EC419
Coffin fragment which has on part of a Book of the Dead spell which mentions the sand-bank on which the god Osiris was killed by Seth.
This coffin fragment bears an inscription from Book of the Dead 146:
[… bHn] xftyw.f Hr Ts pwy n ndyt hrw pwy n pS aAt.
[…] his enemies are [beheaded] on this sand-bank of Nedyt, on this day of the great division [battle]*.
Chapter 146 of the Book of the Dead lists the portals or doors through which the deceased must pass on the way to the Otherworld. The sand-bank of Nedyt was where Osiris was killed by Seth and resurrected by Isis and Nephthys. Reference to this battle between Osiris and Seth indicated that the forces of evil must be overcome so that the deceased can live again like Osiris.
The piece probably dates to the late 24th to early 25th Dynasty. The practice of writing spells of the Book of the Dead upon coffins became popular in the 25th Dynasty and continued until the Ptolemaic Period.
It was purchased by Henry Wellcome from the MacGregor collection in 1927.
*With thanks to Kenneth Griffin for notifying us of the translation.
Other coffin fragments in the Egypt Centre
Other items connected with the Book of the Dead in the Egypt Centre
