A Declaration of Innocence
The Egyptian Book of the Dead (ca. 2100–1800 B.C.E.)
The Egyptian Book of the Dead comprises texts that were placed in tombs and described how a dead person should overcome various obstacles in the afterlife. Although there was no standard Book of the Dead (this was not a name used by the Egyptians), many of the same texts appear in tombs dating from shortly after 2000 B.C.E. until the adoption of Christianity. This “Declaration of Innocence,” one such text, is remarkable for the detail with which it describes the possible sins of the deceased Egyptian. In listing the undesirable acts, it creates an outline of what Egyptians considered acceptable social behavior. As you read, consider what it tells you about what the Egyptians believed the gods expected from them.
To be said on reaching the Hall of the Two Truths1 so as to purge [name] of any sins committed and to see the face of every god:
Hail to you, great God, Lord of the Two Truths!
I have come to you, my Lord,
I was brought to see your beauty.
I know you, I know the names of the forty-two gods
Who are with you in the Hall of the Two Truths,
Who live by warding off evildoers,
Who drink of their blood,
On that day of judging characters before Wennofer [Osiris]. Lo, your name is “He-of-Two-Daughters,”
[And] “He-of-Maat’s2-Two-Eyes.”
Lo, I come before you,
Bringing Maat to you,
Having repelled evil for you.
I have not done crimes against people,
I have not mistreated cattle,
I have not sinned in the Place of Truth,
I have not known what should not be known,
I have not done any harm.
I did not begin a day by exacting more than my due,
My name did not reach the bark of the mighty ruler.
I have not blasphemed a god,
I have not robbed the poor.
I have not done what the god abhors,
I have not maligned a servant to his master.
I have not caused pain,
I have not caused tears.
I have not killed,
I have not ordered to kill,
I have not made anyone suffer.
I have not damaged the offerings in the temples,
I have not depleted the loaves of the gods,
I have not stolen the cakes of the dead.
I have not copulated nor defiled myself.
I have not increased nor reduced the measure,
I have not diminished the arura [land].
I have not cheated in the fields.
I have not added to the weight of the balance,
I have not falsified the plummet of the scales.
I have not taken milk from the mouths of children,
I have not deprived cattle of their pasture.
I have not snared birds in the reeds of the gods,
I have not caught fish in their ponds.
I have not held back water in its season,
I have not dammed a flowing stream,
I have not quenched a needed fire.
I have not neglected the days of meat offerings,
I have not detained cattle belonging to the god,
I have not stopped a god in his procession.
I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!
From Miriam Lichtheim, ed., Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings, vol. 2 (University of California, 1973), pp. 124–126.