Alternate Perceptions Magazine, October 2024
The Letter for Breathing of Isis: An Egyptian Afterlife Text of the Greco-Roman Period
by: Jason Jarrell
First articulated in the Pyramid Texts during the Old Kingdom, the Egyptian conception of the afterlife was continually reinterpreted throughout the millennia by way of an evolving textual tradition in which newly emerging ideas were integrated with more ancient concepts (Zago 2022:7-10). As a result, the Egyptian afterlife is not represented in a simplistic, dogmatic fashion with a single interpretation, but rather as a set of coexisting concepts that could be related to one another in various ways down through the ages. This environment of consistent creative evolution gave rise to the rich history of Egyptian afterlife literature that began with the Pyramid Texts and continued with the Coffin Texts, the Books of the Underworld, Books of the Sky, and the Book of the Dead. While these writings are heavily studied, an extensive and much lesser-known body of new afterlife compositions appeared during the last centuries of the Egyptian civilization during Greco-Roman period, a time when there was “a burst of creativity in this particular sphere” (Smith 2009:17).
The Greco-Roman period writings emphasized and elaborated upon themes from the more ancient literature, while maintaining a central focus on the reintegration and reconstitution of the deceased. Briefly, the most ancient Egyptian texts attest to the belief that when the material body died, the ‘spiritual’ components—the Ba (soul) and the Ka (life force)—separated and had to be reunited so that the deceased could be transfigured into a transcendent being referred to as an Akh. Such a being was “capable of living eternally, not merely on earth but also in the larger cosmic plane inhabited by the gods” (Allen 2005:11). The ancient sources associate the attainment of this condition with the journey of the Ba of the deceased through the underworld with the solar Re. At sunset, Re assumed the form of the aging Atum and dropped beneath the western horizon into the underworld, and during the night he conjoined with Osiris in the heart of the underworld to be rejuvenated and empowered to emerge reborn as Kephri in the eastern horizon at dawn. Traveling the underworld with the solar deity, the Ba of the deceased also united with Osiris—and thus also with his Ka—and was thereby restored to emerge reborn through the eastern horizon and ascend to the stars of the heavenly vault as an Akh. While this concept of transfiguration was continuously modified over the course of the millennia, it remained always associated with the ritualized process of embalming, mummification, and entombment that ensured the rebirth. By the time of the texts of the Greco-Roman period, the afterlife existence of the transfigured dead extended to every realm of being: the celestial sky, the underworld, and the land of the living, where the deceased participated in the religious feasts and festivals held throughout Egypt over the course of the year. The epicenter of production of the new Greco-Roman period texts was Thebes, presumably under the auspices of the priesthood of Amun (Scalf 2014:15; Smith 2009:16-18, 2017:360-361). Among the most prolific texts were the so-called Letters for Breathing, consisting of The Letter for Breathing Which Isis Made for Her Brother Osiris, The First Letter for Breathing, and The Second Letter for Breathing. The Letters associate the ability to breathe freely with the entire spectrum of activities in which it was hoped the deceased would be able to engage. This relates to the origin of the new compositions in the Theban priesthood of Amun, the creator deity who breathed the breath of life into all living things and who was also the power behind the four winds. The Letters for Breathing served as “passports” that guaranteed the deceased access to the otherworldly realms, where (s)he would be granted the numerous benefits described in the text in a new transfigured state of being. The Letters for Breathing and their supplemental documents usually present themselves as compositions of the ‘Twice-Greatest Thoth,’ the ancient Egyptian scribal god. The Letter for Breathing Which Isis Made for her Brother Osiris
The Letter for Breathing Which Isis Made for her Brother Osiris is known from more than 30 copies, all composed in hieratic and hailing from Thebes. The version of the text discussed here is one of the most complete extant examples (P. Louvre N 3284), and belonged to one Osoeris, a high priest of Amun-Re who died during the 2nd or 1st century BC. The opening of the Letter states that it was originally written by Isis for Osiris in order “to animate his ba, restore life to his corpse, make all his limbs youthful again, unite him with the horizon in the company of his father Re, cause his ba to appear in the sky as the disc of the moon, illuminate his corpse as Orion in the womb of Nut” (trans. Smith 2009:469). The text then relates that the Letter will also serve to do the same for the deceased—in this case the priest Osoeris. The opening passage therefore affirms the union of the Ba of the deceased with Re and his ascent to the celestial sky, themes that can be traced back to the Pyramid Texts.
When the opening of the Letter states that it will restore life to the corpse and make the limbs youthful again, the reference is to the mummification process, which the Egyptians “conceived not so much as a preservation of the corpse, but rather as its transfiguration to a new body” (Assmann 1989:138). Mark Smith (2009:34) explains that “although the Egyptians believed in survival after death in corporeal form, the body which was supposed to provide a vehicle for this survival was not the earthly one, but a new eternal one which came into existence as a consequence of the mummification rites.” After the introduction, the Letter describes the otherworldly regions and deities to which Osoeris will gain access in this immortalized body:
“You will enter the underworld in great purity. The two truths will purify you in the great hall. Cleansing will be performed for you in the hall of Geb. Your body will be purified in the hall of sunlight. You see Re when he sets and Atum in the evening. Amun is with you, giving you breath. Ptah fashions your body. You will enter the horizon together with Re. Your ba will be taken to the neshmet-bark in company with Osiris. Your ba will be divinized in the house of Geb” (trans. Smith 2009:470). The central theme here is the purification of the Ba of the deceased by Re and his journey with the solar deity into the underworld. Like Re, the Ba of Osoeris will be rejuvenated in the underworld to rise to a new existence. Union with Re and the ascent to the sky is emphasized again in the next segment, which focuses on the perseverance of the physical and spiritual components of the deceased in the various realms of being: “Your name will remain, your corpse will endure, and your mummy will flourish. You will not be turned away in the sky or on earth. Your face will be illuminated before Re. Your ba will live before Amun. Your corpse will be rejuvenated before Osiris. You will breathe forever and ever” (trans. Smith 2009:470). The Ba will have access to both earth and sky, ascending in solar light and reaching the presence of the supreme creator Amun, while the bodily corpse is commended to Osiris. There is a theme here of a dual existence in both the physical and ‘spiritual’ dimensions of reality, as attested by the statement that the deceased will breathe “forever” (nhh) and “ever” (d.t). Egyptologist Steven Gregory (2017, 2022) has demonstrated that the terms nhh and dt represent the temporal, material realm and the atemporal, eternal realm of the creator deity, respectively. Gregory’s research has shown that going back as far as the Pyramid Texts, one of the central aims of Egyptian afterlife literature was to ensure the deceased an existence in both realms simultaneously. The transfigured dead would thus have access to the eternal realm beyond all time and space—which was often equated with the primordial sea of Nun—as well as the totality of the material world of the living, which was defined by cyclical time as represented by the recurring circuits of the celestial bodies and the cycles of the seasons which re-commenced each year with the annual Nile flood. The access of the transfigured dead to the various realms of being is again affirmed in the next segment of text:
“Anubis will safeguard you. He will effect your protection. You will not be turned away from the doors of the underworld. Thoth the twice greatest, lord of Hermopolis, will come to you. He will write you a letter for breathing with his own fingers. Your ba will breathe for ever. You will resume your earthly form among the living, being divine in company with the bas of the gods. Your heart is the heart of Re. Your flesh is the flesh of the great god” (trans. Smith 2009:471).
The free access of Osoeris to the underworld and the terrestrial realm of the living, as well as his ascent to the sky in unity with Re, are all accomplished by the Letter itself, which is here described as a composition of the Twice Greatest Thoth, Lord of Hermopolis. There is also an allusion to Thoth in the statement that the heart of the deceased is one with the heart of Re, since Thoth himself was considered the “heart of Re.” The Egyptians considered the heart to be the seat of the higher consciousness or mind, and so as the heart of Re Thoth literally represented the mind of the creator. The implication of the passage is therefore that in uniting with Re, the deceased has also become one with Thoth. The attribution of the Letter to Thoth also alludes to his role in the resurrection of Osiris in the myth cycle, a resurrection transferred to the deceased through the mummification process in which Thoth also played a role along with Anubis, who is also mentioned in the passage. The text continues to affirm the integrity and functionality of the transfigured body of Osoeris and again emphasizes that the Letter—which is again said to originate from Thoth—will grant him access to the underworld, the land of the living, and the domain of Re in the sky:
“You will see with your eyes. You will hear with your ears. You will speak with your mouth. You will walk with your feet, while your ba is divine in the underworld so as to assume any form it wishes. You will enjoy the breezes beneath the venerable balanites tree in Heliopolis. You will awaken each day and look upon the rays of the sun. Amun will come to you bearing the breath of life. He will cause you to breathe within your sarcophagus. You will go forth to the earth every day, with the letter for breathing of Thoth as your protection. You will breathe by means of it daily. You will behold the rays of the sun disc. 'Truth' will be said about you in the presence of Osiris. They will inscribe 'justified' upon your tongue. Horus the protector of his father will keep your body safe. He will divinize your ba like (those of) all the gods. The ba of Re enlivens your ba. The ba of Shu unites with your nostrils” (trans. Smith 2009:471).
Becoming Osiris
In the section that follows Osoeris is directly identified with Osiris, a form in which he is promised offerings from Hapi, the personification of the flooding Nile: “Your ba will breathe at the place where you desire, for you are Osiris. Osiris foremost of the Westerners is your name. Hapi the great has come to you from Elephantine. He will fill your offering table with provisions” (trans. Smith 2009:472).
The identification with Osiris completes a cycle which began in the opening of the text, where it was said that Isis prepared the Letter for the transfiguration and astral resurrection of Osiris, but that it would also have the same effects for Osoeris. Here the lines between the deity and the deceased disappear, just as the spiritual transformations wrought by the mummification process were also believed to be the same as those bestowed originally upon Osiris. In fact, the next passage links the transfigured deceased—who is described as an ever-living celestial Ba—with the necropolis of Abydos (“the one who conceals her lord”), which was the cult center of Osiris since late in the Old Kingdom:
“The gods of Upper and Lower Egypt will come to you. They will conduct you to Alkhai in company with your ba. You will follow Osiris and you will breathe in the necropolis. 'The one who conceals her lord' will protect you along with the great god. Your corpse lives in Busiris and the name of Abydos. Your ba lives in the sky every day” (trans. Smith 2009:472).
The Letter then assures Osoeris that Sekhmet and Horus will overcome his enemies, carry out his desires, and protect his body so that he remains “perpetually in a state of life, prosperity, and health, remaining on your throne in the Sacred Land” (trans. Smith 2009:472). This again alludes to the identification of the transfigured dead with Osiris as the ruler of the land of the dead, as does a passage that shortly follows: “You will spend the night in a state of vitality. You will pass the day in a state of well-being. You will go, breathing, to every place. Re will shine upon your mansion [body], Osiris. You will breathe and live thanks to his sunbeams. Amun-Re will enliven your ka. The letter for breathing will make you flourish” (trans. Smith 2009:472-473).
Osoeris will have free access to every place, as the creator in the forms of Re and Amun gives life to his transfigured body and vitality to his Ka, repsectively. The text emphasizes here the reintegration and enlivening of the various components of the deceased, a concept which, as mentioned above, was integral to Egyptian afterlife literature from the Old Kingdom forward.
Justification in the Underworld
The next section of the Letter shifts to the justification of the dead in the hall of judgement in the underworld, which is ruled by Osiris. Osoeris is assured that the Letter has prepared him for entry into this otherworldly sphere, that his heart and eyes are fully functional, and that his Ba—which is of both an eternal (dt) and temporal (nhh) nature—will enter the following of Re and Osiris:
“Your ba will live by virtue of the letter for breathing…You will enter the underworld. Your enemies will not exist. You are a divine ba in Busiris. Your heart belongs to you, without being distant from you. Your eyes are yours, open every day…you will follow Re, you will follow Osiris, while your ba lives for ever and ever” (trans. Smith 2009:473).
This passage sets the stage for a reimagining of the famous justification scene of chapter 125 of The Book of the Dead. In the Letter this scenario begins with an address of the deities in the underworld to Osiris, who is petitioned to allow Osoeris (as a rejuvenated and reintegrated Ba and Ka) entry into his domain. The “passport” function of the Letter itself is again emphasized:
“Open the doors of the underworld for him when you are received in the god's domain. Let his ba live for ever. May he construct portals in the god's domain. May his ka praise his god, for he has received a letter for breathing. Let him accomplish the act of breathing” (trans. Smith 2009:473-474). The text then describes offerings presented to the Ka of Osoeris himself, consisting of “bread, beer, oxen, fowl, wine, milk, oblations, provisions, and every good thing,” and he is assured that “Your ba is alive and your corpse firm through the decree of Re himself, without perishing, without decay, like Re for ever and ever” (trans. Smith 2009:474). We may presume that his offering formula is presented to fortify the deceased for his impending justification. What follows is an abbreviated form of the spell of negative confession from chapter 125 of The Book of the Dead, as the virtues of the deceased—who is represented here in the third person—is presented to the judges of the underworld:
“0 wide strider who has come forth from Heliopolis, [Osoeris] has not committed a sin. 0 one of great power who has come forth from Kheraha, [Osoeris] has not robbed. 0 beaked one who has come forth from Hermopolis, [Osoeris] has not created an outcry. 0 eye swallower who has come forth from the twin caverns, [Osoeris] has not taken goods by theft. 0 terrible-faced one who has come forth from Rosetau, [Osoeris] has not disputed. 0 Ruti the double lion who has come forth from the sky, [Osoeris] has not sinned as a consequence of a wooden heart. 0 one whose eye is a flame, who has come forth from Letopolis, [Osoeris] has not done anything impure” (trans. Smith 2009:474-475, modified).
Like many other copies of the Letter, P. Louvre N 3284 includes a vignette depicting the weighing of the heart of the deceased before Osiris from chapter 125 of The Book of the Dead, upon which the justification passage cited above is based. After the justification the Letter features a petition to the gods, asking that they recognize that Osoeris has been found free from sin and evil, having lived on truth and Ma’at (cosmic justice) and giving food, water, and clothing to the destitute. He has moreover lived a spiritual life. The gods are asked that these qualities—as well as his possession of the Letter itself—will serve to grant Osoeris an existence throughout all eternity and time, with access to all the realms of being:
“Let him enter the underworld without being turned away. Let him serve Osiris in the company of the cavern gods, being praised among the living and divine among the excellent ones. Let him live and let his ba live. Receive his ba at whatever place he desires. Accept his letter for breathing. Let him breathe along with that ba of his of the underworld, and assume every form his heart has dictated in company with the Westerners. Let his ba go to whatever place he wishes. Let him exist in a state of life on earth for ever (twice) and ever (twice)” (trans. Smith 2009:475).
Concluding Remarks
The Letter for Breathing Which Isis Made for her Brother Osiris is but one example of the vibrant collection of new afterlife compositions that gradually replaced more ancient texts such as The Book of the Dead during the Greco-Roman period. Although this era marked the last stage of true Egyptian culture before the final decline that would eventually be completed under Imperial Christianity, the afterlife literature produced at this time of foreign influence remained remarkably true to the heritage of Egypt while also presenting new and fascinating configurations of millennia-old traditions. The Greco-Roman period writings still await the kind of interest that has long been lavished upon the more ancient texts, and demonstrate that the land of Egypt is never tru;y empty of mysteries waiting to be explored.
Bibliography
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