The Afterlife is a photo art series of the wonderful tomb finds of Ancient Egypt by photographer Paul E Williams.
The Afterlife Photo Series
The Afterlife series of art photos is taken from an extensive collection of Ancient Egyptian antiquity photos I have taken at museums in Europe & the Near East. The photos in this post are a small taster of photos from the much larger Afterlife photo collection.
Ancient Egyptian Tomb Goods
Ancient Egypt is understood mostly through the tomb finds that have been excavated over the last 200 years by archaeologists. Once it was possible read the hieroglyphic inscriptions on tomb walls and in papyrus scrolls, the burial rituals and religious beliefs of Ancient Egypt became better understood. Finally this led to understanding how the Egyptians perceived the Afterlife, which further explained the meaning of the strange objects, and mummified bodies, that were excavated from the tombs.
The Afterlife Photo Style
Primarily I took The Afterlife antiquity photos because I love the objects, and wanted to share them with as many people as possible, especially those who will never have the opportunity to see them for real. With this in mind I have created a coherent series style that I hope allows the Egyptian antiquities to shine in their own right. I hope you like the photos and you will want to see all of wonderful Egyptian Antiquities.
See More Afterlife Egyptian Antiquity Photos
The Afterlife & Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptians believed that after death they would travel to a world that mirrored the real world. To get to the Afterlife required special rituals and burial practises to be observed.
The Underworld
Egyptian religious doctrines included three afterlife ideologies: belief in an underworld, eternal life, and rebirth of the soul. The underworld was reached by traveling through the tomb of the deceased. to where Osiris would determine the virtue of the deceased’s soul and grant those deemed deserving a peaceful afterlife.
Religious Rituals
Firstly to achieve the ideal afterlife, many practices had to be performed during one’s life, which would have included acting justly and following the beliefs of Egyptian creed. Additionally, it was the responsibility of the living to carry out the final ritual that would facilitate the decease reaching the Afterlife. This included mummifying the deceased body and burying it with all the necessary goods and food required in the next world.
Tomb Goods
To facilitate the journey to the Afterlife the deceased was buried with spells in a scroll that know as The Book Of The Dead. Deads from their life were also written in the book and this would be presented to Osiris for her final judgment to see if the deceased was worthy of The Afterlife.
An incredible variety of tomb goods necessary for the Afterlife including small statues of all the servants, cooks, brewers, bakers and pets that the deceased would need to serve them.
Tomb Goods Preservation
Thanks to the dry conditions in Egypt and the many well hidden tombs that were not found by tomb robbers, today we can see an incredible number of Ancient Egyptian antiquities in museums around the world. As Egyptian art is rich and mysterious, the antiquities of Ancient Egypt have always caught the publics imagination.
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