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1842. 
But although 
I 
have done so for the sake of uniformity 
of reference, 
I 
con- 
sider it 
to be unfortunate that it has been generally adopted in 
Egyptological works 
; 
for three of the so-called Chapters (Nos. 
16, 
and 
150) 
are in reality Vignettes, and nine others 
(Nos. 
48, 
49, 73, 107, 
1
11, 
and 
are duplicates 
of 
Chapters found in other parts of the papyrus. T h e number 
of 
Chapters in Lepsius’ work is, therefore, 
and not 
165. 
T h e Chapters, not including different versions, given i n the 

---

EFA CE. 
present volume are 
in number, of which 163 belong to the 
Theban Recension. T h e remaining 14 (Nos. 
60, 
128, 
140, 
158, 
162, 163, 164 and 165) have 
only, as yet, been found in the 
Recension, but as they 
form good specimens of the religious compositions 
of 
the later 
period and illustrate some curious beliefs, 
I 
have thought it 
right to add them t o the older texts. 
Of 
Chapter 
184 no 
complete text is known. 
Of the 163 Chapters of the Theban 
Recension 148 are edited, with four hymns, from papyri i n the 
British Museum, and 
Chapters and three hymns are derived 
from papyri which are preserved in the Museums of Paris, Berlin, 
Leyden, Cairo, and other places, and which have been published 
by Leemans, Mariette, Naville and Lefibure. 
T h e present edition 
of 
the Theban Recension 
of the 
Book of 
the Dead is the most complete which has hitherto been published, 
and it contains all the original texts of which translations are 
printed i n the volume o n the Book of the Dead which Messrs 
Paul 
Co. are issuing simultaneously with this work. 
T h e source of each Chapter is clearly stated above it, but the 
text has been printed in horizontal instead of perpendicular lines, 
and has been broken u p into words for the convenience 
of 
the 
student. 
T h e hymns introductory to the Judgment Scene 
I 
have put 
together, for 
I 
believe them to be out 
of 
place when arranged 
as versions 
of the 
Chapter 
; 
and probably Chapters 
183 and 185 also belong t o the group. 
a small volume accompanying this work will be found a 
Vocabulary to the Theban Recension containing over 
re- 
ferences 
; 
it has been bound u p separately 
in deference to the 
wishes of many. 
E. 
A .
W A L L I S
B U D G E .
London, July 

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D E S C R I P T I O N OF THE PAPYRI. 
T h e Chapters of the Book 
of the Dead, 
etc., printed 
in this volume are edited from the following papyri 
:- 
I. 
T
HE PAPYRUS OF 
This papyrus was obtained 
by Burton at Memphis and was acquired by the Trustees of the 
British Museum at the sale of his collection in 
1836. 
It measures 
77 
ft. 
7 
in., by 
I 
ft. 
in. 
it is mounted, under glass, in 
thirty-three sheets, and bears the 
It is probably 
the oldest known papyrus inscribed with the Theban Recension 
of the 
Book of the Dead, and we cannot be far wrong in 
ascribing it t o the first half 
of the period of the rule of the 
kings of the 
dynasty over Egypt, 
e., 
about B. 
C. 1600. 
T h e vignettes and text are in black ink throughout, and only 
the titles of the Chapters are given in red 
; 
the whole papyrus 
is most carefully written and is, it would seem, the work of 
Nebseni himself. 
A s
an authority for the text 
of the Theban 
Recension it takes very high r a n k , and the Chapters which 
M. 
Naville selected from it for his edition of the Book of the 
Dead form one third 
of 
the entire number which he has printed. 
T h e deceased Nebseni was by profession a scribe, and he held 
various offices connected with the architect and surveyor’s de-