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The present year will be marked by a notable programme of temporary exhibitions. Furthermore the Museum’s renewal will be made more concrete, a process for which the Friends of the Allard Pierson Museum are greatly needed and in which they will continue to be closely involved. In the exhibition The 'Judgment of the Dead' a journey plays a central role, the one that the deceased must make before he or she arrives in the Field of Reeds, the Egyptian name for paradise or heaven. This eventful passage begins with the denial of 42 potential sins, known as the so-called Negative Confession. In the first article
Willem van Haarlem describes the ritual of the Judgment of the Dead. Images of the journey through the Egyptian afterlife are portrayed on sarcophagi, papyri and the walls of tombs. The Museum’s sarcophagus of Teuris shows a notable representation of the Judgment of the Dead, as described in the second article. This sarcophagus occupies a central place in the exhibition. The deceased’s route and various trials are noted in the Book of the Dead. In the third article Willem van Haarlem deals with the origin and development of this book, and the papyrus of Somteus. In the following article Jan Koek describes the fascinating world of the so-called Underworld Books which have also come down to us from ancient Egypt. Marcel Zitman’s contribution allows us to conclude that the Field of Reeds was not a final destination but more like a way station in the perpetual cycle. The exhibition - 'The Judgment of the Dead. A journey through the Egyptian Afterlife' - and the article by Willem van Haarlem and Gerard Wiegers in this publication attempt to trace a link between ancient Egyptian beliefs and current religions like Christianity and Islam. This aspect plays an important part in the Museum’s educational program.