Studies on the Vignettes from Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead

I: The Image of mś.w Bdšt in Ancient Egyptian Mythology

By (author) Mykola Tarasenko

Book cover: Studies on the Vignettes from Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead

Extent: 162 pages

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: Ancient Egypt

Series: Archaeopress Egyptology

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(November 2016)

ISBN: 9781784914509

6.85 x 9.65 inches

Price: $60.00

In stock

This book is a comprehensive study of the myth of the Egyptian deities ms.w Bdst – ‘Children of Weakness’ – and the scene depicting the cat, cutting off the head of the serpent under the branches of the isd-tree found on a number of Book of the Dead chapter 17 vignettes.


Among the numerous deities in the ancient Egyptian mythology, whose nature and function are still vague and obscure, are ms.w Bdst – ‘Children of Weakness’. These beings are twice mentioned in the Book of the Dead chapter 17. The text fragments contain two local versions of the myth with ms.w Bdst – Hermopolitan (Urk. V: Abs. 1), and Heliopolitan (Urk. V: Abs. 22). Since the last text describes the combat between Re and the ‘Children of Weakness’, the same is likely to be reflected on the vignette, which depicts the battle of Re against ms.w Bdst, metaphorically shown in the form of a serpent. This book is a comprehensive study of the ‘Children of Weakness’ myth and the scene depicting the cat, cutting off the head of the serpent under the branches of the isd-tree found on the number of Book of the Dead chapter 17 vignettes.

Preface

Chapter 1: The scene with the cat, serpent and sacred tree, 19th–21st Dynasties

Chapter 2: Correlation between text and visual image

Chapter 3: Mś.w Bdšt – the sources and the plot

Chapter 4: Mś.w Bdšt in the context of BD 175A, BD 123, CT Sp. 409, pBrooklyn 47.218.84 and the Book of Heavenly Cow – the Cosmogonic myth dénouement

Chapter 5: Mś.w Bdšt in the Book of Gates

Chapter 6: Mś.w Bdšt – the name and the image

Chapter 7: Essence of mś.w Bdšt in the Egyptian world view

Conclusion

Appendix 1: Catalogue of sources

Appendix 2: Selected texts

Abbreviations

Bibliography

  • By (author) Mykola Tarasenko