[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:06.10,0:00:08.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're in the Brithish Museum in London,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.20,0:00:11.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in a room that is filled with ancient Egiptian mummies,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.36,0:00:15.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as a result it's also filled with modern children.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.56,0:00:18.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And tourist. It's a great room, there's great stuff here.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:18.78,0:00:21.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're looking at a fragment of a scroll
Dialogue: 0,0:00:21.67,0:00:22.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is largely ignored.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.97,0:00:24.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a papyrus scroll.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.18,0:00:27.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A papyrus is a reed that grows in the Nile Delta
Dialogue: 0,0:00:27.61,0:00:29.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that was made into a kind of paper-like substance
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.81,0:00:34.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and actually was probably the sigle most important surface for writing
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.00,0:00:35.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right up into the Medieval.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.72,0:00:40.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We're looking at a written text of something that we call the Book of the Dead
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.30,0:00:43.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which the ancient Egyptians had other names for,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.02,0:00:44.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but which was a ancient text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.86,0:00:48.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that had spell and prayers and incantations,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.06,0:00:50.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,things that the dead needed in the afterlife.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.28,0:00:53.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a tradition that goes all the way back to the Old Kingdom,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.41,0:00:56.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writing that we call pyramid text.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.44,0:00:59.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These were sense of instructions for the afterlife,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.06,0:01:03.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and than later we have coffin text, writing on coffins
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.20,0:01:05.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and then even later in the New Kingdom,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.57,0:01:08.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we have scrolls like this that we call the books of the dead.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.68,0:01:10.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes the texts were written on papyrus,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.80,0:01:11.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like the one we are looking at,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:11.94,0:01:13.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes they were written on shrouds
Dialogue: 0,0:01:13.100,0:01:15.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the dead were burried in.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.41,0:01:22.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So these were really important texts that were originally just for kings in the Old Kingdom,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.10,0:01:26.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but came to be used by people who were not just part of the royal family, but
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.70,0:01:30.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,still people of high rank, and that's what we're looking at here.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:30.43,0:01:35.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This text was found in the tomb of someone named Hunefer, a scribe.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.31,0:01:37.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A scribe had a priestly status,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:37.40,0:01:39.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we are dealing here with somebody who was literate,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.61,0:01:43.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who occupied a very high station in Egyptian culture.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.20,0:01:46.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we actually see representations of a man who had died,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.47,0:01:48.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who was burried with this text
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.52,0:01:52.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you look on the left edge of the scroll at the top,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.78,0:01:55.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can see a crouching figure in white,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.47,0:01:59.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hunefer, who is speaking to a line of crouching deities,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.97,0:02:02.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gods prophesing the good life that he lived
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.66,0:02:04.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that he's earned a place in the afterlife.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.91,0:02:08.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, what we have below is a scene of judgement
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.17,0:02:10.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether Hunefer has lived a good life
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.75,0:02:13.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and deserves to live into the afterlife,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.57,0:02:17.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we see Hunefer again, this time standing on the far left
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.68,0:02:21.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can recognize him beacause he's wearing the same white robe
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.12,0:02:26.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he's being led by the hand by a god with a jackal head, Anubis,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.30,0:02:27.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a good that is asscociated
Dialogue: 0,0:02:27.97,0:02:31.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with the dead, with mumification, with cemeteries
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.77,0:02:34.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and he's carrying in his left hand and ankh,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.36,0:02:38.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a symbol of eternal life, and that's exactly what Hunefer is after.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:38.83,0:02:41.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If we continue to move toward the right,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.11,0:02:44.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we see that jackal-headed god again, Anubis, this time crouching
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.31,0:02:49.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and adjusting a scale, making sure that it is exactly balanced.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:49.28,0:02:52.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the left side, we see the heart of the dead
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.47,0:02:56.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so the heart is on one side of the scale, on the other side there's a feather.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.53,0:03:02.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The feather belongs to Ma'at that we also see at the very top of the scale,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.11,0:03:04.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we can see a feather coming out of her head.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:04.51,0:03:08.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, Ma'at is a deity associated with divine order,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.93,0:03:11.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with living an ethical, ordered life.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.76,0:03:15.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And in this case, the feather is lower, the feather is heavier.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.96,0:03:20.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hunfer has lived an ethical life, and therefore is brought into the afterlife.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.97,0:03:26.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So he won't be devoured by that evil-looking beast next to Anubis.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:26.94,0:03:33.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's Ammit who has the head of a crocodile, the body of a lion and a hind-quarters of a hippopotamus.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.70,0:03:39.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's waiting to devour Hunefer's heart, should he be found to have not lived an ethical life,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.70,0:03:42.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not lived according to Ma'at.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.76,0:03:47.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Egyptians belived that only if you lived the ethical life, only if you pass this test,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:47.47,0:03:52.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would you be able to have access to the afterlife. It's not like the Christian conception
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.23,0:03:54.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you have an afterlife for everybody,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.98,0:03:57.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,no matter if they were blessed or sinful
Dialogue: 0,0:03:57.01,0:03:59.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that is you either go to Heaven or you go to Hell.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.51,0:04:03.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here you only go to the afterlife if you have been found to be ethical.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.99,0:04:07.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The next figure that we see is another deity,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.08,0:04:10.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,this time with the head of an ibis, of a bird.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:10.46,0:04:16.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is Thoth who is reporting the proceedings of what happens to Hunefer,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:16.15,0:04:20.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in this case reporting that he has succeeded and will move on to the afterlife.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:20.81,0:04:25.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love the representation of Thoth. He is so upright, and his arm is stretched out,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.86,0:04:30.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rendered in such a way that we trust him that he's gonna get this right.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.35,0:04:35.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Next we see Hunefer yet again, this time being introduced to
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.31,0:04:40.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of the supreme gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Osiris.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:40.31,0:04:43.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he's being introduced to Osiris by Osiris' son, Horus.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.100,0:04:45.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Horus is easy to remember,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.67,0:04:49.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cause Horus is associated with a falcon, and here has a falcon's head.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.47,0:04:55.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Horus is the son of Osiris and holds in his left hand an ankh which we saw earlier,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:55.65,0:04:58.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and again that's a symbol of eternal life.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.52,0:05:02.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He is introducing him to Osiris as you said, who is in this
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.25,0:05:06.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fabulous enclosure, speaks to the importance of this deity.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:06.17,0:05:13.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He's enthroned, he carries symbols of Egypt, and he sits behind a lotus blossom, a symbol eternal life
Dialogue: 0,0:05:13.75,0:05:20.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and on top of that lotus blossom, Horus' four children who represent the four cardinal points:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.96,0:05:22.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,North, South, East and West.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.100,0:05:27.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The children of Horus are responsible for carrying for the internal organs
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.53,0:05:29.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would be placed in Canopic jars,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.85,0:05:33.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they have a critical responsibility for keeping the dead preserved.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:33.57,0:05:36.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We see Horus again, but symbolized as an eye.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:36.70,0:05:40.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now remember, Horus is represented as a falcon, as a bird,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:40.07,0:05:45.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and so here even though he's the symbol of the eye, he has talons instead of hands,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:45.32,0:05:49.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and those carry an ostrich feather, also a symbol of eternal life.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:49.62,0:05:53.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The representation of the eye of Horus has to do with another ancient Egyptian myth,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.70,0:05:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the battle between Horus and Seth, but that's another story.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.70,0:06:01.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, behind Osiris we see two smaller standing female figures,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.20,0:06:06.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one of whom is Isis, Osiris's wife, the other is her sister, Nephthys,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.35,0:06:09.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who's a guardian of the afterlife and mother of Anubis,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.56,0:06:13.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the figure who we saw at the very beginning leading Hunefer into judgment.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:13.94,0:06:18.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Notice the white platform that those figure are standing on. That represents natron,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.64,0:06:24.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the natural salts that were deposited in the Nile and they were used by the ancient Egyptians
Dialogue: 0,0:06:24.31,0:06:27.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to dry out all of the mummies there in this room.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.81,0:06:29.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So that they could be preserved.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.57,0:06:34.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Actually, the word "preservation" is really a key to thinking about Egyptian culture generally,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.26,0:06:37.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because this is a culture whose forms,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.11,0:06:42.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose representations and art remain remarkably the same for thousands of years.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:42.29,0:06:46.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though there are periods of instability or even just before this we have Amarna Period
Dialogue: 0,0:06:46.87,0:06:50.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where we saw a very different way of representing the human figure.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.53,0:06:55.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we see here, these forms look very familiar to us,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.19,0:06:57.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because this is the typical way
Dialogue: 0,0:06:57.30,0:07:00.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the ancient Egyptians represented the human figure.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:00.10,0:07:04.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even though this is a painting from the New Kingdom, these forms would have been recognizable
Dialogue: 0,0:07:04.85,0:07:08.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to Egyptians thousands of years earlier in the Old Kingdom.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:08.85,0:07:12.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And we see that mixture that we see very often in ancient Egyptian art,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:12.58,0:07:16.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of words, of hieroglyphs, of writing and images.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:16.55,0:07:20.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I love the mix, in our modern culture we really make a distinction
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.60,0:07:22.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,between written language and the visual arts,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.91,0:07:24.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and here in ancient Egypt,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:24.40,0:07:28.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there really is this closer relationship, this greater sense of integartion.