The Egyptian Book of the Dead: A guidebook for the underworld - Tejal Gala

Egipčanska knjiga mrtvih: Vodič po podzemlju - Tejal Gala

Translator: Nika Kotnik Reviewer: Matej Divjak

Ani stands before a large golden scale

Ani stoji pred veliko zlato tehtnico

where the jackal-headed god Anubis is weighing his heart

kjer bog s šakalovo glavo, Anubis, tehta njegovo srce

against a pure ostrich feather.

proti čistemu peresu noja.

Ani was a real person,

Ani je bil resnična oseba,

a scribe from the Egyptian city of Thebes

pisar iz egipčanskega mesta Tebe,

who lived in the 13th century BCE.

ki je živel v 13. stoletju pr. n. št.

And depicted here is a scene from his Book of the Dead,

In tu je opisan prizor iz njegove Knjige mrtvih,

a 78-foot papyrus scroll designed to help him attain immortality.

78-čevljev dolg zvitek papirusa, zasnovan, da bi mu pomagal doseči nesmrtnost.

Such funerary texts were originally written only for Pharaohs,

Taki pogrebni zapisi so bili prvotno zapisani samo za faraone,

but with time, the Egyptians came to believe

a sčasoma so Egipčani začeli verjeti,

regular people could also reach the afterlife

da lahko tudi običajni ljudje dosežejo posmrtno življenje,

če jim prehod uspe.

if they succeeded in the passage.

Ani's epic journey begins with his death.

Anijevo epsko potovanje se začne z njegovo smrtjo.

His body is mummified by a team of priests

Njegovo telo mumificira skupina svečenikov,

who remove every organ except the heart,

ki odstranijo vse organe razen srca,

the seat of emotion, memory, and intelligence.

središče čustev, spomina in inteligence.

Nato je napolnjeno s soljo, imenovano natron,

It's then stuffed with a salt called natron

and wrapped in resin-soaked linen.

in zavito v laneno platno, prepojeno s smolo.

In addition, the wrappings are woven with charms for protection

Platno je prav tako izvezeno z zaščitnimi simboli,

and topped with a heart scarab amulet that will prove important later on.

za konec pa dodan amulet za srce v obliki skarabeja, ki bo pomemben kasneje.

The goal of the two-month process is to preserve Ani's body as an ideal form

Cilj tega dvomesečnega procesa je ohraniti Anijevo telo v idealni formi,

with which his spirit can eventually reunite.

s katerim se lahko njegova duša sčasoma združi.

But first, that spirit must pass through the duat, or underworld.

A najprej mora duša skozi duat ali podzemlje.

This is a realm of vast caverns,

To je kraljestvo z ogromnimi jamami,

gorečimi jezeri

lakes of fire,

in čarobnimi vrati,

and magical gates,

all guarded by fearsome beasts -

vsa stražijo grozljive zveri -

snakes, crocodiles, and half-human monstrosities

kače, krokodili in pol-človeške grozote

with names like "he who dances in blood."

z imeni, kot je "tisti, ki pleše v krvi."

To make things worse, Apep, the serpent god of destruction,

Da bi bile stvari še hujše, Apep, kačji bog uničenja,

lurks in the shadows waiting to swallow Ani's soul.

preži v senci in čaka, da bo požrl Anijevo dušo.

Fortunately, Ani is prepared

Na srečo je Ani pripravljen

with the magic contained within his book of the dead.

s pomočjo magije iz njegove Knjige mrtvih.

Kot drugi Egipčani, ki so si to privoščili,

Like other Egyptians who could afford it,

je Ani prilagodil svoj zvitek in vključil določene uroke, molitve in šifre,

Ani customized his scroll to include the particular spells, prayers, and codes

he thought his spirit might need.

ki bi jih njegov duh morda potreboval.

Equipped with this arsenal,

Opremljen s tem orožjem,

our hero traverses the obstacles,

naš heroj prepotuje ovire,

repels the monsters' acts,

odbije pošasti

and stealthily avoids Apep

in se zvito izogne Apepu,

to reach the Hall of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice.

da bi dosegel dvorano Ma'at, boginje resnice in pravičnosti.

Tu se Ani sooči s svojim zadnjim izzivom.

Here, Ani faces his final challenge.

He is judged by 42 assessor gods

Sodi mu 42 bogov ocenjevalcev,

who must be convinced that he has lived a righteous life.

ki jih mora prepričati, da je živel pošteno življenje.

Ani approaches each one,

Ani pristopi do vsakega,

addressing them by name,

jih nagovori z imenom

in pove greh, ki ga ni zagrešil.

and declaring a sin he has not committed.

Among these negative confessions, or declarations of innocence,

Med temi obratnimi priznanji ali izjavami nedolžnosti

he proclaims that he has not made anyone cry,

trdi, da ni nikogar spravil v jok,

is not an eavesdropper,

ni prisluškoval

and has not polluted the water.

in ni onesnažil vode.

But did Ani really live such a perfect life?

Ampak, je Ani res živel tako popolno življenje?

Ne ravno, a tu pride na vrsto amulet skarabeja na srcu.

Not quite, but that's where the heart scarab amulet comes in.

It's inscribed with the words, "Do not stand as a witness against me,"

Na njem so napisane besede, "Ne pričaj proti meni,"

precisely so Ani's heart doesn't betray him

zato da Anija ne bi izdalo njegovo srce,

ko bi se spominjalo dneva, ko je poslušal prepir sosedov,

by recalling the time he listened to his neighbors fight

or washed his feet in the Nile.

ali si opral noge v Nilu.

Now, it's Ani's moment of truth, the weighing of the heart.

Sedaj je tu Anijev trenutek resnice, tehtanje srca.

If his heart is heavier than the feather, weighed down by Ani's wrongdoings,

Če je njegovo srce težje od peresa, ker ga težijo Anijeve napake,

it'll be devoured by the monstrous Ammit,

ga bo požrl pošastni Ammit,

part crocodile, part leopard, part hippopotamus,

deloma krokodil, deloma leopard, deloma nilski konj,

in Ani bo za večno nehal obstajati.

and Ani will cease to exist forever.

But Ani is in luck.

A Ani ima srečo.

His heart is judged pure.

Njegovo srce ocenijo za čisto.

Ra, the sun god, takes him to Osiris, god of the underworld,

Bog sonca, Ra, ga pelje k Ozirisu, bogu podzemlja,

ki mu da še zadnjo potrditev za vstop v posmrtno življenje.

who gives him final approval to enter the afterlife.

V neskončnih in bujnih poljih trsa,

In the endless and lush field of reeds,

Ani meets his deceased parents.

Ani sreča svoje pokojne starše.

Here, there is no sadness, pain, or anger, but there is work to be done.

Tu ni žalosti, bolečine ali jeze, a čaka delo.

Kot vsi ostali, mora Ani obdelovati kos zemlje,

Like everyone else, Ani must cultivate a plot of land,

which he does with the help of a Shabti doll that had been placed in his tomb.

kar počne s pomočjo Shabti lutke, ki so jo položili v njegovo grobnico.

Danes je Anijev papirus v Britanskem muzeju,

Today, the Papyrus of Ani resides in the British Museum,

where it has been since 1888.

kjer ga hranijo že od leta 1888.

Only Ani, if anyone, knows what really happened after his death.

Samo Ani sam ve, kaj se mu je zgodilo po smrti.

But thanks to his Book of the Dead,

A zahvaljujoč njegovi knjigi mrtvih,

we can imagine him happily tending his crops for all eternity.

si ga lahko predstavljamo, kako srečno skrbi za svoj pridelek v večnosti.