Detail of an illustrated ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead papyrus

Getty Villa · Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles

The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Orain ikusgai2026(e)ko martxoaren 4(a) – 2026(e)ko azaroaren 30(a)·Doan

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.

Erakusketaren webgunea

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.

Erredakzioaren aukera

Gettyren Book of the Dead eskuizkribu ilustratuak: antzinako egiptoarrei hil ondoko bizitzan barrena gidatzen zieten sorginkeriak eta irudiak, Villa-ko bigarren solairuan. Doan.

Ez galdu

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.