EGYPT.
The tombs of Egypt have yielded considerable material on this subject; a 26th century B.C. in scription on a tomb reads: allow I caused that I should be buried in the same tomb with this Zau (His father's name) in order that I might be with him in the . same place; not, however, because I was not in a position to make a second tomb; but I. did this in order that I might see this Zau every day, in order that I might be with him in the same place.° During the Osirian period the Egyptian dead are identified with Osiris, which explains the following from Pyramid Texts: " As surely as Osiris lives, so shall he live also; As surely as Osiris did not die, so shall he not die.
As surely as Osisis is not annillilated, so shall be too not be annihilated."
thou bast triumphed over thy present, Re and Horus will provide a ladder for thee; one of them shall stand on this side and one on that, and thou shalt mount up to heaven. The gate of heaven will open to thee, and the great bolts will draw back for thee. There thou findest Re stationed . . . he takes thee by the hand and leads thee into the sanct uary of heaven, and sets thee upon the throne of Osiris)); From the Book of the
The blessed dead has his place in the Hall be fore the great god and he knows every great god . . . He goes out into the field of Earu. There is given to him cakes and bread and fields of barley and spelt seven cubits high. The servants of Horns gather in the harvest, and he eats of this barley and this spelt.° On Egyptian Tombs (2,000 a.c.) we find: "May thy soul attain to the Creator of all mankind . . . These have found grace in the eyes of the Great God. They dwell in the abodes of glory, where the heavenly life is led. The bodies which they have abandoned will repose forever in their tombs, while they will enjoy the presence of the Great
It was believed that the dead go to the lower world and occupy vast caverns thro' which the sun passed during his night absence: °The departed, who are in their halls, in their caverns, praise the sun; their eyes are opened, their heart is full of felicity when they behold the sun; they shout for Joy when his body is over
We read in the
and have committed him (or her) to the stone Ayokhshust. 0 angel Srosh, we turn our backs upon him (her), but do thou turn thy face towards him (her); into thy keeping we have given him (her) ; do thou take his (her) hand.
0 Srosh, Mihr, and Raskin the Just, we have delivered him (her) into your keeping; take his (her) hand and lead him (her) to The abode of our forefathers and the righteous and the pure. So be it in accordance with the will of the Angels and Archangels; so be it, so, verily let it In the (589 Lc.) is found: °The man who has constantly contended against evil, morally and physically, outwardly and inwardly, may fearlessly meet death; well assured that radiant Sprits will lead him across the luminous bridge into a paradise of eternal happiness, . . . Souls rise from the graves will know each other, and say, That is my father, or my brother, my wife, or my °What is the world? It is simply a halting place with two gates. By the one ye enter; by the other ye From Airyama Prayer: " In the earth shall Ahriman hide, In the earth the demons hide, Up the dead again shall rise, And within their lifeless bodies Incorporate life shall be restored." The Pahlavi Texts have: °In that assembly (the risen dead) every one sees his own good deeds and his own evil deeds; and then, in that assembly, a wicked man becomes as conspicuous as a white sheep among those which are black." The heavenly work being completed °all men become of one voice and administer praise to . . . the merciful Lord, who makes the final retribution, and who will at the end deliver the wicked from hell and restore the whole creation in