Edition synoptique et traduction des chapitres supplementaires du Livre des Morts 162 a 167.

• Author: Einaudi, Silvia

Edition synoptique et traduction des chapitres supplementaires du Livre des Morts 162 a 167. By ANN1K WUTHRICH. 2 vols. Studien zu Altagyptischen Totentexten, vol. 19. Wiesbaden: HARRASSOWITZ VERLAG, 2015. Pp. xxi + 333, viii + 179, illus. [euro]168.

The present work by A. Wiithrich represents the second part of her extensive research on the Book of the Dead supplementary chapters (BD) 162 to 167. The first part of this study was published a few years earlier in Elements de theologie thebaine (SAT 16, 2010), where she especially investigates the history, function, and religious themes of the BD supplementary spells, a source that has proven to be very important for the comprehension of the Theban theology. As a second step and necessary complement to the commentary of the first volume, Wiithrich has published the philological and lexicographical analysis of these texts, which are at the origin of her work and constitute, at the same time, its nucleus.

The so-called "supplementary spells (or chapters)" are a series of formulae studied for the first time by W. Pleyte (Chapitres supplementaires du Livre des Morts 162 d 174 [Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1881 ]) and labeled by him as BD 162-74, following K. R. Lepsius's numbering system (Das Todtenbuch der Agypter nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin [Leipzig: Wigand, 1842]). The adjective "supplementary," from the incipit of BD 163 in some manuscripts, clearly shows that these texts, excerpts from another corpus, were added to the traditional Book of the Dead spells. Such addition took place during the Third Intermediate Period.

As Wuthrich writes, the supplementary spells can be divided into two groups: BD 162 to 167 and HI) 168 to 174. Her research focuses on the first, since they make up a coherent set, as regards their lexicography and their theology. Moreover, these six chapters, which made their first appearance between the 21st and the 26th dynasty (some of them probably have a more ancient origin, in the New Kingdom), are better attested in ancient manuscripts (especially papyri) than the second collection. Therefore, accurate analysis of the numerous sources allowed Wuthrich to study the evolution of the texts, which underwent several processes of re-elaboration and changes over the centuries.

The present work consists of two volumes: I) the study itself: 333 pages, including fifty-one plates with b/w or color photos of the examined sources; and II) the synoptic plates of the spells (179...