The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead by Raymond O. Faulkner (1990, Paperback, Reprint)

This volume is the most up-to-date revision of the famous funerary scroll of the Egyptian royal scribe, Ani. It was meant as a guide to assist the dead in his journey into the afterlife. There are several books by EA Wallis Budge that bear the same title The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani in the British Museum but cannot compare to this most recent edition.

Though Budge is popular due to the shear volume of his non-copywritten texts (he wrote over 100 books - many outdated before they were even published!), any Egyptologist will tell you of the numerous errors in both translation and transliteration ("vocalization"). Budge's work is antiquated and dated. By contrast, this new volume is the colaborative effort of several modern Egyptologists, namely Dr. Raymond Faulkner, who re-translated the entire scroll using much more current and accurate data than Budge could have ever had (Budge's original work was written in 1895).

The beauty of this book is the complete series of color illustrations of the scroll along with the actual text. The beautiful 74 color plates, with some wonderful fold-outs, also have captions identifying each deity taking part in the scenes. Another bonus is that the COMPLETE translated texts of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, missing from this papyrus, are included in the second half of the book. A plate key also lists each chapter by scene and text reference.

The papyrus of Ani is a visual and spiritual treasure from 3500 years ago that has finally been given the respect and scholarly treatment it deserves. This is a first rate book for anyone interested in ancient man's quest for eternity and the Egyptian idea of how to achieve it. It's a delight to the mind and eyes that will fascinate any reader or student of this period in history. A superb achievment all around!