In Pics: 1st picture book in history discovered in Egypt

CAIRO - 14 January 2020: Archaeologists have uncovered in Egypt what is believed to be the first picture book in history. The book is a new guide that explains the way to the afterlife of the god of reckoning and resurrection of the pharaohs, Osiris.

The discovered book is more than 4,000 years old and may be the oldest version of a book ever present. The book is considered as a "Book of Two Ways", known as the texts of the coffins.

The ancient book contains more than a thousand talismans and scriptures which were written on coffins during the Middle Kingdom (2055-1795 BC). Its purpose was to ensure survival in the afterlife. Many of these talismans are derived from the texts of the pyramids, while some of them are the original talismans of "The Book of the Dead," which dates back to the Modern state.



It consists of a set of ancient Egyptian funerary texts/scripts, which began to appear on the coffins at the beginning of the first Decay Period. These texts were drawn from the texts of the pyramids that were for royal use only.

However, some of the words have been replaced to be used by the general public, as it became possible for some ordinary Egyptians to own coffins with inscriptions of funerary texts. That is, the right to the afterlife is no longer restricted to the pharaoh.



Most of these texts date back to the Middle Kingdom. Sometimes these texts were inscribed on the walls of tombs, obelisks, papyri, and even on mummy masks. The content of these texts are drawn from many different areas of religious life, like myths about deities, chants, and magic spells, as was the case with the pyramid texts.

However, the texts of the coffins are not concerned with fusing content in a theological theory. Rather, its apparent character is the tendency to confirm its magic effect in the service of the dead.

These texts were designed for the use of commoners, and were not restricted to kings. Every person can, after death, be transformed into the god Osiris, thereby obtaining a better life in the community of deities. However, this process is not automatic, like what was believed to be the case with deceased kings; the dead here must appear before the court of the dead. The value of his/her life will be judged according to their moral behavior during their lifetime on earth.