Chiasmus Resources

The Book of the Dead is one of the most famous funerary texts of Ancient Egypt. In this article, I present a part of the results from my thesis in Ancient Oriental Languages and Literature at the Université Libre of Brussels. It was focused on Chapter 182 of the Book of the Dead. In this chapter, the god Thoth introduces himself and presents his own qualities and actions. The peculiarity of the text is its structure, which repeats almost systematically the formula ‘I am Thoth’. The text is divided into two parts: Thoth’s discourse and a hymn to Osiris. The latter part is framed by the first one. In addition, an analysis of the vignette of Chapter 182 also revealed a well-defined organization. On the one hand, the symbols held by the demons are organized in mirror symmetry from one register to the other (vertical analysis). On the other hand, a horizontal reading enables us to spot groups of symbols, which succeed to one another on the same way in the two registers they occupy. Finally, the comparison between the text and the image clearly shows that both are closely related: they are constructed the same way and act in both cases to protect the deceased and to allow his rebirth by the power of protective deities. The vignette of Chapter 182 is therefore no simple illustration but can be regarded as an independent version of the chapter itself.