe those subjects. Many more study the individual funerary texts where we get most of our information about Egyptian afterlife beliefs. But surprisingly few sources study the afterlife beliefs as a whole, in detail. This book fills that need, and despite some faults, it's an indispensable source.

The book is long and not easy to read but very informative. It's organized thematically. The first part dedicates a chapter to every major perspective on death: "Death as Social Isolation", "Death as Enemy", et cetera, ending with the more positive aspects that emphasize the attainment of immortality. The second part treats the texts and rituals surrounding death, although the final chapters are more about summarizing everything that's gone earlier in the book.

Assmann doesn't much discuss how afterlife beliefs evolved over the course of Egyptian history, so Death and Salvation should ideally be read alongside Following Osiris by Mark Smith, which addresses exactly those changes. Smith also objects to some of Assmann's basic claims, like the idea that reaching the afterlife entailed becoming one with Osiris. Perhaps even more importantly, Assmann still assumes that commoners were not believed to enter the afterlife until the end of the Old Kingdom. That assumption came under serious assault in the late 2000s, with Smith leading the charge, and may soon be abandoned entirely. Nevertheless, this book is a dense but vivid examination of the Egyptians' perspectives on the afterlife and the only one to show how they all related to each other.