arts of which were
taken at discretion by various scribes according to local or individual
tastes. No single papyrus contains even the greater part of it, and
the choice made among the heterogeneous material is infinitely varied.
The different sections have been numbered by modern editors, starting
with the order found in some of the best examples, and more than two
hundred such chapters are recognised. Every variety of belief finds
place in this large collection; every charm or direction which could
benefit the dead found a footing here if it attained popularity. From
prehistoric days downward it formed a religious repertory without
limits or regulation. Portions known in the close of the old kingdom
entirely vanish in later copies, while others appear which are
obviously late in origin. The incessant adding of notes, incorporation
of glosses, and piling of explanations one on the other, has increased
the confusion. And to add to our bewilderment, the scribes were
usually quite callous about errors in a writing which was never to be
seen or used by living eyes; and the corruptions, which have been in
turn made worse, have left hardly any sense in many parts. At {78}
best it is difficult to follow the illusions of a lost faith, but amid
all the varieties of idea and bad readings superposed, the task of
critical understanding is almost hopeless. The full study of such a
work will need many new discoveries and occupy generations of critical
ingenuity. We can distinguish certain groups of chapters, an Osirian
section on the kingdom of Osiris and the service of it, a theological
section, a set of incantations, formulae for the restoration of the
heart, for the protection of the soul from spirits and serpents in the
hours of night, charms to escape from perils ordained by the gods, an
account of the paradise of Osiris, a different version of the kingdom
and judgment of Osiris, a Heliopolitan doctrine about the _ba_, and its
powers of transformation entirely apart from all that is stated
elsewhere, the account of the reunion of soul and body, magic formulae
for entering the Osirian kingdom, another account of the judgment of
Osiris, charms for the preservation of the mummy and for making
efficacious amulets, together with various portions of popular beliefs.

In contrast to the mainly Osirian character above described, we see the
solar religion dominant in the Book of Am Duat, or that which {79} is
in the underworld.