iGetty VillaPacific Palisades, Los Angeles
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Getty's illustrated Book of the Dead manuscripts, the spells and images that guided ancient Egyptians through the afterlife, back on view on the Villa's second floor.
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On one papyrus, Pasherashakhet stands before Osiris while his heart is weighed against a feather. If it balances, Osiris greets him: "Welcome, welcome in peace to the beautiful West."
The Book of the Dead was never one book, but nearly 200 spells copied onto whatever went into the tomb. This room holds pieces from eight burials, about 1450 to 100 BCE: four papyri, linen strips once wrapped around two men both named Petosiris, a coffin-lid fragment and a faience ushabti. Three papyri belonged to women, which curator Sara Cole told LAist is rare. The spells are written for the dead to recite, and you'll find one of Cole's favourite lines on the wall: "May I join with the stars that call out to me in the night boat."
The manuscripts are too fragile to show often, and this is their second outing since 2023. It's on the Villa's second floor, labelled in English and Spanish, and free with a timed reservation (bookable six weeks ahead). Parking costs extra.
Editor's pick
Getty's illustrated Book of the Dead manuscripts: the spells and images that guided ancient Egyptians through the afterlife, on the Villa's second floor. Free.
Look for
The weighing of the heart
Look for Spell 125 on the Papyrus of Pasherashakhet: his heart on a scale against the feather of Maat, with Osiris and a tribunal of gods watching.
Webennesre's ten acres
The oldest scroll, about 1450 BCE, asks for her own ten-acre plot in the Field of Reeds and draws the afterlife's mounds at its far right end.
Petosiris on the sun boat
Linen strips from a mummy wrapping show Petosiris kneeling on a solar boat while Re rises between ba-birds and baboons.
Neferibresaneith's ushabti
A green faience figurine holding farm tools, one of 336 from his tomb at Saqqara, inscribed with the spell meant to make it work for him after death.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You want big statues: this is a room of ink on papyrus and linen strips.
Also at Getty Villa
On now nearby
Image credits
5
- The Egyptian Book of the DeadCourtesy of Getty Villa
- Charles Ross: Spectrum 14Courtesy of Getty Center
- Stories from the Library: The Mirror of the MoonCourtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
- Stories from the Library: Damaged GoodsCourtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
- Getty VillaBobak Ha'Eri / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0