The Egyptian Book of the Dead: Not really a book

Edition
Although it is what I read, I would not really recommend the penguin classic edition or any edition translated by Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge. The problem is Wallis Budge thought that the King James version of the bibles sounded right for a religious text. So, when he wrote his translation he wrote it in a King James style. My project is all about reading and understanding and I feel for my purposes, that this edition is anything but ideal. That being said, it is considered the foremost work on the subject.

Synopsis
It is worth noting that The Egyptian Book of the Dead is not the translation of a single work but rather a collated series of prayers, ceremonies and other writings from the graves, coffins and burial ruins from a range of times.
The book teaches that life after death is achievable if the right procedures are followed at burial. The dead must be "identified" with the gods, by calling the deceased by the name of the god, to gain their attributes in getting to the afterlife and in the afterlife. The gods have multiple names are are associated with a given city. Though cities may have different names over time.
It also tells of the works of the gods in day to day life, how the day and the night are presided over and how the deceased can be ascribed with the power of the relevant gods in the afterlife.

Reflection
Because it is a collection of smaller works at different times in Egypt's history, there is a large amount of repetition or variations on a theme where the same ideas are covered in only marginally different texts.
Actually, my use of "prayers" before is a little bit misleading as they are often not addressed to any given god but are more like magic spells to give the deceased movement or speech in the after life.
You can see in the texts the slowly shifting culture and beliefs in Egypt, as parts of the ceremonies and spells fade from usage and others come to the fore.
In the vignettes, with each chapter, the gods are depicted both with human heads and the heads of animals depending on the god. It is hard to tell from this if the Egyptians thought the gods were like men or not. It does make it easier to recognise the more common gods in a scene.

Comparison
The obvious comparison, especially due to the language choice in the English translation, is to that of the Christian Bible. But beyond the choice of King James English, in the translation, they have very little in common. One of the few commonalities is the view of an afterlife and a final judgement. And although they agree on these events happening, their form is dramatically different.

Have you read the The Egyptian Book of the Dead? If so what did you think?
Does this inspire you to read the The Egyptian Book of the Dead ? If so tell me what you think when your done!


I am not posting a link for where to buy The Egyptian Book of the Dead because I don't think you should get the Penguin Classics edition and I haven't done the research as to what would be a good alternative.