EDUCATOR RESOURCE GUIDE

EDUCATOR RESOURCE GUIDE

SACRED BURIAL

There are so many beautiful treasures to look Belief in the Underworld at, that sometimes it’s easy to forget that this is Instructions for Death Journey: the Egyptians a tomb, a place where a young king was waiting believed the soul, once awoken after death, to rise again into the afterlife. would be disoriented and may not remember its time on earth, its death, or even what to do Ancient Egyptian’s beliefs of the afterlife next. To help the soul with this confusing time includes three ideologies: artists and scribes would create paintings and 1. Belief in the underworld (Duat) text related to the deceased’s life to help them remember who they are as well as give them 2. Eternal life tips on how to navigate the after-life and what 3. Rebirth of the soul to do now that they have crossed over. There are three main versions of this text that evolved In order to achieve the ideal afterlife, many over the course of time. The text most referred practices had to be performed during one’s to has been titled, by western scholars, The life. This may have included acting justly Book of the Dead. The literal translation of the and following the beliefs of Egyptian creed. title is: The Book of Coming Forth by Day or Egyptians stressed the rituals completed Spells for Going Forth by Day. after an individual’s life has ended. It was the responsibility of the living to carry out the final PRE-VISIT VIDEO traditions required so the dead could promptly SUGGESTION: meet their final fate. Ultimately, maintaining As students view the video have them list parts high religious morals by both the living and or symbols from the story of Ani to look for the dead, as well as complying to a variety of in the artifacts from King Tut’s tomb. On-site, students can search for evidence of King Tut’s traditions, guaranteed the deceased a smoother preparation for his trip to the underworld. transition into the underworld. TedX: The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A guidebook for the underworld:

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