Jin Shoufu 199 1-200 1 studied at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and received his doctorate in Egyptology on 200 1. Now he is a professor at the School of History of Capital Normal University. He used to be a professor in the history department of Fudan University and director of the Egyptian Research Center. Mainly engaged in the study of the history of ancient Egypt, went to Egypt for many times to participate in archaeological excavations and cultural activities, and published many papers in professional journals at home and abroad, including The Coroned Pharaoh, the God of the Earth (2003) and Eternal Glory (2003).

Core view

The ancient Egyptians did spend a lot of manpower and material resources on tombs, but their real purpose was to hope that after the end of this life, the beautiful secular life would continue in the afterlife.

Based on the words left by the ancient Egyptians, we will find that they deeply feel the authenticity of this life and the emptiness of the afterlife. They realize that life is short, so they put special emphasis on effectively spending this life.

The ancient Egyptians formed the concept of afterlife very early, and began to build tombs and buy tombs when they were alive. Therefore, later generations have always believed that the ancient Egyptians were born again regardless of this life, and some even thought that they were possessed by the afterlife. Based on the words left by the ancient Egyptians, we will find that they really realized the shortness of life, so they put special emphasis on living this life effectively. There are no three tenses in ancient Egyptian: past, present and future. The Egyptians divided time into two aspects: unfinished and finished. Therefore, the "present" of ancient Egyptians is by no means a watershed between the past and the future, let alone a point, but an extremely rich concept of time and space. In the time triad composed of past, present and future, now is only a transitional period. People with this concept of time are eager to get out of the past and then busy entering the future. When they come to the end of their lives, they just play the role of a passer-by, because they have no time to savor the most valuable moment. In contrast, the present tense of the ancient Egyptians is like a huge repository, which is full of ripe and mature fruits. The ancient Egyptians did spend a lot of manpower and material resources on tombs, but their real purpose was to hope that after the end of this life, the beautiful secular life would continue in the afterlife. In the eyes of ancient Egyptians, this kind of life dominated by them is more precious because it is short; Although the life in the afterlife is not within reach, it cannot be ignored because of the infinite time relative to the earth.

This life is precious because it is short.

The ancient Egyptians described their life in this world as a hasty trip, and everything ended in the desert on the west bank of the Nile. The tombstone reads: "Our ancestors have been lying there since ancient times and will spend millions of years there." Everyone will come here eventually, and no one can stay in Egypt.