Osiris Ritual

A steampunk mystery adventure featuring immortality, artifacts, and intrepid sleuths Sir Maurice Newbury and Miss Veronica Hobbes Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, imagines life will be a little quieter after his dual successes solving The Affinity Bridge affair. But he hasn't banked on his villainous predecessor, Knox, who is hell-bent on achieving immortality, not to mention a secret agent who isn't quite what he seems.... So continues an adventure quite unlike any other, a thrilling steampunk mystery and the second in the series of Newbury & Hobbes investigations. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

An in-depth examination of the ancient Egyptian approach to death and its relevance to the modern near-death experience • A thought-provoking account of the numerous initiatic stages of the immortalization process • Examines the Ritual of Embalming and the Ritual of the Opening of the Mouth, both central to the ancient Egyptian death experience • Includes numerous illustrations from the rich field of Egyptian funeral art In their well-known Book of the Dead, the ancient Egyptians left humanity one of the most comprehensive looks at the death experience and the afterlife. Without sacrificing the rich complexity of pharaonic thought, Stephane Rossini and Ruth Schumann Antelme provide an accessible, thought-provoking account of the numerous initiatic stages of the immortalization process and the magical self-defense techniques necessary for the soul to achieve its ultimate objective as a solarized being. The true significance of the ancient Egyptian view of death cannot be entirely comprehended without knowledge of the practices that preceded those described in the Book of the Dead. Becoming Osiris presents an informative account of both the Ritual of Embalming, which transforms the deceased into a latent Osiris, and the Ritual of the Opening of the Mouth, which restores to the deceased his faculties. Though thousands of years old, these texts have an astounding contemporary relevance. With numerous illustrations from the rich field of Egyptian funeral art, Becoming Osiris presents a comprehensive guide to the fascinating Osirian odyssey that is the ancient Egyptian death experience.

This collection of 15 essays throws light on the large and oft-neglected corpus of Osiris liturgies. These texts preserve the incantations and instructions for rituals performed in the temple cult of Osiris, the Egyptian god of death and regeneration. Although composed for use in state-sponsored temples, most copies have been found in private burials of the Late and Greco-Roman periods, inscribed on the walls of tombs and sarcophagi or on papyrus scrolls. Not only do the preserved copies offer precious information about the cult of Osiris but also about transformations in equipping the dead with funerary texts in these later periods of pharaonic history. The essays of this volume, presented in English, German and French, explore this interface of temple and tomb. They offer reflections on methodology, showcase new approaches and examine the scribal culture that produced these documents. Well-known compositions such as the Sakhu or Glorification Rituals, the Embalming Ritual and the Mouth Opening Ritual are discussed as well as new inscriptions and papyri that remain unedited to this day. Together these essays add to our understanding of the production and use of funerary texts, old and new, in late Pharaonic and Greco-Roman Egypt.

Preliminary material -- INTRODUCTION -- OVERVIEW OF THE EVIDENCE -- THE NILE WATER CRYPTS -- OTHER TYPES OF FIXED NILE WATER CONTAINERS -- WHY NILE WATER? 1. EVIDENCE FROM THE CRYPTS -- WHY NILE WATER? 2. EVIDENCE FROM OUTSIDE THE CULT -- WHY NILE WATER? 3. THE OSIRIS EVIDENCE -- ABLUTION FACILITIES AND RITUALS -- EGYPTIANIZING THE CULT OF THE EGYPTIAN GODS -- SURVEY OF THE SITES -- OTHER TYPES OF CRYPTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CULT -- NOTES -- INDICES -- LIST OF PLATES -- PLATES I-XXX AND MAP.

This book presents the edition of all known copies of the important Osirian ritual known as The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys, along with an extensive commentary. The main copies are a series of papyri from Tebtunis and Thebes, but excerpts are also preserved on some coffins from Thebes and Akhmim. The papyri from the Tebtunis temple library deposit preserve actual manuals used by the priests for the ritual, whereas the other papyri and the coffins preserve copies of excerpts intended for funerary use by private individuals.

Sir Maurice Newbury, Gentleman Investigator for the Crown, imagines life can be a little quieter from now on after his dual success in solving the Affinity Bridge affair. But he hasn't banked on his villainous predecessor, Knox, hell bent on achieving immortality, not to mention a secret agent who isn't quite as he seems.

In their Book of the Dead, the ancient Egyptians left humanity a comprehensive understanding of the death experience and the afterlife. Becoming Osiris is an accessible account of the initiatic stages of the immortalization process and the techniques necessary for the soul to achieve its objective of becoming a solarized being after death.