What is the land of the dead in brief? Land of the Dead

The Egyptians believed that the land of the dead was in the west (after all, the sun set there), so the funeral took place on the west bank of the Nile. The most influential deceased were taken there on huge boats. At the entrance to the tomb, the priests performed the necessary rituals, including the ritual of “opening the mouth.” This ceremony allowed the soul of the deceased to unite with the body. The priest touched his face with sacred objects. Those invited to the funeral dined in the tomb, and then the sarcophagus was placed in the burial chamber, the lights were turned off, the tomb was closed, and the guests left. It was believed that at night the soul would leave the mummy and go to the lands.

After the funeral the tomb was closed. The builders tried to carefully disguise the entrances to it - they blocked the real entrance with stones, and made fake ones. The internal corridors of the tombs were blocked with stone blocks. The doors of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were walled up. But no measures stopped the devastation of all the pyramids and most of the rock tombs many years ago.

The path to the ground was long and difficult. Moving westward, following the setting sun, the spirit wandered until it reached a magical labyrinth. Inside the labyrinth there was a guarded gate. The gatekeeper snakes opened the gates only to the spirit who solved many mysteries. The answers to these riddles could be found in the Book of the Dead, an illustrated collection of spells and prayers that was placed in the coffin of every deceased person.

The book "The Word of the One Who Aspires to the Light" or "Chapters on Advancement Following the Day" is better known as "The Book of the Dead." The entire life of the ancient Egyptian served as preparation for the journey to the afterlife. The Book of the Dead,” which was placed in the coffin of each deceased, consisted of teachings and spells that would help him not to go astray in a difficult, other world so different from the earthly one.

Having passed through the labyrinth, the spirit of the deceased entered the Hall of Two Truths. Here, before Osiris, the spirit was asked to pronounce the “negative
the truth" - a list of crimes he did not commit. Finally, it was the turn of the god Anubis, who weighed the heart of the deceased. He placed the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth, on one pan of the scales, and his heart on the other.

Thoth, the scribe god, depicted with the head of an ibis, announced the verdict and wrote it down on a scroll. Those whose hearts turned out to be lighter than the pen of truth were allowed into the domains of Osiris, which were very similar to the lands of living people. If the heart was burdened with sins, then its owner was eaten by the monster Amt - a lion with the head of a crocodile.

The Egyptians believed that if life after death was possible, then it was also possible to die twice. Those who died a second time could no longer hope for rebirth. The second death could be caused by the destruction of the mummified body and led to the death of the spirit. Fortunately, in an emergency, a spirit could inhabit a statue, a portrait, a written name, or even a memory. Only if someone was completely forgotten did his or her soul finally die. Sometimes those who committed terrible crimes in earthly life were punished with a second death. This punishment implied the destruction of all references to the deceased - images, statues and inscriptions with the name.

COUNTRY OF THE DEAD

After the brothers turned into volcanoes, more than one year passed, but people continued to quarrel. The hatred that the Big Mountain and the Rock instilled in them turned out to be so enormous that people could not get rid of it. Military detachments were sent from one or the other camp. No one remembered what was the cause of the enmity, almost everyone forgot about their first leaders, but they continued to fight and stubbornly repeated: “Such is life! We cannot live without war!” This, of course, was the greatest misconception.

Salmon had long become a strong young man and enjoyed authority among young people. Many considered him a special person, since he knew how to understand all animals.

“Previously, the language of animals was accessible to all people,” Salmon told his followers, but his fellow tribesmen refused to believe it. It was easier for people to believe that only Salmon was gifted with such amazing abilities.

One day he was sitting away from the village and talking with a little fox.

“I don’t understand what to do,” the young man complained. “People don’t want to understand me.” They don't want to think about the reason for what is happening. They refuse to see their own mistakes. If only we could invite those who died in the war here!

- For what? – the red animal was surprised.

– There is no reason for the dead to deceive living people. They could tell you how things really were in the old days.

“Then I’ll go to the land of the dead!” - said the little fox, pricking up his ears.

- How will you do this?

“I heard a rumor that the eagle who lives on that cliff over there had a sister who died. He is very sad and wants to return her. The Eagle claims that all the dead sooner or later return to earth. After all, everything that the Great Spirit conceives obeys the law of the Great Spirit. Trees shed their leaves in the winter, but the leaves appear again in the spring. Death is just an appearance. Life goes on forever, even if people think that the body has died. This is how the eagle reasons. “I heard these words from him many times,” the little fox licked his lips. “But the eagle doesn’t want to wait.” The dead may return after many years, perhaps tens or hundreds. The eagle wants to see his sister now. So he decided to go to the land of the dead.

Having reported all this, the little fox quickly ran to a gray cliff, on the top of which an eagle’s nest could be seen.

- I'm going with you! - the little fox shouted.

- I'm ready! - the eagle answered and flapped its wings.

The little fox saw a mighty shadow above him and shuddered for a second, deciding that it was not an eagle, but a Thunderbird flying over the plain.

- Run after me! - the eagle shouted.

Thus began their journey to the land of the dead. The little fox ran, the eagle flew over him. After several days of travel, they passed through a thick cloud of fog spreading across a spacious valley. Then they were hit by torrential rain. After this, the hot air almost scorched their skin and feathers. The weather seemed to change every minute, but the fog remained impenetrable. Neither the eagle nor the little fox saw anything. And suddenly the cloud parted, and the travelers saw that they had approached a large reservoir, on the other side of which a lot of cone-shaped dwellings could be seen.

“Probably there is a land of the dead there,” said the little fox.

- Bring us a boat and take us to the other side! - the little fox shouted.

But no one answered him.

“There’s no one there,” said the eagle, “we came all this way in vain.”

“They are sleeping,” the little fox suggested. “The dead sleep during the day and rise at night. Let's wait until dark.

After sunset, the little fox began to sing a sacred song. Soon the four Spirits came out of the nearest house, got into the boat and headed towards them. And the little fox sang and sang, and the Spirits joined his song, beating out the rhythm with the oars. However, they did not need oars. The boat moved without oars; it glided through the water on its own.

When the Spirits swam to the shore, the eagle and the little fox stepped into the boat and went to the opposite shore. The closer they swam to the island of the dead, the more clearly they heard the beating of drums and the sounds of dancing.

“Close your eyes,” said one of the Spirits, “this is a sacred place.” Don't look around and don't enter the house.

“But we are tired and hungry.” Allow us to enter. – The little fox and the eagle asked in one voice.

They entered a large tent made of spreading pine and spruce branches, but in reality these were not branches, but only their shadows. However, the smell of pine needles was real and very fragrant. All kinds of decorations hung on all the walls, which seemed very familiar to the little fox and at the same time completely new.

– It seems that everything here only reminds us of our life, but in reality it has a completely different quality and a different appearance. - The eagle suggested. “Everything seems familiar to us, but when we look closely, we realize that we recognize nothing.”

A large fire was burning in a spacious tent, and people and animals were dancing around it. The faces of some of them immediately seemed familiar to the fox and eagle. The dancers' bodies were brightly painted, feathers stuck out in their hair, bone whistles were pressed into their lips. Moving around the fire, the dancers - men, women and children - did not touch the ground and did not cast shadows.

“How amazing everything is here,” thought the little fox.

The fire also felt somehow unreal. It looked more like a small trembling sun, like the reflection of the sun in the water. No smoke rose from the fire, but there was a chimney in the tent. A round white moon hung above the chimney opening.

The eagle exchanged glances with the fox cub.

“I took the basket with me,” he whispered.

- To hide my sister in it.

The spirits danced in the tent all night, and with the first rays of the sun they went to bed. The eagle only pretended to be asleep, and when everything was quiet, he went to look for his sister. Having found her, he was very happy. He quickly put his sister in the basket and covered her with a blanket.

- Now we can go back.

They got into the boat and began to row towards the shore. The boat sailed slowly, as if it were lazy, as if it did not obey living beings, having become accustomed to obeying the wishes of the dead. Eventually they reached the shore and hurried to get out of the boat.

“Now you can bring your sister into the world,” said the eagle and solemnly flapped its wings.

The little fox carefully lifted the edge of the blanket. There he saw a bird very similar to an eagle.

- Wake up!

- What's happened? – the bird asked in surprise. - Where am I? What's happening?

– You have returned to the world of the living!

- For what? Why did you do this? You have violated the law of the Great Spirit!

“Don’t you want to return to the living?” – the eagle was surprised.

- No, I feel very good in the land of the dead.

– And you don’t miss your relatives? – the eagle was even more surprised.

- No. Here, in the world of the living, there are too many unnecessary and stupid problems that lead to great suffering. I went through all the suffering of the living world and now I am resting. I don't want to come back here.

The eagle was saddened when he heard these words, but he could not do anything.

“Well, since you feel good there, I won’t be sad about you,” he said. - Get into the boat and it will return you to your shore. Goodbye, sister.

- Goodbye, brother.

“Could you,” the fox cub spoke hastily, “ask one of the dead people to sometimes come to living people so that they would guide them on the true path?”

- I will convey your request to my comrades. But can’t the living themselves understand how to behave? Do they really need a hint from the dead?

- Looks like it's needed. In the world of the living, as you remember, there are too many passions that blind.

- Now goodbye, sister! - the eagle exclaimed and flapped its wings.

The little fox ran into the fog following the eagle.

Returning home, he told Salmon about his journey.