THE SCENE: The ancient Egyptians believe that after they died, they would have to submit their lives for judgement by the God Osiris. To preface this judgement, the spirit of the dead person was expected to recite the below Declaration of Innocence, which sheds a lot of light onto Egyptian values in this era.
THE TEXT:
I have not done crimes against people,
I have not mistreated cattle,…
I have not known what should not be known,
I did not begin a day by exacting more than my due,…
I have not blasphemed a god,
I have not robbed the poor.
I have not done what the god abhors,
I have not maligned a servant to his master.
I have not caused pain,
I have not caused tears.
I have not killed,
I have not ordered to kill,
I have not made anyone suffer.
I have not damaged the offerings in the temples,
I have not depleted the loaves of the gods,
I have not stolen the cakes of the dead…
I have not increased nor reduced the measure,…
I have not cheated in the fields.
I have not added to the weight of the balance,
I have not falsified the plummet of the scales.
I have not taken milk from the mouth of children,
I have not deprived cattle of their pasture…
I have not held back water in its season,
I have not dammed a flowing stream,
I have not quenched a needed fire.
I have not neglected the days of meat offerings,
I have not detained cattle belonging to the god,
I have not stopped a god in his procession.
I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!
The Egyptian Book of the Dead, 16th Century BC
[Text Source: http://www.historywiz.com/primarysources/egyptiandead.html]
