在希望与绝望之间--论古代埃及人来世观念的产生和发展

从古代埃及流传下来的物和遗迹多数都与当时人们的宗教信仰和来世观念相关。在几千年的历史过程中，古代埃及人始终没有放弃对来世的追求。他们把尸体制作成木乃伊、修建豪华的墓室并且给死去的人奉献祭品。从表面上看，古代埃及人的来世观念从古王国到王朝后期没有什么变化，不过，如果仔细阅读他们留下来的有关献，我们会发现他们对命运和来世的认识及其态度发生了深刻的变化。尤其值得关注的是古代埃及人生前刻写在墓碑和墓壁上的自传，它们充分表达了墓主人在探讨死亡这个人生重大命题时的企盼、恐惧和无奈的复杂心态。

From Expectation to Desperation--On the Origin and Development of the Idea of Afterlife in Ancient Egypt

Most of the cultural relics and sites that have come down to us from ancient Egypt have something to do with the ancient Egyptians' religious beliefs and ideas of afterlife. Throughout the history of thousands of years, the Egyptians did not give up their efforts in obtaining the life beyond. They kept on preparing mummies, digging tombs and offering sacrifices for the dead. On the surface, their views of the afterlife remained the same, however, if we read carefully the relevant surviving documents, we would recognize that their attitude toward the life and the afterlife had undergone great changes. Especially their autobiographies show us their mixed feeling of hope, dread and anxiety concerning the inevitable theme of death.