Archaeologists excavating a 3,500-year-old cemetery have discovered an ancient Egyptian “Book of the Dead” full of spells to help the dead in the afterlife. Discovered as part of the presentation of recently recovered archaeological finds at the Tuna al-Gebel cemetery in Middle Egypt, the scroll is estimated to be 43 to 49 feet long.

Such scrolls were a common component of funerary rituals in ancient Egypt, and their magic was a kind of supernatural “travel insurance,” Sarah Cole, assistant curator of antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum, told The New York. In the statement of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, translated into Arabic on October 15, it was stated that initial research on a scroll found in Tuna al-Gebel revealed a reference to the “Book of the Dead”.

The scroll was not the only treasure found in the region, which was founded during the New Kingdom and dates to around 1550-1070 BC. According to LiveScience, archaeologists have found mummies that likely belonged to high-ranking officials; Some of these were still housed in ornate stone sarcophagi under good security.

These include the mummy of the high priest’s daughter, Ta de Isa, according to LiveScience. The find also revealed rare alabaster canopies and “thousands” of amulets used to hold spiritually important organs during mummification, according to the statement.

It’s not that rare to find a copy of the “Book of the Dead.” But it is “very rare” to find another person in the tomb where he was buried, Foy Scalf, an Egyptologist at the University of Chicago, told Live Science via email. However, Scalf noted that not much information about the scrolls has been published and it is difficult to know how important they are without further study.

“If it is this old and well preserved, [тоді це]”An absolutely wonderful and interesting invention.”

John Taylor, the British Museum’s curator of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, said the journey to the afterlife was considered quite difficult and this set of instructions placed on the deceased’s tomb was intended to help the soul find its way there. on his blog in 2010.

They were quite expensive because you had to write your name on the parchment for it to work. Some are written on a template so that the deceased’s name can be inserted into the empty space. However, the richest could choose which spells they wanted to activate, making these scrolls unique. Source