The Afterlife in Egyptian Religion

This illustration comes from the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, a collection of illustrated instructions and magic spells buried with dead people to help them in the afterlife. It shows the deceased standing in front of offerings made to Osiris, the god of the underworld. He is seated on a throne with his sister and wife, the goddess Isis, and her sister standing behind him. The myth of Osiris, who died and was cut up into pieces but then reassembled and resurrected by Isis, expressed Egyptians’ belief in an eternal life after death. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo / Alfredo Dagli Orti / The Art Archive at Art Resource, NY.)