‘People are in awe’: exhibition unveils ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead

A rare gilded and complete Book of the Dead, used by ancient Egyptians to help them to the afterlife, is now on display in Brooklyn

In the ancient world, travel to eternal bliss was not easy. For the Greeks, you’d have to hitch a ride with Charon across the River Styx and hope you were one of the few fortunate souls to make it to Elysium. If you were lived among the ancient Aztecs, your journey to Mictlan involved numerous struggles, including climbing a mountain made of obsidian and crossing a desert where there was no gravity and you were blown around by enormous winds.

For the ancient Egyptians, the journey to the afterlife included a danger-filled journey where your wits were tested at every turn – those fortunate enough to make it through would then sit before the god Osiris and 42 other deities while their heart was weighed against a single feather. If things went sideways, your soul would be devoured by a fearsome goddess named Ammit, composed of a lion, hippopotamus and crocodile (the three creatures most likely to eat ancient Egyptians).

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