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55-688: The geography of the Duat is similar in outline to the world the Egyptians knew: There are realistic features like rivers, islands, fields, lakes, mounds and caverns, but there were also fantastic lakes of fire, walls of iron, and trees of turquoise. In the Book of Two Ways (a Coffin Text ) there is even a map-like image of the Duat . The Duat was also a residence for various gods, including Osiris, Anubis , Thoth , Horus , Hathor , and Maat , who all appear to

110-419: A cloth headband with two excess pieces of the headband hanging down. Additionally at these two tombs, Seti and Merenptah, a Libyan is at the end of the row, at the 4th position and is depicted with typical Libyan features of the period, a side lock of hair and a long gown-like garment that is worn somewhat openly and with one or both shoulders exposed. However, while all the hieroglyphs in all three tombs remain in

165-404: A coffin had access to these funerary spells and the pharaoh no longer had exclusive rights to an afterlife. As the modern name of this collection of some 1,185 spells implies, they were mostly inscribed on Middle Kingdom coffins. They were also sometimes written on tomb walls, stelae , canopic chests , papyri and mummy masks . Due to the limited writing surfaces of some of these objects,

220-470: A great number of other typically depicted Egyptian figures are. Another peculiarity is that the Asiatic and Libyan are in consistent 2nd and 4th position at both Seti I and Merenptah tombs but switch position at the tomb of Ramesses III while the hieroglyphs do not. At Seti I and Merenptah tombs the Asiatic in the second position is depicted as is typical in much other art of the period, a bearded figure with

275-466: A sufficient guide for the soul to complete its journey with Ra. The biggest difference between the Book of Gates and Amduat are the serpent gate deities guarding the doorway for each hour. These doorways and serpents are named throughout the journey and need to be named in order to cross into the next hour. On the other side of each door are two more guardians and uraei that emit fire. The Book of Going Forth by Day also contains similar doorways in

330-486: A woman named Ankh who lived during the reign of the nomarch Ahanakht I. Book of Gates B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W The Book of Gates is an ancient Egyptian funerary text dating from the New Kingdom . The Book of Gates is long and detailed, consisting of one hundred scenes. It narrates the passage of a newly deceased soul into

385-595: Is even referred to as "the Osiris-[name]." This subterranean realm is described as being filled with threatening beings, traps, and snares with which the deceased must contend. The spells in the Coffin Texts allow the deceased to protect themselves against these dangers and "dying a second death ". A new theme recorded in the coffin texts is the notion that all people will be judged by Osiris and his council according to their deeds in life. The texts allude to

440-502: Is guarded by the serpent Saa-Set. The door itself is named Watcher of the Desert. The accompanying texts speaks of the darkness beyond the door until the god manifests in his godly form. Surrounding the boat are bound men guarded by Atum. The text refers to these men as ‘damned’ and ‘blessed’ by Ra, where they are to either take their place in the afterlife (the blessed) or be destroyed by the serpent (the damned). The blessed make offerings to

495-483: Is sailing through the mountains depicted in the scene. There are also images of standards, one with a jackal head and one with a ram, held by bearded gods Set and Tat. This hour is different from the others because it is the only scene where Ra and the deceased soul are not in the underworld. Hour 2: Once the boat passes between the Western Mountain, it reaches the door to the second division. This door

550-494: Is spoken by the deceased, who replies: I shall sail rightly in my bark, I am lord of eternity in the crossing of the sky. I am not afraid in my limbs, for Hu and Hike overthrow for me that evil being. I shall see light-land, I shall dwell in it ... Make way for me, that I may see Nun and Amun ! For I am that Akh who passes by the guards ... I am equipped and effective in opening his portal! As for any person who knows this spell, he will be like Re in

605-477: Is surrounded by all types of deities for protection that pull him along the sky. As Ra comes to the gate, there are two scepters, one labeled Osiris and the other Horus. The writing by the scepters speaks praise of Ra and tells of his soul and body in heaven and earth, respectively. Hour 12: Ra exits the afterworld. The scene shows many figures holding various objects from scepters to stars to disks. They represent various aspects of helping Ra take his place during

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660-572: Is the Judgement of Osiris scene. The solar barque is pulled along by the four gods of the Tuat ( duat or underworld). They are pulling the bark towards nine gods holding a long serpent named Ennutchi who is the god Apep . In front of these nine gods are twelve additional gods deemed “the souls of the men who are in the Tuat.” Ra instructs these gods to attack the serpent so it is not able to travel through

715-501: The Amduat , the underworld consists of twelve regions signifying the twelve hours of the sun god's journey through it, battling Apep in order to bring order back to the earth in the morning; as his rays illuminated the Duat during the journey, they revived the dead who occupied the underworld and let them enjoy life after death during that hour of the night when they were in the presence of

770-624: The Book of Gates , the Book of Caverns , the Coffin Texts , the Amduat , and the Book of the Dead . Each of these documents fulfilled a different purpose and give a different conception of the Duat , and different texts could be inconsistent with one another. Surviving texts differ in age and origin, and there likely was never a single uniform conception of the Duat , as is the case of many theological concepts in ancient Egypt. The Book of

825-529: The Amduat was the commonly used funeral text among royals in their tombs. Various scenes from the Book of Gates have been depicted in many tombs from the New Kingdom ranging from Horemheb (d.c. 1295 BC) to Ramesses VII (d.c. 1130 BC). Seti I has the first complete inscription decorating his sarcophagus , as well as the first half of the book decorating the pillared halls of his tomb. Horemheb has

880-495: The Book of Gates alongside it. In some cases, only a few scenes were depicted interspersed with the Book of the Dead . Closely related to the Book of Gates is the Book of Amduat (also known as The Book of the Hidden Chambers) , which also follows Ra's journey through the underworld but with some differences. It accompanies the Book of Gates in many tombs because it is a guide to the deceased's souls journey and

935-405: The Duat . Each night the sun god Ra travelled through the Duat, bringing revivification to the dead as their main benefit. When in the underworld he was in his ram -headed form. Ra travelled under the world upon his Atet barge from west to east; on the course of the underground journey, he was transformed from his aged Atum form into his young Khepri form – the new dawning sun. The role of

990-511: The ba and akh and so on. In addition there are descriptions of the land of the dead , its landscape and inhabitants. These include the Sekhet Hotep (Field of offerings or peace), the paths of Rostau and the abode of Osiris. Coffin text 1130 is a speech by the sun god Ra , who says: Hail in peace! I repeat to you the good deeds which my own heart did for me from within the serpent-coil, in order to silence strife ... I made

1045-489: The Dead and Coffin Texts were prepared as guidebooks through the Duat ' s dangerous landscape and to a life as an ꜣḫ for people who had recently died. Emphasized in some of these texts are mounds and caverns, inhabited by gods, demons, or supernatural animals , which threatened the deceased along their journey. The purpose of the books is not to lay out a geography, but to describe a succession of rites of passage which

1100-578: The Fifth Hour. Gods are depicted in the upper row. They also carry the body of a serpent. Hieroglyphs meaning "lifetime" can be seen in the lower register. At the beginning of the lower register are sixteen figures in repetitive sets of four being led by Horus into the afterworld. The four beings correspond to the four ethnicities people were categorized in: Egyptians (Remetu), Asiatics ( Aamu ), Nubians (Nehsey), Libyans (Themehu). These beings are represented because all people are welcome and must make

1155-460: The book from Jean-Francois Champollion to Erik Hornung and Alexander Piankoff, the latter two being the ones to create the designation of hours and divisions, respectively. It was discovered in tombs of the 19th and 20th Dynasties , but the earliest known appearance is in that of Horemheb in the 18th Dynasty , though this version is incomplete. Prior to its appearance in Horemheb's tomb,

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1210-522: The daytime hours. Ra passes Apep being punished again by the Ennead , nine gods who helped Ra along his journey. Once Ra passes through the final gate of the underworld, he is in the waters of Nun, who lifts the boat up. Ra is once again in the form of Kephri. Nun raises the solar barque into the awaiting arms of Nut . One of the most well known scenes in the Book of Gates is in its fourth division section of

1265-459: The dead are shown in the last three hours. The text implies that some people will pass through unharmed, but others will suffer torment in a lake of fire. At the end of Ra's journey through the underworld, he emerges anew to take his place back in the sky. The text was not named by the Egyptians. It was named by French Egyptologist Gaston Maspero who called it 'Livre des Portes' (Book of Gates). Many scholars have studied, deciphered, and translated

1320-484: The dead king, worshiped as a god, was also central to the mythology surrounding the concept of Duat, often depicted as being identical with Ra. Along with the sun god the dead king travelled through the Duat, the Kingdom of Osiris, using the special knowledge he was supposed to possess, which was recorded in the Coffin Texts , that served as a guide to the hereafter not just for the king but for all deceased. According to

1375-528: The dead soul as it makes its way toward judgement. In spite of the many demon-like inhabitants of the Duat , it is not equivalent to the conceptions of Hell in the Abrahamic religions , in which souls are condemned with fiery torment. The absolute punishment for the wicked, in ancient Egyptian thought, was the denial of an afterlife to the deceased, ceasing to exist in the intellectual form ( Ancient Egyptian : ꜣḫ ; Egypt. Pron. : Akh). The grotesque spirits of

1430-653: The dead would have to pass to reach eternal life. Coffin Text The Coffin Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period . They are partially derived from the earlier Pyramid Texts , reserved for royal use only, but contain substantial new material related to everyday desires, indicating a new target audience of common people. Coffin texts are dated back to 2100 BCE. Ordinary Egyptians who could afford

1485-407: The deceased against evil. Hour 6: Once he has been judged, Ra passes through the gateway. There, Ra is rejoined with his ba. In this scene we see mummies with tridents protecting Ra from the serpent Apep as he is reuniting with his ba . As Ra rejoins his ba he breathes life into the mummies that guard him, granting them their resurrection. At the end of the scene Ra is casts his enemies into

1540-459: The deities it will encounter in the Underworld. According to Mohamed Ragheb Dardir, the main difference between the books' purpose is that the Book of Gates acts as a guide about the dangers that the deceased soul will encounter and what must be done to pass through each gate in order to be resurrected. It is believed the books are both often depicted in tombs because on their own, they are not

1595-419: The devourer of souls, as these people were denied existence after death in the Duat. The souls that were lighter than the feather would pass this most important test, and would be allowed to travel toward Aaru , the "Field of Rushes", an ideal version of the world they knew of, in which they would plough, sow, and harvest abundant crops. What is known of the Duat derives principally from funerary texts such as

1650-420: The doorway of the serpent named Winding One, guarding the next door. Hour 3: Just beyond the door, named Piercing of Embers,” are twelve mummies who are protected by a fire-breathing snake at the front and back of the corridor. Ra demands the fire penetrate the dark corridor where it illuminates a Lake of Fire that the mummies are surrounding. The solar barque crosses the lake and the other side, Ra calls for

1705-529: The earliest depictions of the Book decorating the walls of his tomb. The second through sixth hours are on the wall of his burial chamber. This was significant because it broke the traditional use of the Amduat usually displayed on walls of burial chambers prior to Horemheb. In many of the tombs, partial scenes from the Book of Gates are inscribed on the pillared walls, like in Ramesses II ’s tomb. Other kings, like Ramesses VII, only had selections from

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1760-474: The eastern sky, like Osiris in the netherworld . He will go down to the circle of fire, without the flame touching him ever! A few coffins from the Middle Egyptian necropolis of el-Bersheh ( Deir El Bersha ) contain unique graphical representations of the realm of the afterlife, along with spells related to the journey of the deceased through the Duat. This collection, called the Book of Two Ways ,

1815-508: The end of each hour, the deceased soul encounters a ‘gate’ guarded by a serpent deity that they must know the names and characteristics of in order to pass through unharmed. Hour 1: This is Ra's arrival into the underworld and greeted by the “gods of the west” which refers to the Western Horizon. This scene depicts Ra in the scarab god form of Kephri who is surrounded by a snake god for protection on his solar barque. The solar barque

1870-414: The end of the scene, Apep is captured by the gods standing before the solar barque, holding nets. In this hour, is also a reconciliation between Horus and Seth which symbolizes the uniting of Upper and Lower Egypt under the sun god as begins to rise over the lands and bring a new day. Hour 11: Apep is still captured and punished in this scene by Horus’ four sons and Geb. After the destruction of Apep, Ra

1925-599: The flames of the Lake of Fire. Hour 7: Ra passes through the gate guarded by "One Who Seizes with His Eye." In this scene Ra comes before twelve men who carry ma ’at feathers depicting they have been judged to be true and good. These twelve are offered libations for the afterlife. It is also depicted that those that were judged to be evil are tied to jackal-headed stakes of Geb , awaiting their punishment. The scene also shows those that have been judged as true tending to fields of grain with Ra presiding over them. This represents

1980-401: The four winds, that every man might breathe in his time ... I made the great inundation, that the humble might benefit by it like the great ... I made every man like his fellow; and I did not command that they do wrong. It is their hearts which disobey what I have said ... I have created the gods from my sweat, and the people from the tears of my eye. Coffin text 1031

2035-494: The gateway guarded by “Flaming of Face.” The doorway itself is named “Glowing One.” Passed the door Ra comes to an Island of fire and the Waters of Nun which has people floating in it, they will be restored and given breathe when they emerge. The island of fire is depicted for Horus to burn those that he has condemned, those who have done evil against the sun god. Hour 10: Ra progresses through this scene trying to defeat Apep. At

2090-470: The gateway. In the next sequence of the scene Horus is depicted presiding over the men the four ethnicities of man: Egyptian, Asiatics, Nubian, Libyans (sixteen in total). These groups represent how all are welcoming in the afterlife. Horus grants protection of the men and gives them offerings. There is another gateway which leads to the Judgement Hall of Osiris. This is where Osiris weighs the soul of

2145-434: The hours depicted in their tombs. They also appear in the tomb of Sennedjem , a worker in the village of Deir el-Medina , the ancient village of artists and craftsmen who built pharaonic tombs in the New Kingdom , and in the tomb of Tjanefer , a priest of Amun . The Book was less popular to display in tombs of people of non-royal lineage. They tended to depict the Book of the Dead but it wasn't uncommon to find

2200-498: The journey to the afterworld. Nubians are depicted in consistent ways in all three tombs (although they are bare chested both at the tomb of Seti I and the tomb of Merenptah but not at Ramesses III ) but in all three tombs the Nubian figures in this third position are consistently beardless, have jet black skin and have a thick red sash that goes across their chest and also wraps around the waist and dangles down. However, unlike in

2255-405: The manifestation of a bountiful harvest year in the upperworld. Hour 8: The next gate Ra passes is guarded by nine gods just inside the door. The serpent guarding the door is named “Closed of Eye.” Through the door, Ra is greeted with deities holding a long rope from Aken. These rope bearers bring forth the hours of the day. They tie up Aken and give praise to Ra. Hour 9: Ra passes through

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2310-491: The mummies to unwrap themselves and a be given breath and offerings for pulling the solar barque. The accompanying texts states Ra asks for safe passage across the lake of fire for the worthy blessed souls. Once the boat reaches the next gateway, the entire scene is drenched in darkness again. Hour 4: Once through the gate, Ra is bathed in darkness. The bark is pulled along by four gods until it reaches building containing nine shrines that contain nine mummified gods. These are

2365-411: The next world journeying with the sun god, Ra , through the underworld during the hours of the night towards his resurrection. The soul is required to pass through a series of 'gates' at each hour of the journey. Each gate is guarded by a different serpent deity that is associated with a different goddess . It is important that the deceased knows the names of each guardian. Depictions of the judgment of

2420-489: The place where people's souls went after death for judgment, though that was not the full extent of the afterlife. Burial chambers formed touching-points between the mundane world and the Duat . As such, the west bank of the Nile was associated with the dead and funeral barges would mimic the sun god Ra's journey through the sky during the day. The Akh (the conscious part of the soul) could use tombs to travel back and forth from

2475-488: The same position left to right, at Ramesses III, these two figures Asiatic and Libyan, have switched position in comparison to the other tombs. The figures may have been created after a separate artisan had first rendered the hieroglyphs. The only figure at Ramesses III that is in the same position as the figures at Seti I and Merenptah tombs is the Nubian in the third position. The hieroglyph position have no irregularities in type or sequence between each tomb. The first figure at

2530-464: The spells were often abbreviated, giving rise to long and short versions, some of which were later copied in the Book of the Dead . In contrast to the Pyramid Texts which focus on the celestial realm , the coffin texts emphasize the subterranean elements of the afterlife ruled by the deity Osiris , in a place called the Duat . An Osirian afterlife is offered to everyone, and the deceased

2585-468: The sun god, after which they resumed their sleep, waiting for the god's return the following night. The rest of the dead journeyed through the various parts of the Duat to be judged, but not to be unified with the sun god like the dead king. If the deceased was successfully able to pass various demons and challenges, then they would reach the Judgment of the dead . In this ritual, the deceased's first task

2640-539: The tomb of Seti I and the tomb of Merenptah, at the tomb of Ramesses III, a second virtually the same figure is also found in the first position usually occupied by Egyptians. The hieroglyph usually representing Egyptians remains next to this figure in its traditional position. These two figures in the same garb at Ramesses III are similar in appearance to Nubians depicted in the Tomb of Huy and in other Egyptian art but similar figures are not found elsewhere in this tomb although

2695-404: The underworld during the 12 hours of the night. Ra leads the deceased soul through a series of gates to reach his resurrection. The soul must get past each gate deity by knowing their name and attributes. The Book of Gates is a series of one hundred images broken into three registers for each hour depicting the journey. Each image is accompanied by text describing the details of each register. At

2750-406: The underworld were not evil, but rather acted as directed by the gods, to provide the various ordeals that the deceased had to face. The Duat was the region through which the sun god Ra traveled from west to east each night, and it was where he battled Apep , who embodied the primordial chaos which the sun had to defeat in order to rise each morning and bring order back to the earth. It was also

2805-413: The underworld. The gods that make up the crew of the solar barque are different between the Amduat and the Book of Gates. In the Amduat , the solar barque is larger, whereas in Book of Gates, the crew is made up of only Heka and Sia . These are the only two who are in the boat with Ra along the entire journey through the underworld. The hours of the Book of Gates follow Ra's journey across

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2860-420: The use of a balance , which became the pivotal moment of judgment in the later Book of the Dead . The texts address common fears of the living, such as having to do manual labor, with spells to allow the deceased to avoid these unpleasant tasks. They combine ritual actions intended as protection, expressions of aspiration for a blessed existence after death and of the transformations and transmigrations of

2915-410: The ‘gods who follow Osiris, who are in their abodes.’ These gods protect the ba . In front of this shine house are two groups of six goddesses guarding a hill to land, on the left, and one to water, on the right, separated by a giant serpent. The land on the left shows Osiris mummified, behind Osiris are twelve gods guarding pits of fire. The right path over water is the Lake of Life. Hour 5: This

2970-435: Was the first example of an Ancient Egyptian map of the underworld. The Book of Two Ways is a precursor to the New Kingdom books of the underworld as well as the Book of the Dead, in which descriptions of the routes through the afterlife are a persistent theme. The two ways depicted are the land and water routes, separated by a lake of fire, that lead to Rostau and the abode of Osiris. The oldest copy currently known belonged to

3025-399: Was to correctly address each of the forty-two Assessors of Maat by name, while reciting the sins they did not commit during their lifetime. After confirming that they were sinless, the heart of the deceased was weighed by Anubis against the feather of Maat , which represents truth and justice. Any heart that is heavier than the feather failed the test, and was rejected and eaten by Ammit ,

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