Laws

The Ten Commandments:
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou salt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
4. Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7.  Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shall not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet.

According to the Book of the Dead, Hunefer must declare at the Last Judgment that he is innocent of 42 sins, some of which are listed here:
I have not done crimes against people,
I have not mistreated cattle,
I have not sinned in the Place of Truth.
I have not known what should not be known,
I have not done any harm.
I did not begin a day by exacting more than my due,
My name did not reach the bark of the mighty ruler,
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 cased 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 cheated in the field.
I have not added to the weight of the balance, ...
I have not taken milk from the mouth of children.

There is a definite connection between the laws in the Book of the Dead and the laws of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are more broad than the Book of the Dead but a lot of the laws in the Book of the Dead are covered in the Ten Commandments. An example of this is "I have not killed." (BoD) and "Thou shalt not kill" (TC). However, a lot of the laws in the Book of the Dead are kind of strange for this day in age. And many of them are so specific, its hard to believe the people didn't break them all the time! The laws that say "I have not caused pain, I have not caused tears." (BoD) are weird! I feel like its not that hard to cause pain or make someone cry (even though its not right to do that).

The Book of the Dead is just so much more specific and serious. It was clearly made for the specific time period and area. The Ten Commandments are much more universal and even though they were created thousands of years ago, they are still totally relevant today. Many religions and peoples still follow the Ten Commandments because they are good life guidelines and still apply to life now.

I haven't done much research on the Book of the Dead but I do know that it was used in Ancient Egypt around 50 BCE. During that time, they had kings and worshipped multiple gods. They had very strict laws and consequences for breaking the laws of the land. I think the laws are very detailed because everything back then was about detail and order. They had to follow certain steps to achieve things and one mess up and their life was over basically. It was just a very different time and place then the one that I am living in now so it makes sense that they would seem strange to me.