The Major Egyptian Books of the Underworld

The Major Egyptian Books of the Underworld

Amduat - The Book of the Secret Chamber

The oldest of the royal funerary books is the Amduat. Amduat literally means "That Which Is In the Afterworld" - is an important Ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom. Like many funerary texts, it was written on the inside of the tomb for reference by the deceased. Unlike other funerary texts, however, it was reserved only for pharaohs or very favored nobility. It tells the story of Re, the sun god, traveling through the underworld, between the time the sun sets in the west and rises again in the east. It is understood that the dead pharaoh is taking this same journey, ultimately to unify with the sun god and become immortal. The underworld is divided into twelve hours of the night, each presenting various allies and enemies for the pharaoh/sun god to encounter. The Amduat names all of these entities, totalling many hundreds of gods and monsters. In fact, a prime purpose of the Amduat to provide the names of these creatures to the spirit of the dead pharaoh, so he can call upon them for aid or use their name to defeat them. The earliest complete version of the Amduat is found in KV34, the tomb of Thutmose III in the Valley of the Kings. Pyramid Texts

The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom, mostly inscriptions on the walls of tombs in pyramids. They depict the Egyptain view of the afterlife, and the ascent into the sky of the divine Pharaoh after death. They were written upwards of five thousand years ago; thus, they are some of the oldest known writings in the world. The Pyramid Texts are also the oldest collection of religious spells known to us from ancient Egypt. This collection forms the basis of much of the later religious theology and literature of ancient Egypt. The passages were eventually separated and categorized, as well as illustrated and eventually evolved into the Book of the Dead, or more properly, The Book of the Coming forth by Day. The oldest of these text come from that Pyramid of Wenis, or more popularly these days, Unas at Saqqara. However, the first Pyramid Text that were actually discovered were from the Pyramid of Pepy I. This collection forms the basis of much of the later religious theology and literature of ancient Egypt. From Unas, the last king of the 5th Dynasty, varying selections of spells were carved in all the royal pyramids of the Old Kingdom, particularly the sarcophagus chamber and antechamber. There were some 227 spells in the Pyramid of Unas, and each subsequent pyramid

provided fresh new additions, though no single pyramid contained the whole collection of spells. The maximum number was 675 utterances from the pyramid of Pepy II. With Teti's pyramid, the text also appeared on the sarcophagus itself, and in the pyramid of Pepy I the inscriptions extend beyond the antechamber. During the rule of Pepy II we begin to find the text in the tombs of queens, and after the Old Kingdom, they even appear on the walls and coffins of officials. Specifically, in the Old Kingdom the text appears in the pyramids of Unas, Tei, Pepy I, Merenre I, Pepy II and Ibi, along with those of queens Wedjebten, Neith and Iput. It is difficult to date the Pyramid Texts. Their origns have aroused much speculation regarding their origin because they emerge, as a fully-fledged collection of mortuary texts, without any precedent in the archaeological record. The fact that the texts are made up of distinct utterances which do not have a strict narrative sequence linking them together has led scholars to believe that many of them were not composed specifically for the purpose of being inscribed in the pyramids but may have had earlier uses. In fact, spells such as Utterances 273-4, called the Cannibal Hymn, and which only appears in the Pyramids of Unas and Teti, refer to aspects of the funerary cult that seem to no longer been in practice at the time the pyramids were built. Early analysts attempted to date the text as early as possible; even from the predynastic period. A very early dating of these texts remains a strong possibility, though today, scholars place the text's origins with the date of the monuments where they reside. In reality, we have very little idea of the date of their initial invention, perhaps other than the antiquated language employed. What might also be called Pyramid Spells, were discovered when Gaston Maspero was working on the pyramid of Teti. He began publishing translations of the text as early as 1882, starting with those of Unas. Kurt Sethe also published pyramid texts in his "Dictionary of the Egyptian Language" in 1899. In 1924, a further translation was rendered by Louis Spleleers in French. Gustave Jequier advanced our knowledge of pyramid text considerably during his investigations in southern Saqqara between 1924 and 1936. He added many spells from the pyramid of Pepy II, and also discovered the versions in the pyramids of Wedjebten, Neith, Iput and Ibi. A systematic investigation of the 6th Dynasty pyramids was initiated by Jean-Philippe Lauerand Jean Sainte-Fare Garnot in 1951. Later, Lauer teamed with Jean Leclant to unearth an additional 700 spell fragments from the tomb of Teti and

over 2,000 more from that of Pepy I. In 1952, Samuel A. B. Mercer delivered a full English translation of the text then known, but that has since been superseded by a translation of Raymond O. Faulkner. In addition, the extensive commentaries and translations of Sethe were published after his death, appearing between 1935 and 1962. The Pyramid Text differ considerably in length, and were not illustrated. Individual spells are not titled, with the sole exception of spell 355, the "Opening the Double Door of the Sky". The individual signs are outlined in green, hopeful for the regeneration of the deceased. Each column begins with a notation 'words to be spoken', though in the tomb of Unas this only appears at the beginning of the composition. The spells are separated by a hieroglyph for house, in all the pyramids with the exception Unas, where they are marked by a horizontal line. All together, Sethe found 714 spells, while Faulkner increased the number to 759, though with some duplicates. We call these spells, 'utterances', because we believe they were meant to be spoken by priests in the course of the royal mortuary rituals. They are usually numbered by their position within the pyramid, progressing from the burial chamber outward. We are not really sure in which order the spells are to be read. Sethe started with the north wall of the sarcophagus chamber, but other scholars such as Siegfried Schott and Alexandre Piankoff thought they began at the entrance to the antechamber. There seems no correlation with the text and the four coordinal points. In fact, considerable debate exists as to their actual use and the associated rituals, though there seems to be no question of their ritualistic content. It has been assumed that they were selected from a larger collection of spells for very specific reasons and arranged according to a distinctive point of view The language, while Old Egyptian, does seem antiquated, displaying differences from other text of the period, including highly redundant language. It is the earliest use of what is referred to as retrograde writing, where the normal sequence of columns is reversed. There is an avoidance of complete figures of animals and people, believed due to the fear that such signs might come to life and pose a danger. The main theme in the Pyramid Texts is the king's resurrection and ascension to the Afterworld and this is described in many different ways. In some of the texts, the king boards the sun-boat of Re and passes through different regions in the sky, encountering many gods. In other texts, the king reaches the sky by

flying up as a bird, such as a falcon or a goose. At other times the king climbs up the ladder of the sky. What all these texts have in common is an emphasis on the eternal existence of the king and the location of the sky as the realm of the Afterlife, which is dominated by the sun-god Re. The night sky is also described, particularly the imperishable stars. Generally, the text is supposed to provide services to the deceased king in his ascent into the sky and with his reception in the world of the divine. Every possible means is given for this assistance, including a ladder or ramp leading to the sky, clouds, storms hail, incense and sunlight. The god, Shu, who holds up the sky is there for his assistance, while the text communicates knowledge to the pharaoh of the customs and places in the hereafter. It also warns him of dangers. There are dialogues with gatekeepers and ferryman where the king is given the specific knowledge that he will need in order to name the correct names and answer all the questions needed to prove his legitimacy and make his way though the afterlife. Many of the locations remain unclear to us, but the Field of Reeds, the Field of Offerings, the Lake of the Jackal and the Winding Waterway are clearly important. The waterways of the heavens are navigated by boat, so the king is dependent on the efforts of his ferryman. Though the afterworld is celestial in nature, it does not seem to be all that desirable of a place to stay. Not even Re is happy here, only seemingly able to bear out the time before sunrise when he could be freed. The king arrives in this realm violently, and then is repeatedly identified with the creator god Atum. There are many references to various problems such as repelling the attacks of various supernatural beings and we find, for example in spell 244, the "smashing of the red pots" specifically intended to annihilate one's enemies. But more mundane topics are also approached. On earth, the king had needed a boat to travel throughout Egypt along the Nile; in the next world, he would need a boat as well. Some of the prayers call for food and provisions; some assert that the king will not lose the power of his limbs, that he will still move, breathe, eat, and copulate in the next world. We find an expressed plea for the king to overcome death by entering the eternal course of the cosmos together with the sun god in his solar barque, but we also find the king with a strong, general association with Osiris. Here, we find the earliest known reference to Osiris as the ruler of the underworld. In spell number 239 this relationship is especially evident, and we find considerable reference to the Osiris legend. Almost all of the myth's elements may be found within this text. Osiris' son, Horus, along with Osiris' two sisters,

Isis and Nephthys, search for the murdered god (Osiris). Horus finds his father and revives him. It also provides a version of the contention of Horus and Seth. A number of specifically ritualistic text stand out, such as the 'Opening of the Mouth' ceremony, which to the best of our knowledge is here presented for the first time. There are also offering and statue rituals. The Book of the Dead Book of the Dead is the common name for ancient Egyptian funerary texts known as The Book of Coming or Going Forth By Day. The name "Book of the Dead" was the invention of the German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, who published a selection of some texts in 1842. The Books were text initially carved on the exterior of the deceased person's sarcophagus, but was later written on papyrus now known as scrolls and buried inside the sarcophagus with the deceased, presumably so that it would be both portable and close at hand. Other texts often accompanied the primary texts including the hypocephalus (meaning 'under the head') which was a primer version of the full text. Books of the Dead constituted as a collection of spells, charms, passwords, numbers and magical formulas for the use of the deceased in the afterlife. This described many of the basic tenets of Egyptian mythology. They were intended to guide the dead through the various trials that they would encounter before reaching the underworld. Knowledge of the appropriate spells was considered essential to achieving happiness after death. Spells or enchantments vary in distinctive ways between the texts of differing "mummies" or sarcophagi, depending on the prominence and other class factors of the deceased. Books of the Dead were usually illustrated with pictures showing the tests to which the deceased would be subjected. The most important was the weighing of the heart of the dead person against Ma'at, or Truth (carried out by Anubis). The heart of the dead was weighed against a feather, and if the heart was not weighed down with sin (if it was lighter than the feather) he was allowed to go on. The god Thoth would record the results and the monster Ammit would wait nearby to eat the heart should it prove unworthy. The earliest known versions date from the 16th century BC during the 18th Dynasty (ca. 1580 BC 1350 BC). It partly incorporated two previous

collections of Egyptian religious literature, known as the Coffin Texts (ca. 2000 BC) and the Pyramid Texts (ca. 2600 BC-2300 BC), both of which were eventually superseded by the Book of the Dead. The text was often individualized for the deceased person - so no two copies contain the same text - however, "book" versions are generally categorized into four main divisions - the Heliopolitan version, which was edited by the priests of the college of Annu (used from the 5th to the 11th dynasty and on walls of tombs until about 200); the Theban version, which contained hieroglyphics only (20th to the 28th dynasty); a hieroglyphic and hieratic character version, closely related to the Theban version, which had no fixed order of chapters (used mainly in the 20th dynasty); and the Saite version which has strict order (used after the 26th dynasty). It is notable, that the Book of the Dead for Scribe Ani, the Papyrus of Ani, was originally 78 Ft, and was separated into 37 sheets at appropriate chapter and topical divisions.

Papyrus of Ani This is a beautiful color version of the Papyrus of Ani, one of the books of the dead which were often buried with the dead person who could afford to have one written, to ease his/her way into eternal life. Above is a picture from the book. Ani (man with his wife bowing to the gods), while Anubis weighs his heart against Maat's feather of truth, and Thoth records the event, and Ammit the devourer waits patiently. There are several books by E. W. Budge about this

papyrus. But Faulkner's version is better and more beautiful. And, considering the page after page of beautiful color pictures, this paperback version is amazingly inexpensive. You may find yourself just sitting and marveling at it for hours and hours, maybe years and years. Book of the Dead - Wallace Budge

Archaeologists found this papyrus in the burial of Nany (NAH-nee), a woman in her seventies. She was a chantress (ritual singer) of the god Amun-Re and is referred to as "king's daughter" (probably meaning she was daughter of the high priest of Amun and titular king, Pinodjem I). As was customary during the Third Intermediate Period, her coffin and boxes of shawabtis (figures of substitute workers for the afterlife) were accompanied by a hollow wooden Osiris figure, which contained a papyrus scroll inscribed with a collection of texts that Egyptologists call the Book of the Dead. The ancient name was the Book of Coming Forth by Day. It is more than seventeen feet long when unrolled. The hieroglyphic inscriptions were written by a scribe, and the illustrations were drawn and painted by an artist. The scene depicted here shows the climax of the journey to the afterlife. Nany is in the Hall of Judgment. Holding her mouth and eyes in her hand, she stands

to the left of a large scale. Her heart is being weighed against Maat, the goddess of justice and truth, who is represented as a tiny figure wearing her symbol, a single large feather, in her headband. On the right, Osiris, god of the underworld and rebirth, presides over the scene. He is identified by his tall crown with a knob at the top, by his long curving beard, his crook, and by his body, which appears to be wrapped like a mummy except for his hands. At his back hangs a menat as counterweight for his collar. In front of him is an offering of a joint of beef. Jackal-headed Anubis, overseer of mummification, adjusts the scales, while a baboon--symbolizing Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing - sits on the balance beam and prepares to write down the result. Behind Nany stands the goddess Isis, both wife and sister of Osiris. She is identified by the hieroglyph above her head. Nany has been questioned by the tribunal of forty-two gods about her behavior in life. She has had to answer negatively to every question asked in this examination, often called the negative confession. In this scene Nany has been found truthful and therefore worthy of entering the afterlife. Her heart is not heavier than the image of the goddess of Truth. Anubis says to Osiris, "Her heart is an accurate witness," and Osiris replies, "Give her her eyes and her mouth, since her heart is an accurate witness."In the horizontal register above the judgment scene, Nany appears in three episodes: worshiping the divine palette with which all is written, praising a statue of Horus, and standing by her own tomb. Nany had a second papyrus roll with texts entitled What Is in the Underworld (Amduat) wrapped into her mummy in the area across her knees. The Book of the Dead, the ceremonies, rituals and magic were all done in the hopes that one could reach the Land of the West and a happy afterlife, filled with good things. To live forever with the gods. To, once more, come forth by day as a living man would awaken with the sun. The Coffin Text - The Book of Two Ways

The Coffin Text, which basically superseded the Pyramid Text as magical funerary spells at the end of the Old Kingdom, are principally a Middle Kingdom phenomenon, though we may begin to find examples as early as the late Old Kingdom. In effect, they democratized the afterlife, eliminating the royal exclusivity of the Pyramid Text. If the dating of examples in the Dakhla Oasis at the Balat necropolis is correct (Old Kingdom), these would be the oldest known coffin texts, though we can be certain of the text found in the First Intermediate Period pyramid of Ibi (8th Dynasty) at South Saqqara. While examples of the text have been discovered from the Delta south to Aswan, our major sources of the text are found in the later necropolises, especially of regional governors (nomarchs), of the 12th Dynasty, particularly at Asyut, Beni Hasan, Deir el-Bersha, el-Lisht and Meir. The necropolis which probably yielded the largest number of coffin text spells was Deir el-Bersha, the necropolis of the ancient city of Hermopolis. By the end of Egypt's Middle Kingdom, the coffin texts were refined into the corpus of the Book of the Dead (Book of Coming Forth by Day), though we may continue to find the spells in burial chambers of the New Kingdom, Third Intermediate Period and early Late Period. Spells 151, 607 and 625 were particularly popular during these later times. Mostly, as the modern name of this collection of spells implies, the text was found on Middle Kingdom coffins of officials and their subordinates. However,

we may also find the spells inscribed on tomb walls, stelae, canopic chests, papyri and even mummy masks. The earliest known research on the coffin text was done by C. R. Lepsius, who in 1867, published the first copies from coffins that had been removed to Berlin. Afterwards, there were several publications made of the text from individual coffins, but between 1904 and 1906, Pierre Lacau published many of the Middle Kingdom coffins as part of the Cairo Museum's Catalogue generale. Based on this work, he set out individual spells of the coffin text in a series of articles entitled, "Texts religieux" in a publication called Receuil de travaux between 1904 and 1915. Early on, one part of the coffin text known as the Book of the Two Ways, received special attention. Found on the floor of the coffin of Sen, Hans Schack-Schackenburg published this text in 1903 and in 1926, Kees detailed it in a publication. Using Lacau's work from the Textes religieux, James Henry Breated (1912) and Hermann Kees (1926) both made early evaluations of the coffin text, but the first (relatively) complete publication of the coffin texts was supplied by Adriaan de Buck in seven volumes that were produced between 1935 and 1961. This work was based on the earlier research done by James Henry Breasted and Alan H. Gardiner just after World War I. Though new spells have been added since then, most present day divisions of the spells relies on de Buck's work. Adriaan de Buck's work was used by Louis Speleers, who translated de Buck's first two volumes into French in 1947, and between 1973 and 1978, Raymond O. Faulkner produced the first complete translation into English. He used de Buck's order of spells, while a later translation in French by Paul Barguet produced in 1986, divided them into thematic groups. Today we face many of the same problems in dealing with the coffin text that de Buck faced, which mostly concerns their order. He had no established chronological order and the beginnings or ending of the text were not consistent from one source to the next. Furthermore, the text could be written on all six surfaces in the interior of the coffin, and their progression within any given coffin could vary. Though many are unique to individual coffins, de Buck divided the coffin text into 1,185 spells, with some being assigned to larger compositions such as the Book of the Two Ways. These spells, which always refer to the deceased in the first person singular, attempt to imitate the language of the Old Kingdom,

though they are actually produced in the classical language of Middle Egypt. They are inscribed using hieroglyphs, or occasionally early hieratic. Unlike the Pyramid text, they are almost always titled, though at times the title may come at the end of the text. Usually written in vertical columns, the columns are sometimes split in order to save space. Red ink is utilized for emphasis and as divisions between the spells. However, some important spells are completely written using a red pigment. For the first time in funerary literature, the coffin text use graphic depictions, though very infrequently. In both the Book of the Two Ways and in spell 464 known as the Field of Offerings, we find detailed plans. At other times (spells 81 and 100) there are textual descriptions of figures that were meant to strengthen the magical results of the text. Yet the ancient Egyptians were cautious of graphic depictions. One holdover from the Pyramid Texts that we find at least in the early Coffin Text is the mutilation of most of the hieroglyphic signs representing animate objects. Sometimes the glyphs are actually carved as two separate pieces divided by a blank space. At other times, snakes, other animals and various other creatures are inscribed with knives in their backs. This was all intended to ensure that the intact figure would not be able to somehow threaten the deceased person interred nearby. Within the coffin text, the composition that today we refer to as the Book of the Two Ways is the most comprehensive. Usually placed on the inside bottom of coffins examined at Deir el-Bersha, various Egyptologists have divided it into four, or nine sections which can consist of a long version (spells 1,029 through 1,130) or a short version consisting of spells 1,131 through 1,185 but which also includes spells 513 and 577. While the coffin text were available as a tool for the afterlife to all Egyptians, the spells were primarily employed by the local governors and their families of Middle Egypt. The content of the coffin text spells basically continued the tradition of the Pyramid Text, though the afterlife is better defined, and its dangers are portrayed more dramatically. They were intended to aid the deceased during his afterlife. The spells providing protection against supernatural beings and other dangers and helped assure the deceased admission into the cyclical course of the sun, and thus, eternal life. Other spells, such as number 472, were used to activate ushabti figures so that they could perform various labor related duties for the deceased during the afterlife.

However, we also find interesting new components not found within the older Pyramid Text. Now, we find spells (268-295), meant to allow the deceased king ascent to the sky in the form of a bird, but which may also be used to transform the deceased into anyone of a number of different deities. For example, spell 290 reads: "into every god into which one might desire to transform". However, with other spells the deceased could become fire, air, grain, a child or perhaps even a crocodile. This may explain why, during the Middle Kingdom, the scarab beetle, representing transformation, was one of the most popular amulets. Other newly created spells also allowed the deceased to be reunited with his loved ones and family during the afterlife. Significantly, for the first time we also find within the coffin texts spells to deal with Apophis, a huge serpent who had to be combated as the enemy of the sun. Apophis would continue to play a major role in the refined funerary books of Egypt's New Kingdom. In the coffin text, we now find that all of the deceased must be subjected to the "Judgement of the Dead", based on the actions during his or life, rather than on a person by person indictment. Many of the coffin text spells play on the concepts of creation, so we find the deceased portrayed as a primeval god and creator and once series of spells references the creator god and his children, Shu and Tefnut, who were given the responsibility of creation. At other times the deceased takes on the form of Osiris, or that gods helper, while he may also be portrayed as his devoted son, Horus, who rushes to his fathers aid as in spell 312. One reason that the composition within the coffin text known as the Book of the Two Ways, perhaps originally composed at Hermopolis, has received so much attention is that, for the first time, it describes a cosmography. It was perhaps originally titled, the "Guide to the Ways of Rosetau" and the ancient Egyptians believed the composition was discovered "under the flanks of Thoth". Rosetau is a term regularly translated by Egyptologists as the Underworld or Netherworld, which would be misleading in this case. Here, the journey is made through the sky. It takes the deceased on a journey to the Kingdom of Osiris on a route with the sun god, first from east to west along a waterway through the inner sky and then back again from west to east by land through the outer sky (the two ways). Between the two ways was a Lake of Flames, where the ambivalent fire could consume (the damned) but also serve the purpose of regeneration (to those blessed followers of the sun god, Re).

Though not nearly as elaborate as later New Kingdom books of the netherworld, it was meant to depart to the deceased the necessary knowledge needed to navigate their way to the afterlife while avoiding the many dangers of their journey. While this guide was not as systematic as, for example, the later Book of Gates, it nevertheless provided warnings and a schematic plan making it the first real guide to the afterlife. Unlike the later funerary books, the Book of the Two Ways does not begin with the sunset, but rather with the sunrise in the eastern sky. Hence, the journey takes place in the sky rather than the underworld. The deceased is faced with many obstacles, such as the threatening guardians at the very gates of the hereafter that must be dealt with before the entering. Other dangers include the "fiery court", which is the circle of fire about the sun. At other times, total darkness followed by walls of flame seem to continuously block the deceased path. In fact, within the very middle of this composition we find a region known a Rosetau, which is "at the boundary of the sky". According to spell 1,080, it is here that the corpse of Osiris resides and the region is locked in complete darkness, as well as surrounded by fire. If the deceased can reach this region and gaze upon Osiris, he cannot die. Consistently there are regions that the deceased wishes to reach, but must overcome dangers to do so. Another of these is the Field of Offerings (peace, or Hetep), a paradise of abundance, but again the path is full of obstacles. By the end of the book, the deceased encounters confusing paths that cross each other, many leading nowhere. An important concept found within the Book of the Two Ways (spells 1,100 through 1,110) is that of seven gates, each with three guardians. Though primitive, this is obviously an early text that would later evolve into the New Kingdom Books of the Netherworld such as the Amduat. At these boundaries, the deceased must display his knowledge to the guardians in order to establish their legitimacy to proceed in the afterlife. By the center of the last section of this text, we find three boats, all of which may perhaps be intended as the solar barque, from which the serpent Apophis must be repelled. http://touregypt.net/featurestories/coffintext.htm

Book of Caverns

Final Section This books gives us a vision of the underworld as a series of six pits, or caverns over which the sun god passes. Most of the underworld is illustrated, while the text primarily praises Osiris. It stresses the destruction of the enemies of the sun god, and references afterlife rewards and punishments. The dead King, in order to complete his journey through the underworld, must know the secret names of the serpents and be able to identify his guardian deities. We only know of a nearly complete version in the tomb of Ramesses VI, though it appears in the upper parts of others. The Book of Caverns appears to have originated in the Ramessid Period (the 20th Dynasty). As an underworld book, it seems almost to emphasize that previous text had been too soft on those deceased who fail their judgment in the afterlife, while at the same time focusing also on the rewards of those who do. It is, in fact, one of our best sources on the ancient Egyptian concept of Hell. The Osireion, a well known cenotaph of Seti I located at Abydos, along with his mortuary temple, has the first known version of The Book of Caverns that is nearly complete (having its upper register damaged. It is found directly across

from the rendering of the Book of Gates within the entry corridor on the left wall. Hence, it appears to be a relatively late funerary text of the New Kingdom, not showing up at all until the 19th Dynasty, and not making it into the tombs within the Valley of the Kings until the following reigns. A deviated version of the final depictions are given a dominant position in the decorative theme of the sarcophagus chamber in the tombs of Merneptah (KV8), Tausert (KV14) and Ramesses III (KV11), so versions of this book may have also been inscribed on earlier gilded shrines around the sarcophagi. Unfortunately, these earlier shrines are lost to us, so that possibility may never be known. In the third corridor of the tomb of Ramesses IV (KV2) in the Valley of the Kings, Ramesses IV employed the earliest versions of the first and second sections of The Book of Caverns, rather than the traditional Amduat passages, and then repeats these passages twice more in the room behind his sarcophagus chamber. By the reign of Ramesses VI (KV9), we find an almost complete version of the book, here as in the Osireion, opposite the Book of Gates in the front half of the tomb, though due to the limited wall space, some passages had to be continued on pillars and in the upper pillared hall as well. While in the tomb of Ramesses VII (KV1), we find a similar arrangement to that of Ramesses VI on the right wall, here only the first corridor is decorated, with a small excerpt from The Book of Caverns second section. Later though, in the Tomb of Ramesses IX (KV6), there were selections from the first four sections on the right wall of the first and second corridors. However, in the sarcophagus chamber we also find parts of the two remaining sections of the book. Jean Francois Champollion apparently first described the version of the book in the tomb of Ramesses VI, and even provided some translations in his thirteenth letter he sent from Egypt. However, no scholars seemed particularly interested in the book until a century later when a second complete version was discovered in the Osireion. Henri Frankfort tried to compose the first translation of that text, assisted by Adriaan de Buck in 1933. However, it was not until the period between 1941 and 1646 that Alexandre Piankoff executed an edition of the text based on several versions which he translated into French. He also translated the text from the tomb of Ramesses VI into English in 1954. Not until 1972 was a version translated into German by Erik Hornung, and a synoptic edition of the text has never been published. The name we give this text, The Book of Gates, is a modern invention based on the netherworld being divided into "caves" or actually "caverns" from the Egyptian "qerert", for no original title has ever been discovered. However, it should be noted that Piankoff translated qerert to mean "envelope" or "cocoon".

Unlike the Amduat and the Book of Gates, this book is not divided up into regions of the night, though an attempt is made to follow the general divisions divided up between three registers. However, these registers often had to be staggered due to space limitations. In all, every version divides the two initial sections into five registers. We also end up with problems in the version of the book in the tombs of Ramesses VI and Ramesses IX, for apparently the initial design of these versions was meant for a left hand wall, but transposed on the right hand wall. The Book of Caverns is divided into two halves by two large depictions of the ram headed sun god, and each half is further divided into three parts. Hence there are a total of six sections. The text of the first two sections of the book are separated from the representations, with the text placed after the representations, though this order is reversed in the version found in the tomb of Ramesses VII. Here, the sun god invokes the individual beings or groups of gods depicted in the representations within a long monologue. The remaining sections combine representations and captions, as well as a descriptive formula of the earlier books. Each section within the second half of The Book of Caverns is preceded by several litanies, with section five having a total of thirteen.

Like the Book of Gates, the Book of Caverns, with the exception of the final representation, divides the text into registers with further pictures. It should also be noted that it is more literary then previous funerary books of the New Kingdom, having a higher percentage of text to pictures. In section five, the depictions are of Nut and Osiris, with the image of Nut alluding to the theme of the Books of the Sky, which describes the nightly journey of the sun through the body of Nut.

The solar bargue is only found within the final representations. In sections three through six in which the damned and their punishment (occupying the lower registers) are not depicted, the individual scenes have a sun disk. The beings who are portrayed in the various caverns are often enclosed in ovals, while there are sarcophagi that enclose the bodies of gods and goddesses. In the single example found in the tomb of Ramesses VI, some two hundred remarks were added referring to the king. The obvious theme of this book, like other such text, is the sun god's nightly passage through the netherworld. Interestingly, the distinction between Osiris and Re are clouded, and both actually seem to be viewed as attributes of a sole deity. A principle motif of the book is established primarily in section three. Here, Osiris, who is more prominent then in most prior funerary text, is encountered by Re as a corpse in his "coffer". In section four the god begins to regenerate. Less prominent is the battle with Apophis found in the Amduat and the Book of Gates. At the very beginning of the book, two vertical strips depict the solar disk and Re as a ram headed sun god. This is "Re who is in the sky", and his mission is to enter the primeval darkness in order to defend and and provide care to Osiris. Afterwards, depictions of section one are divided into five registers. The separate text is a monologue of Re directing various groups of entities. Here, the three snakes of the Duat's first cavern guard the cavern entrance. Re faces Osiris with his hand extended to him in the third register. We see Osiris within his shrine, protectively surrounded by a serpent, as are his followers inside their sarcophagi. In the bottom register, Osiris' enemies are shown beheaded though still guarded by another three serpents. They are to be punished in the "Place of Annihilation", an ancient Egyptian concept of Hell, as Re condemns them to nonexistence. In section two, Re must reach the various gods and goddesses in their sarcophagi who are guarded by several serpents. He meets various forms of Osiris in the second register and beseeches them to "open their arms to me...receive me". In the third register, Re encounters Osiris in his coffer, which sits aside the ram and jackal headed posts of the sun god found also in the Book of Gates. Other forms of Osiris are encountered in the fourth register, while in the lowest register, we again find Osiris' enemies who are bound and beheaded. Some of these figures are depicted hanging head first with their hearts torn out. Once again, Re condemns them to nonexistence, sending them to the Place of Annihilation where their punishment is carried out by guards with knives. Now, Osiris is told by Re that he will enter the "cavern where Aker is".

Hence, in the third section, Re enters the cavern that contains Aker and finds the ithyphallic body of Osiris lying beneath Aker, an earth god. Here, in the first register, Osiris is depicted as the dead king in his sarcophagus, which is guarded by several serpents. After that scene we find depicted several figures with the heads of catfish. They are the helpers of Aker who we will encounter again, and represent the deepest and darkest regions of earth and water. In addition, Re also finds other manifestations of himself within sarcophagi, while the end of the register is filled with divine sarcophagi "in the cavern of OsirisKhentamentiu". In the middle register of the third section, we initially encounter Re once again in his manifestation as the Eldest One, who leans on a staff. He addresses four forms of Osiris as the "lords of the Duat". The center scene in this register depicts Aker as a double sphinx surrounded by the gods of the Ennead. The next scene seems to stress the unity of Re and Osiris, with the corpse of Osiris in his sarcophagus, along with a Ram's head, and the eye of Re in sarcophagi. Surrounding all of this is a ouroboros. Next, Osiris is once again shown surmounting a serpent as "the one who has become two". In the lower register of section three, we once again encounter those who are in hell. In this case, the "enemies" are all upside down and some have been decapitated. Here, in the first two groups who are pleading for mercy, we find for the first time, female enemies. Now the wicked are in the primeval darkness of the Place of Annihilation, and by the end of the register, even their ba (souls) are upside down, and thus being punished. Interestingly, the ithyphallic corpse of Osiris is also here among the enemies, but the sun disk sits above him, and he is protected by a serpent. The second half of the Book of Caverns begins with section four. Initially we find an erect serpent named Great One on His Belly, with the solar disk and the ram headed sun god to either side. Here, the opening text in vertical columns consists of three litanies praising the sun god, praising his beauty as he illuminates the region of darkness. Re faces Osiris and his followers and makes a number of promises. In the upper register, we first encounter Isis and Nephthys who lift the body of Osiris so that he may be resurrected. This is followed by a scene depicting Osiris being cared for by his two "sons", Anubis and Horus and following this, Osiris is portrayed as the Bull of the West, accompanies by Horus-Mekhentienirty, a mongoose (ichneumon) who is his son. The second register of section four begins with Re, one more leaning on a staff, facing the three forms of Osiris. This is followed by a scene depicting Horus

and Anubis protecting the double corpse of Osiris, and another scene where they stand in a pose symbolic of protecting Osiris and his ba. In the lower register, we once again encounter the enemies in hell, who are found and standing on their heads, which this time have not been cut off. However, between them are the "annihilators in the Place of Annihilation,". In this initial scene, the punishing demon is Miuti, the "cat-formed one, from whose clutches there is no escape". We are told that there bodies have been robbed of their souls, and that they can neither see nor hear Re. At the beginning of the fifth section of the Book of Caverns, Tatenen, the litanies reveal a little known but important deity as both an earth god and the father of the gods, who rejuvenates the sun. The initial depictions portrays Nut, the goddess of the sky, who lifts the ram headed sun god and the solar disk on her upraised palms. She faces the three registers and is surrounded by motifs representing the course of the sun, including on one side a scarab pushing the solar disk, then a ram, a disk, a ram headed deity and a child, while on the other side, a series of crocodiles pushes a ram's head, a scarab, an utchat eye and a disk. There is also human headed, bearded serpents that rear up on either side of Nut. Her arms are stretched towards the heavens in order to receive the solar child. Here, Nut is called the Mysterious One and "she with the mysterious form." The upper register of section five begins with Osiris, whose hands are extended out to Re, along with four human headed serpents. In the next scene, we encounter a representation of Tatenen, who is propped up by the corpses of Atum and Khepri. Next, we find two sarcophagi, one of which encases the two manifestations of Re as a child. In the middle register, initially we find represented the four falcon headed mummies who are forms of Horus, which is followed by Anubis in his role as guardian and a coffin containing the scepter of Atum, which embodies the creative power of the sun god, and therefore "created the netherworld and brought forth the realm of the dead". At the end of this register, we find four unknown goddesses in sarcophagi. The bottom register of this section opens once again with the ancient Egyptian concept of Hell, where a female deity who carries two stakes in her hand is about to punish two bound prisoners who kneel before her. In the following two scenes the enemies are being punished in large cauldrons. We see in the first cauldron their heads and hearts (which the ancient Egyptians thought of more as the mind), and in the second we find the decapitated, bound, upside down

enemies themselves. A uraei fans the flames beneath the cauldrons, which are being held above the fire by the "arms of the Place of Annihilation. The three registers of section five are interrupted by an image of Osiris, once again depicted in his ithyphallic guise, together with his ba that is symbolized by a bird atop his head. He is guarded by a protective serpent. As the registers continue, we first find an oval containing the four "flesh" hieroglyphs which refer to the corpse of Osiris. His corpse is now cared for by the light and voice of Re. Below this, the goddess Tayt greets the sun god and Osiris, which is followed by a scene depicting the head of Re in its ram manifestation being adored by Osiris and Horus. Another cauldron, in the lower register, contains the flesh, the souls and the shadows of the enemies of Re and Osiris. Once again, the arms of the Place of Annihilation hold the cauldron which is being heated by two goddesses. It should be noted that the shadow held important connotations to the ancient Egyptians. It was considered to be a major component of an individual, as well as a separate mode of existence. We find the mention of shadows mostly in funerary text such as this, with early references appearing in the Coffin Text of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom. Between section five and six, the final part of the Book of Caverns, there is a long text consisting of thirteen litanies which refer to the prior section (five). Here, Re addresses all the entities, including his enemies, portrayed in the section five. The sun god gazes upon his own corpse with the intent of effecting the resurrection of Osiris-Imenrenef, who is "he whose name is hidden". The first scene in the upper register of part six depicts the funerary god, Anubis, caring for corpses ("the bodies which are in the earth") in their sarcophagi, which is followed by a second scene where Anubis tends to the sun god, who in his sarcophagus, is depicted as a ram with a falcon head. In the third scene, the sun god, in several manifestations is now being watched over by two goddesses, each of whom stand on the symbols for flesh. Here, he is presented with a ram's head, as a scarab and in his role as "he of the netherworld". In the final scenes of this register, Osiris-Orion leans over a mound containing a fettered and decapitated figure, followed by a god who prays before a falcon. Osiris is shown protecting Horus, his son, as well as the sun god who is within Horus. In the middle register, initially we find a scene portraying a scarab beetle pushing the sun disk before it out from "between the two mysterious caverns of the West" (the mountains of sunrise). This cavern contains both Osiris and Re,

who are met by four standing gods. Here, text addresses the rebirth of the god, which is heralded by the scarab. Yet, even now there remains a final threat, depicted as the great serpent encircling the solar beetle. This obstacle is overcome by the "two old and great gods in the Duat", who cut the serpent into pieces and place a spell upon it. While this serpent seems malicious, another represented in the third scene appears to regenerates Re, who emerges from the mound in a ram head manifestation, to sit upon the tomb of Tatenen. In a fourth scene, two sarcophagi holding falcon headed gods are encountered by Re, while in the next scene, he meets several gods who are headless. Re restores their head with his creative power. The motif of the lowest register, consistently followed throughout the Book of Caverns, is once again present in this final part of the sixth section. Again, we find scenes of punishment in the place of Annihilation, where at first, goddesses wielding knives torture supine, beheaded figures with their heads set at their feet and who's hearts have been torn from their bodies. The accompanying text also explains that the soul and shadows of these enemies have also been punished. In the second scene, we encounter four bound female enemies who are guarded by two jackal headed goddesses. Re has condemned these enemies, once again, to the "Place of Annihilation, from which there is no escape". Next, four more headless, kneeling and bound enemies are guarded by a god and goddess, and finally in the last scene, the enemies are thrown head first into the depths of the Place of Annihilation, while Osiris rises out of the abyss. A final representation after the sixth section of the Book of Caverns shows Re emerging from the "two mounds", which are each protected by a god. We also find the solar barque, towed out of the netherworld by twelve gods, while seven more rejoice to either side. While the boat is not yet completely revealed, we do see the ba, the scarab and the ram headed morning form of the sun god, and in front of the barque, we see a ram headed scarab beetle, along with the sun as a child. A symbolic representation of the route through the netherworld, consisting of two triangles, is sown leading to a large representation of the sun disk. The triangles each are half black (the netherworld) and half blue, representing water. In the end, we finally witness Re at the end of his nightly journey, entering the eastern mountains from where he will rise once more to provide light for the living world. Book of Gates

The Book of Gates is the principal guidebook to the netherworld found in 19th and part of the 20th Dynasty tombs of the New Kingdom, though it makes its first appearance to us with the last king of the 18th Dynasty. It was meant to allow the dead pharaoh to navigate his way along the netherworld route together with the sun god, so that his resurrection could be affected. It emphasizes gates with guardian deities who's names must be known in order to pass them. This is actually a very old tradition dating to at least the Book of the Two Ways in the Coffin Texts, where there are seven gates with three keepers at each. The Book of Gates narrates the passage of a newly deceased soul into the next world, corresponding to the journey of the sun though the underworld during the hours of the night. We first know of the 'Book of Gates' in the late 18th Dynasty, but passages from the book appear in the burial chambers and first pillared halls of most

tombs thereafter. Like the Amduat, but somewhat of a more sophisticated text, this book references the hours of the night, but referred to as the 12 gates and emphasis is placed on the gates as barriers. It deals with the problems of the underworld, such as Apophis, justice, material blessings and time. The infinity of time was symbolized by an apparently endless snake or doubly twisted rope being spun from the mouth of a deity. Time is thought of as originating in the depths of creation, and eventually falling back into the same depths. The most complete texts we find in tombs appears on the tomb of Ramesses VI and on the sarcophagus of Seti I. The soul is required to pass though a series of 'gates' at different stages in the journey. Each gate is associated with a different goddess, and requires that the deceased recognise the particular character of that deity. The text implies that some people will pass through unharmed, but that others will suffer torment in a lake of fire. The goddesses each have different titles, and wear different colored clothes, but are identical in all other respects, wearing a five pointed star above their heads. Most of the goddesses are specific to the Book of Gates, and do not appear elsewhere in Egyptian mythology, and so it has been suggested that the Book of Gates originated merely as a system for determining the time at night, with the goddess at each gate being a representation of the main star appearing during the hour. Book of The Heavens The Book of Gates is the principal guidebook to the netherworld found in 19th and part of the 20th Dynasty tombs of the New Kingdom, though it makes its first appearance to us with the last king of the 18th Dynasty. It was meant to allow the dead pharaoh to navigate his way along the netherworld route together with the sun god, so that his resurrection could be affected. It emphasizes gates with guardian deities who's names must be known in order to pass them. This is actually a very old tradition dating to at least the Book of the Two Ways in the Coffin Texts, where there are seven gates with three keepers at each. Sources of the Book of Gates

We are not sure exactly when the Egyptian afterlife text known as the Book of Gates was composed. While some authorities, such as Hartwig Altenmuller, believe that, because of its similarity to the Amduat, it sprang from a time prior to Egypt's New Kingdom, others think it may better be attributable to the Amarna period. Irregardless, the first example Egyptologists are aware of is that incomplete version in the tomb of the last pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty, Haremhab, who had the text placed in the sarcophagus chamber where, until then, the Amduat had been customary. The founders of the 19th Dynasty also employed the Book of Gates. Ramesses I included it alone in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Ancient Thebes (Modern Luxor), while his successor, Seti I', decorated the sarcophagus chamber of his tomb with the Amduat, reserving the Book of Gates for his two great pillared halls. This version includes only the first half of the book. However, Seti I's alabaster sarcophagus is adorned with the earliest complete and continuous version of the book. The famous Ramesses II also used the text in the upper pillared halls, sarcophagus chambers and subsidiary rooms of his tomb and his son, Merneptah, decorated the right wall of the corridor of his grandfather, Seti I's cenotaph at Abydos with a complete Book of Gates. There, he also placed the Book of Caverns on the left wall. From Merneptah, the following kings until the reign of Ramesses IV had the text recorded on the walls of their sarcophagus chambers. A number of kings, such as Ramesses III also had selected text from the book placed on their sarcophagus, and some commoners, such as Tjanefer, a priest of Amun under Ramesses III, were also allowed to use a selection of the scenes. Ramesses VI broke from this tradition, replacing the text with the Book of the Earth in the sarcophagus chamber, but included a complete Book of Gates in the upper part of his tomb. However, Ramesses VII was actually the last pharaoh to include any of the Book of Gates, using the first and second hours in a single corridor. By Ramesses IX, it disappeared entirely from royal tombs. After the New Kingdom, portions of the book continued to show up only sporadically, perhaps because the composition is so oriented to the specific person of the king. We find the concluding representations in the Book of the Dead of Anhai, which may date to the 20th Dynasty, as well as in the mythological papyrus of Khonsumes that dates from the 21st Dynasty and in the 26th Dynasty tomb of Mutirdis. Other extracts from the text are also found in the tombs of Petamenophis at Thebes and Horiraa at Saqqara, while the first hour and judgement hall occur often on late, non-royal sarcophagi. Research on the Book of Gates

Because, in the tomb of Seti I and the Judgement of the Dead in the tomb of Ramesses VI, the Book of Gates depicted foreigners, it aroused the interest of scholars at an early date. These particular text were frequently copied. However, it was Jean-Francois Champollion who provided the first description of the Book of Gates, along with some translations in his 13th letter from Egypt, dated May 26, 1829. He mostly relied on the tomb of Ramesses VI for this translation. Yet the standard publication for many years was from an 1864 documentation of the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I by Bonomi and Sharpe. In the ancient Egyptian text, the book is not named, so it was Gaston Maspero who originally designated it Livre de Portes (Book of Gates). He also referred to it as the Livre des Pylones, or "Book of Pylons, and Eugene Lefebure called it Livre de l'Enfer, or "Book of the Netherworld". Lefebure also provided a brief survey of its contents for an essay in 1888. Previously, he had already published the first translation of the text on from the Seti I sarcophagus in 1878 and 1881. In 1905, Budge described and translated the sarcophagus version and made a comparison between its hours of the night and those in the Amduat. However, because by this time the lid of the sarcophagus had been destroyed, his analysis was erroneous. The incomplete version of the Book found in the tomb of Horemhab was published in 1912 (after having only been discovered in 1908). More recent editions of the Book of Gates include that published by Charles Maystre and Alexandre Piankoff, who created a broader textual basis with their work of 1939-1962. However, this version was replaced by that of Erik Hornung in 1979. Today, the complete English version of the text by Pankoff has been available since 1954, while the German translation created by Hornung has been around since 1972. Structure of the Book The Book of Gates portrays the gates of the netherworld far more visibly and systematically than other similar compositions. It compares most readily with the gates in the Book of the Dead, spells 144 and 145, which the Ramesside Period Egyptians considered a substitute for the Book of Gates in tombs that did not belong to pharaohs, such as that of Nefertari and others in the Valley of the Queens. In fact, gates in the Book of the Dead spells and elsewhere have caused some confusion with the Book of Gates even among some scholars. The concept of gates in the afterlife was a reoccurring theme amongst many of the books of the afterlife.

On the sarcophagus of Seti I, the hours are in a continuous sequence resulting in the concluding scene occurring directly behind the head of the deceased. The Osireion and the tomb of Ramesses VI also provide a continuous text, though in other tombs the hours are distributed over various walls and rooms. The Book of Gates encompasses a total of one hundred scenes, many of which fill an entire register, though the last two hours contain a number of brief individual scenes. The Middle Egyptian of dialect of the text displays hardly any influences from the Late Egyptian written language, though it has been established that this composition contains an especially rich vocabulary. The structure of the Book of Gates is very similar to that of the Amduat, with twelve nocturnal hours each divided into three registers. As in the Amduat, the first hour of the night has a special position with a structure that differs from the remainder of the composition. However, in the last three hours, the main figure (Atum or Horus) is omitted from the lower registers, which show only deities and not the blessed dead. Also absent are long concluding texts. Instead, we find depictions of the Judgment of the Dead and the course of the sun, not divided into registers, in the middle and at the end of he composition. Also absent are notations concerning the use of the Book, but are replaced by remarks about offerings, which as a rule are located at the end of a scene (though not in the final three hours). The Book of Gates also differs from the Amduat by the means of the gates depicted at the end of each hour. In the Book of Gates, each gate has a guardian in the form of a serpent on its door, as well as two further guardians with scary names and fire spitting uraei. Also, in the solar barque, only two gods, Sia and Heka are found depicted together with the sun god, while there are many crew members in the Amdaut. In the Book of Gates, the cabin of the barque in each hour is protected by a mehen-serpent and four male figures are portrayed like hieroglyphs towing the barque. In the sarcophagus chambers of Haremhab, Ramesses I and Seti I, the clothing and beards of these figures clearly mark them as human, rather than divine beings. The judgement hall of Osiris is given a special, central position inserted into the fifth gateway of the Book of gates. Situated just prior to the union with the sun's corpse in the sixth hour, the texts are specifically cryptic. However, beginning with the tomb of Seti I, this judgment scene is replaced by one depicting the king before the enthroned (and later standing) Osiris, so that no longer are the dead judged, but rather the king is identified with the ruler of the dead.

More than a thousand deities and deceased persons, representing many more than in the Amduat, are depicted within the Book of Gates. However, they are more regularly combined into groups, and they bear fewer individual names. Many of these groups represent deceased persons rather than deities. Content This text, like other netherworld compositions, is concerned with the nocturnal journey of the sun. Compared to the Amduat, the hours are somewhat displaced. For example, in the Book of Gates, the drowned appear in the ninth rather than the tenth hour. Also, because of the grouping of deities and deceased persons, they are more clearly distinguished from each other then in the Amduat, and the dead appear bound to their respective regions in the hours of the night. Here also, the dead king's special status is more clearly defined, as he accompanies the sun god to his rebirth in the morning. In fact, most versions contain additions to the texts and representations that refer directly to the king. Hour One As the sun god inters the ream of the dead, he is greeted by the collective dead, who are assigned the title of "gods of the west:", rather than individual deities. Actually, as in the Amduat, this first hour is an interstitial place that precedes the actual netherworld after the first gate. Here, there are two steaks surmounted by a ram's head and a jackal's head that both punish and reward those who dwell here. Hour Two In the second hour, the dead are clearly separated between those in the upper register of the composition, who have followed Ma'at and who are now blessed, and those in the bottom register who have not, and are now reprimanded by Atum. The four Weary Ones are depicted, along with the "enemies". In the middle register separating these extremes is the barque, which encounters the "gods in the entrance". Hour Three The third hour of the Book of Gates appears to emphasis a few motifs that are central to the nightly journey, including mummies in the upper register, which are awakened from the dead and reanimated in their shrines. Here also is the ambivalent Lake of Fire, where the damned will meet flame. However, the blessed dead are provisioned from the same flames. The middle register depicts

the sun god being towed along in the "barque of the earth"., a symbolic condensation of his entire journey through the depths of the earth. At the end of the register he is dressed in sparkling white linens which is also symbolic of renewal. However, Aphophis the snake makes his first appearance in front of Atum as well. Atum must be assisted by two Enneads in order to overcome this archenemy. Hour Four Perhaps variations of the Lake of Fire from the third register, two bodies of water dominate the top register in the fourth hour of the Book of Gates. They are called the Lake of Life, which is guarded by jackals, and the Lake of Uraei. In the middle register, shrines containing mummies of the dead, not yet risen, stand before the barque. The sun god causes their resurrection and provisioning. Their renewed life in the hereafter occupies an entire hour of the night. The passing of the hours is laid out in the following scene, with its manycoiled serpent representing time and its twelve goddesses embodying the hours. The enshrined Osiris is protected on all sides by the gods of his entourage in the lower register, while Horus cares for his deceased father. Osiris' enemies are punished in the fiery pits at the end of the register. Hour Five Hour Five is one of the most complex hours within the composition. In the upper registers, the gods are portrayed with a surveying cord, because the deceased are allotted space (in the form of fields) within this hour. The deceased are also allotted time, and hence the gods also carry the body of a serpent and the hieroglyphs meaning "lifetime" in the lower register. In order to accomplish this, the Apophis fiend, known as "the Retreater, must once again be battled and fettered. Behind Apophis we notice the ba-souls of the blessed dead, and at the beginning of the lower register are found the four "races" of mankind, including Egyptians, Asiatics, Nubians and Libyans. Each race is represented by four individual figures, who are assured existence in the afterlife. They are placed in the care of Horus and Sakhmet. It should be noted that the Great Hymn of Akhenaten, Aten is said to care even for foreign people, and hence, they are sheltered in the realm of the dead, according to the Book of Gates. The Judgment Hall Just before the sixth hour, we find the portrayal of the Judgment hall, empathized by its insertion as a special scene. This is the only representation of

the Judgment of the dead in any of the Books of the Netherworld, and so it is distinguished by the use of cryptographic writing. In the earlier versions, Osiris is enthroned on a stepped dais while the personified scale in front of him, unlike that in the Book of the Dead, bears empty pans. Therefore, the blessed dead stand on the steps of the dais, while the enemies who are consigned to the "Place of Annihilation" lie beneath their feet. Here also, we see another mincing power in the form of a pig being driven off. Hour Six The judgment of the Dead is therefore the prelude to the union of the Ba and the corpse of he sun god (like those of all the blessed deceased). The sixth hour of the night is the deepest part of the journey through the netherworld. In the middle register, the dead corpse of the sun god immediately in front of the barque and its towmen, is invisible. It is being carried by gods whose arms are also invisible because of their contact with the corpse. In the lower register, mummies of deceased persons lie on a long, serpent-shaped bed so that they may participate in the union with the ba and the resurrection that it effects. Gods holding forked poles in the upper register keep Apophis at bay while this critical event unfolds. From his head people who he has swallowed are now set free once more. There is also the depiction of a twisted double rope that represents time. It is being unwound from the pharynx of the god, Aqen. The lower register of this hour end with a scene depicting a circular Lake of Fire which is inhabited by a cobra that acts as a deterrent to all enemies. Hour Seven In the seventh hour, the central motif is the elimination of all mincing forces that might interfere with the sun's renewal. In the middle register, just before the solar barque, appears the jackal headed "stakes of Geb", with two enemies of the god bound to each. Re, the sun god consents to their torment by two demons. However, in the upper register we find two groups of blessed dead, one with baskets filled with grain as a sign of their material provisioning, and the other with the feather of Ma'at as a symbol of their vindication in at the Judgment of the Dead. They will exist until the end while sheltered by Ma'at, while the damned below are consigned to the Place of Annihilation. The caption on this upper register speaks of Osiris welcoming his new followers. In the lower register, we again find the blessed who have followed Ma'at, who are here gathering huge ears of grain intended for their assured provisions. Others are provided with sickles for harvesting, while the rays of the revived sun effects abundant fertility.

Hour Eight We once again find the depiction of infinite time depicted as an endless rope spooled out hour by hour, and also as the towrope of the barque, which "produces mysteries." In the middle register, the "lords of provision in the west", who stand before the barque, are commissioned by Re to allocate provisions to the blessed while at the same time inflicting evil on the enemies. In the lower register are once again mummies. They have turned over on their biers and are therefore in the process of resurrection. Nearby, a council of judges protects them. Hour Nine In the middle register of the ninth hour, a theme is borrowed from the Amduat (tenth hour). Here, a rectangle of water contain the drowned. Four groups of deceased humans are found floating in the primeval waters of Nun. They are actually being refreshed by the waters and will therefore be resurrected. We find that their noses breath the air, and their ba-souls will not be destroyed so that they will share existence with the blessed. In these scenes, Re is the "one who is in Nun", and in the scene that concludes the book, he will be raised up out of Nun. The souls of the blessed appear in the upper register. Before them stand a group of figures who offer them bread and vegetables. By contract, in the lower register we find, once more, the condemned. Here are depicted twelve enemies who are each bound in one of three different manners. They are inflamed by the Fiery One, a huge serpent who has been called forth by Horus for the atrocities they have committed against his father, Osiris. The children of Horus stand in his coils of this great snake. Hour Ten The middle register of the tenth hour is entirely filled with a representation of the battle against Apophis. Fourteen deities hold nets containing magical powers above their heads. This magic renders Apophis defenseless. Perhaps Geb, as the "Old One" ties fetters around the snakes body. In the upper and lower registers we find special manifestations of the sun god. In the upper register, he is depicted as a griffin and is followed by two serpents who help in the punishment of Apophis, as well as the other enemies. In the lower register the sun god is portrayed in the center as a falcon, though he is also referenced as Khepri ("scarab beetle"). He is connected to other figures by a continuous rope. The text that accompanies this scene talks of the "emergence" and stresses that the journey is proceeding now towards the sky.

Hour Eleven By the eleventh hour, we find a bound Apophis and other enemies in the upper register. He is dismembered, and hence rendered harmless. The rope that holds Apophis and his assistants is held by a giant fist emerging from the depths. In the middle register, the dead may gaze upon the continence of the God Re, who's face is making its way in the barque. n interesting aspect of this scene is the reversal of the barque, which may be an allusion to the reversal of time. Before the barque are the stars which will herald the reappearance of the sun god. We find in the lowest register oarsmen of the god, together with the goddesses of the hours; time and energy (rowing). They will propel the barque up into the eastern horizon. Here, the battle in the netherworld is obviously won, for some deities are already announcing he god in the horizon. There cries will be joined by the din of noise that will eventually accompany the rising sun. Hour Twelve In the twelfth hour, the sun god finally arrives at the gate "with the mysterious entrance", through which he will the miracle of his rebirth will occur. In the upper register, gods "carry the blazing light". which is obvious from the sun disks in their hands. Stars precede the appearance of the sun, while goddesses seated upon serpents surround and protect the solar child. Before the god's barque lies Apophis, who is fettered. He is held in check by gods with knives and shepherd's crooks in order that he may not impede the sunrise. Just behind him are four baboons, their arms raised in jubilation, who announce the sun god in the eastern horizon. Several motif are represented in the lower register, including crowns that are to be worn as symbols of power when leaving the netherworld. Also, we find the nurses of the newborn sun, while at the same time, Osiris is mourned, for he must remain in the netherworld. This final gate, through which the sun god will emerge onto the horizon, is guarded by Isis and Nephthys, in the form of uraei. Concluding Representation The final scenes are not divided into registers as elsewhere. Like many illustrations accompanying the solar hymns of the Amarna period, the entire course of the sun is condensed into a single picture. Half hidden by the primeval waters indicated by wavy lines, the god Nun raises the solar barque of its depths. In the Barque, Isis and Nephthys embrace the sun in the form of a souring scarab beetle, as he pushes the sun disk toward the sky goddess Nut. She is upside down, indicating the inversion of the sun's course, which will once again run in the opposite direction from its course through the netherworld

which is here the embodiment of Osiris. He surrounds this dark world with his curved body. Therefore, all three areas of the cosmos are represented, including the primeval waters, the height of the heavens and the depths of the earth. From above and below, arms embrace the sun, holding it aloft as it moves through the day. Litany of Re

The Litany of Re (or more fully "Book of Praying to Re in the West, Praying to the United One in the West") is an important Ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom. Like many funerary texts, it was written on the inside of the tomb for reference by the deceased. Unlike other funerary texts, however, it was reserved only for pharaohs or very favored nobility. It is a two part composition that in the first part invokes the sun, Ra, in 75 different forms. The second part is a series of prayers in which the pharaoh assumes parts of nature and deities but mostly the of the sun god. Developed in the Eighteenth Dynasty, it also praises the king for his union with the sun god, as well as other deities. The text was used in the entrance of most tombs from the time of Seti I, though we first know of it form the burial chamber of Thutmose III and his vizier Useramun. Sources from Antiquity The Litany of Re was a special composition that, at least a portion of which, was inscribed in the tomb of Tuthmosis III and the tomb of his vizier, Useramun. These excerpts evidently related to each other. Though the series of figures to the "Great Litany" also appear in both tombs, there are no further illustrations. We actually find the first occurrence of the whole composition, are mostly whole for there are a few omissions, on the shroud dedicated by Amenhotep II to his father, Tuthmosis III (without illustrations). Interestingly,

the composition then disappears until the reign of Seti I, in whose tomb we find for the first time the figure related to the title. Interestingly, the composition could have also been found in the tomb of Amenmesse, but Seti II ordered it hacked from this location in order to harm him in the afterlife. Afterwards, the book becomes a standard motif in the first and second corridors, indicating its importance, of the royal tombs. However, Ramesses VI omits the text from his tomb, while Ramesses IX (tomb) and X (tomb) only include extracts in theirs. Normally, the depictions were always reserved for the second corridor, while the text was inscribed in the first corridor, sometimes spilling over in the second. In the tombs of both Kings Seti I and Ramesses II (tomb), all of the hieroglyphs face the interior of the tomb, while we find in the tombs of Merneptah on, they uniformly face to the right so that all the columns of text are reversed. In the Late Period, we also find depictions of the Litany of Re in tombs, such as those of Mentuemhet, Petamenophis and Ibi. Outside of tombs, we also find portions of the figures in the decorations commissioned by Merneptah in the Osireion of Seti I at Abydos, together with a complete sequence in the temple built by Ramesses II at that site. By Egypt's Late Period, we also find the depictions actually inscribed in temples, such as the edifice of Taharqa and the chapel of Hakoris at Karnak, as well as extracts in the Nilometer at Roda. Certain passages from the Litany of Re were also adopted for the Book of the Dead. By the 18th Dynasty, excerpts from the composition were used as spell 127 (beginning with the manuscript of Maiherperi dating to the reign of Amenhotep II), and as spell 180 in the early 19th Dynasty, beginning with the sarcophagus of Seti I. Spell 127, addresses the "gods in the caverns" and associated them with the guardians of the gates of the netherworld. Here, we also find the only mention of the Place of Annihilation in the Book of the Dead. Later, we also find spell 127 is in the tombs of Ramesses IV (tomb)and Ramesses VI. Spell 180, which begins with the central verse, "It is Re, who rests in Osiris", is attested on the coffin of Seti I and in part at the Osireion. In addition, it is also found in the tomb of an official (TT3) and on papyri (Qenna, Neferrenpet, Louvre 3073) from the end of the 18th Dynasty and the beginning of the 19th. It should be noted that the familiar depictions of the ram- headed Re-Osiris found in the tomb of Nefertari and others of the 19th Dynasty were actually a part of the spells of the Book of the Dead and not the Litany of Re. In contrast, the Books of the Netherworld are never found in the Book of the Dead, except for the special case of spell 168.

Research into the Litany of Re It was Richard Pococke who published a very early description of the Litany of Re discovered in the tomb of Ramesses IV, but text editions of the composition were actually among the earliest publicized by Egyptologists. As early as 1869, Edouard Naville investigated the text in the tombs of Seti I and Ramesses IV, publishing a translation into French in 1875. He also published an English translation in 1876. Thereafter, for almost a century, his references became the standard for scholarly study of the Litany of Re, though in 1936 Hermann Grapow published a paper on the text and depictions. In 1964, Alexandre Piankoff again published the composition, but included no hieroglyphic text, though he did include photographs from several tombs, including those of Seti I and II together with the shroud of Tuthmosis III. His work included a translation into English. The latest full, scholarly work appears to have come from Erik Hornung, a German who included all the New Kingdom versions in a commentary volume in his edition of 1975. Form of the Litany of Re Though many of the Books of the Netherworld do not include an original title, in the tomb of Useramun we discover that the old Egyptian name of this composition was the "Book of Praying to Re in the West (or Book of Adoring Re in the West), Praying to the United One in the West". Here, there are also remarks regarding the manner of recitation and efficacy of the text. The composition begins with the Great (or large) Litany, where the sun god is invoked a total of seventy-five times in various names and forms. Each invocation begins with "Praise to you, oh Re, great of power". After the Great Litany, eight more follow but only the sixth section is composed in verse. In fact, the structure of the remaining text is often unclear, as only the litanies are distinctly separated because of their unique initial refrains. The early content of the composition contained the divine figures that illustrate each of the invocations. From the earliest examples, these depictions were divided so that they alternate in two series. For example, they face each other on the north and south walls of the tomb of Useramun, though in the Ramesside tombs they are on both walls of the second corridor, with the left wall being dominant. Hence, the illustrations alternate up to the 51st invocation, with the odd numbered figures on the the left and the even numbered figures on the right.

However, this structure is interrupted by two successive figures (51 and 52) on the left and two (53 and 54) on the right. Afterwards, the alternation continues, though now in reverse order, with the even numbered figures on the left and the odd numbered figures on the right. Each invocation is illustrated by the figure of a god, with the 76th figure that of the ba of Re, as a ram's head in the red disk of the sun. Most of the figures appear in a mummiform state, with a few in the form of animals, such as the ram and scarab beetle as the two main figures of the sun god and the "Big Tomcat" that embodies his punishing aspect, and the "Divine Eye". Structurally, by dividing the 75 invocations into three divisions of 25 each, we recognize special emphasis on the 26th and the 51st figures. The figures may also be grouped in divisions of ten each, with the first ten differing in structure from the rest, while the following group of ten is reserved for an extended Ennead.The union of Re and Osiris receives special treatment within the composition, and the two sequences of figures are constantly divided between them. The figures of Osiris are found only in the sequence on the left, while the right side consists of many scarab beetles. The left side also includes figures of Atum, the ba of Re and the Great Cat. The names and and the figures that are depicted are the most important forms and attributes of the sun god while in the netherworld. Hence, we find the Khepri (three times), his morning form, Aten, his evening form, the ba of Re, together with his various ram forms, as well as his forms of cat and child, the divine Eye, the sun disk and the accompanying figure of a baboon. The remaining gods and goddesses of the Ennead are also present, though here, Seth is replaced by Horus. Nun and Tatenen, primeval gods of representing the depths of water and earth, are also present. We find Osiris only as Khentamentiu, though two names refer to the union of the two gods, which represents a central theme of the entire litany.Re's association with the netherworld is emphasized by several names, including "he of the netherworld", "he of the cave", "he who has command over his cave", "he who renews the earth", and "he of the West". Several other names portray his journey through the netherworld and in the concluding text of the composition, he is even called "migratory bird". Since death and rebirth are both represented in the composition, rejoicing and mourning are also present and some names reference the corpse of Re, and even the corpse' decay, which must precede his rebirth. He is called "The Weeping One", referring to the theology of human beings emerging from the

tears of he creator god, and as a corpse, he is "He in the Sarcophagus" The double aspect of the sun during the night hours is presented. He is referred to as "The Dark One" or "The One with the Dark Face", but also as "The Shining one" whose rays are longed for by the dead. Re's beneficent deeds for the blessed dead, as well as his function as in punishing the damned are represented, for he is "The One Who Enchains" and "The One from the Cauldron and generally "The One who Destroys his Enemies". He is also the one who "has arranged the heat in the Place of Destruction". Even as early as the tomb of Useramun, additional depictions augment the divine figures. Here, the vizier actually placed his own figure at the end of both sequences, and even his wife and other family members are represented at the end of the left-hand sequence. In the tomb of Tuthmosis III, where the two sequences cover the two pillars of his burial chamber, he had himself and female members of his family depicted on an adjoining side of one of the pillars. At Abydos, Ramesses II expanded the sequence in his temple to include even royal ancestors, consisting of his parents and grandfather, as well as Ahmose, the founder of the New Kingdom. However, like Merneptah in the Osireion, Ramesses II is only presented making offerings to the them. For the first time in his version, the figures also contain a small sun disk to indicate the presence of the sun god within them. For the first time in the version of the composition found in the tomb of Seti I, an additional "title" illustration (figures 85 and 87) are inserted between the title of the book and the Great Litany. The central depictions is of a scarab and a ram headed god, both contained within a disk. Above are a serpent and an antelope, while a crocodile and an antelope are depicted below. Though these illustrations are problematic, John C. Darnell suggest that the animals have been dispatched by the sun god against his enemies. Thus, they may act as his bodyguards. However, Erik Hornung, perhaps more correctly, sees them as enemies fleeing from the sun god. Strangely, a representation of the united Re and Osiris was added in the tomb of Nefertari (figure 86). Not a part of the actual Litany of Re, it rather belongs to spell 180 of the Book of the Dead. This illustration also appears in the tombs of some royal officials dating to the 19th Dynasty, as well as QV40, the tomb of an anonymous queen in the Valley of the Queens. The Content of the Litany of Re Though the hours of the night play no part in this book, it should be noted that the number twelve seems to have significance throughout. The Litany of Re is a

description of, and praise for the deity who descends into the netherworld at night and meets Osiris as the ruler of the netherworld and of the dead. Its theme is the direct equating of the deceased pharaoh with the sun god Re, with his basoul which is actually that of Osiris, and with the daily course of the sun. Re, combined with the ba of Osiris as one god, who "speaks with one mouth", awakens the dead to renewed life, as well as caring for the blessed and punishing the damned. Though not actually a part of the Litany of Re, this ramheaded Re-Osiris is found as an addition in the tomb of Nefertari. The host of figures and functions of this nocturnal sun god in the Great (or large) Litany opens the way to the netherworld for the deceased. There is also a desire to include the dead king in the course of the sun, therefore providing him with daily renewal. The deceased king expresses this desire as "My birth is the birth of Re in the West". The connection with the course of the sun is why the text accompanying the union between Re and Osiris is included in the illustration of the Book of the Dead spell 109, where the sun is called a "newborn calf" in the tomb of Arinefer (TT290). As a migratory bird, Re visits the netherworld each night and, like all of the dead, becomes as he is called in the concluding text of the Great Litany, a cavern dweller. Afterwards, the deceased speaks for the first time, indicating that he has a complete understanding of Re's nocturnal forms of manifestation, together with their names. He implores them to open the netherworld to him and his ba. This is one aspect of the Litany of Re that distinguishes it from the Books of the Netherworld, for in those compositions the deceased never speaks. In the Books of the Netherworld, the dialogue is always between the sun god and the inhabitants of the Beyond. After the Great Litany, the second litany follows with the inhabitants of the netherworld, who are commanded to prepare the way for the dead as they follow Re. Interrupted by only an invocation to the nocturnal sun, "who shines among those in the netherworld", the third litany adds, "May you lead me to the ways of the West:". This leads into the first equations of the deceased, first with Nun and then with Re, his ba and his cycle. On the ceiling the text that follows invokes the United One and equates the dead with his ba and corpse. Hence, this is a very important section of the composition because of the way it is inserted as well as its content. Here, there is a remark about recitation that makes reference to the forms of the gods and to the offerings they require. Next, the deceased king presents a speech addressed to them as the "gods who are in the West". He tells them that "I am one of

you", and thereafter identifies himself with the sun god with whom he shares the triumph "over all his enemies in the sky and on earth". Afterwards, the short fourth litany consisting of three double verses wherein Osiris is also addressed. Here, Re and Osiris greet and extend their hands to one another. Through the power of his ba, Re displaces the darkness allowing the netherworld to see as the deceased also seeks the renewal of his eyes and the return of his heart. The fifth litany consists of eight double verses. Here, "You have commanded for me, as (for) Akhty", is a general evocation of the care of the god. Afterwards, there is a prayer asking for deliverance from the slaughterers in the netherworld, including their cauldrons, their traps and their ovens, because "I am Re". After a depiction of the majestic appearance of the god as ba with the request, "Oh Re, come to me, oh guide" and some further identifications and dialogues with the "weary of heart" in the netherworld, there is the sixth litany containing fifteen double verses Here, we find the representation of a pelican goddess, perhaps representing the embodiment of Nut, the goddess of Heaven, who is suppose to care for the deceased. Now the deceased makes his appearance in all the splendor of the sun god. Five double verses make up the seventh litany where, "Truly you have caused me to ascend" is followed by the "Member Apotheosis". In this litany, the dead king's limbs are deified as every part of his body is equated with a god, allowing the deceased to become "entirely a god". Afterwards, the king also appears as the god's son and receives commands from him. Now, in a double role as Re and Osiris, he turns to those who dwell in the netherworld, those who are "provided with offerings", and this section ends with the rejoicing of the eighth litany, "hail, well led...". The composition ends with a prayer to the realm of the dead as the "West" in the ninth litany where there is a final identification of the deceased king as Re. Towards the end there is an old formula where the ba belongs to the sky and the corpse to the earth, with the additional phrase "among the gods". Book of the Heavens This book, developed during the late New Kingdom, describes the sun's passage through the heavens. There are actually a number of individual books, but the better documented of these include the Book of the Day, the Book of the Night and the Book of Nut. Closely related is The Book of the Celestial

Cow. For example, the Book of the Night, like other books, documents the sun's journey but set within Nut, goddess of the heavens. She swallows the sun at the close of the day and gives birth to it each morning. Passages from these books are mostly found in Ramessid period tombs. The Book of the Divine Cow begins with the "Myth of the Destruction of Mankind", the Egyptian version of the story of the great flood. In the beginning daylight was always present, and humans and gods cohabited on earth. This was depicted as paradise, but humans rebelled against the aging sun god, Ra. Ra sent Hathor as his eye (cobra snake) to punish the rebels, who began to destroy them with fire. However, Ra ended up feeling sorry for them and so deceived Hathor into letting some humans live. Ra then rearranged heaven and the underworld and left earth on the back of the celestial cow. After the death of Akhenaten, signaling the end of the Amarna Period, we find a new set of Books related to the afterlife. These books centered around Nut, who swallows the sun god in the evening, only to give birth to him in the morning. During the day the sun god passes visibly along her body, but during the night, he travels through her body back to the place where he will rise once more. Beginning with Ramesses IV, two of the Books of the Sky were usually placed next to each other on the ceilings of royal tombs. They depicted a double representation of Nut, back to back. The the focus is on the sun god, other heavenly bodies are also included. Generally speaking, the books emphasize cosmography and the topography of the sky, a topic which had its beginnings in the Book of the Heavenly Cow, though the astronomical ceilings found in the tombs of Seti I (KV17) through Ramesses III (KV11) can also be viewed as precursors to the Books of the Sky (heavens). These books are generally considered to consist of the Book of Nut, the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night. The Book of Nut We have actually very few example of the Book of Nut. We find examples in the cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos and in the tomb of Ramesses IV, though the latter is abbreviated. The only other evidence of this book is a commentary written in the Roman Period, and an incomplete version in the tomb of Mutirdis (TT410) dating from the 26th Dynasty. The longer appended text that accompanies the captions was reproduced in the Papyrus Carlsberg in Demotic script.

It was Jean-Francois Champollion and Hippolito Rosellini who published the earliest drawing of the representation of the sky goddess. These, and some investigation that followed, were all from the version found in the tomb (KV2) of Ramesses IV, for the Osireion in Abydos had not been discovered at that point. The commentary from the Roman period was published by H. O. Lange and Otto Neugebauer in 1940. The book itself is pictorial in nature, and resembles to some degree the Book of the Heavenly Cow. There are brief captions that seem to be overwhelmed by the huge image of the sky. Nut is shown as a woman supported by the God Shu who holds her body aloft. Interestingly, in the tomb of Seti I, she is oriented correctly for the swallowing and birth of the sun, but not in the tomb of Ramesses IV. Other motifs within the scene include several sun disks, a winged scarab in front of the knees of the goddess, a vulture atop the heraldic plant of Upper Egypt behind her legs, and nest of migratory birds next to her arms. The captions on the scene are also accompanied by a longer appended text. The book is intended to provide both a topography of the sky and an understanding of the sun's daily course. The brief captions augment this understanding and are distributed over the entire scene, describing its details as well as the actions of the sun god, the decans and other divine beings. O. Neugebauer set out and coded the various captions within the depiction. For example, Text L provides a definition of the "far regions of the sky", that are in the primeval darkness and waters, not touched by the sun. They have no boundaries or cardinal directions. A list of decans that may originate in the Middle Kingdom are provided in Texts S through X. These captions tell us the decans work and their periodic invisibility, including their transit through the meridian. The text labeled Dd through Ff explain migratory birds and their nests. In the cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos, we find a text reporting a quarrel between Geb and Nut because she is swallowing their children, the stars. The dispute is settled by their father, Shu, who advises that the Nut give birth to the stars each time so they might live. The Book of the Day The Book of the Day, though found in the royal necropolis at Tanis, along with excerpts from the tomb of Osorkon II and a nearly complete version in the tomb of Shoshenq III, is also depicted within the tomb of Ramesses VI. The latest version of the book we have is from the private tomb of Ramose (TT132)

that dates from the 25th Dynasty. Otherwise, only brief components of the text regarding the hours of the day have been discovered on sarcophagi and papyri of the Late Period. Also related are the hymns to the hours of the day in the pronaos of the Edfu Temple. Champoliion originally copied versions of the book from the sarcophagus chamber and corridors of the tomb of Ramesses VI, but they received little attention. In 1942, Alexandre Piankoff published and edition of the book but without regard to the Tanis versions. The scene and captions of this book are arranged under the figure of the sky goddess Nut, with her arms and legs spread out. All of the figures within the scene face the head of Nut, and so the end of the book. Arranged horizontally into five registers, the text follows the course of the twelve hours of the day. This arrangement, however, makes it unclear where one hour ends and the next begins. A prologue and concluding representation stand out from the main text. It should also be noted that the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night may have been intended as a single entity, but they are only shown together in the tomb of Ramesses VI. The Book of the Day is notable because, unlike most of the funerary text, it is focused on the journey of the sun god during the day, rather than his nocturnal voyage through the underworld. Hence, the sun god appears with a falcon's head rather than his ram-headed nighttime image. Yet underworld motifs such as the repulsing of Apophis and the Field of Reeds occur in the middle of the composition. Mostly, this book is concerned with the enumeration of deities, with little descriptive text. The Book of the Night The first version of the Book of the Night that we know of comes from the Osireion at Abydos, and only extends to the ninth hour of the night. There was a copy in the tomb (KV8) of Merneptah on the ceiling of the antechamber, but it is mostly gone now. Ramesses IV included this book next to the Book of Nut on the ceiling of his sarcophagus chamber, though only as far as the fourth hour. However, the tomb (KV9) of Ramesses VI gives us two complete copies, one on the west side of the ceiling of the sarcophagus chamber while the second version is spread out through earlier chambers Both versions are complemented by representations of the Book of the Day. We also find scenes from the book in the tomb of Ramesses IX

In all of these instances, the book is depicted on the ceiling of the New Kingdom tombs, though at Tanis, they shifted to the walls. Osorkon II combined it with the Book of the Day, while Shoshenq III followed Seti I's version. During the Late Period, we also find extracts from the book in several tombs, including TT33, 132 and 410, along with fragments from the Nilometer at Roda. Even as late as the 30th Dynasty we may also note examples on sarcophagi, where they are combined with hours from the Amduat. There are also text from the second hour of the night found in the solar sanctuaries of Deir el-Bahri, Medinet Habu and Karnak. The Book of the Night is divided into twelve sections separated from each other by vertical line of text designated as "gates". Unlike the Book of Gates, these precede the hours of the night to which they belong. The arms and legs of Nut represent the first and last gate, though the first hour is not presented. For each hour there is an introductory text which provides the most important details, though the remaining captions are brief. The book is arranged in three registers that are staggered into five to seven registers due to space considerations. The sun barque travelers through the center register. Within this boat, the sun god, who is in his shrine, is surrounded by the coils of the Mehen-serpent while another serpent protects him. The crew of his boat features Sia at the prow as the spokesman of the god, Hu at the stern, Ma'at, and in the version at Abydos, the king. Within the upper registers are various deities while the lower register features various groups of deceased people, including the blessed and the damned. In front of the boat is a large group of towmen, sometimes as many as thirty, called the Unwearing Ones, who are led by the king. There is no descriptive text like that found in he Books of the Netherworld, and generally, the registers are not divided into scenes. At the end, a summary of the entire course of the sun is provided. There must obviously be many similarities between this book and other Books of the Netherworld. Interestingly, however, the sun's enemy Apophis does not appear in this book at all though he appears in the Neitherworld books. Instead, the repelling of Seth is mentioned several times. This book complements the Book of the Day, beginning at the point where the sun god is swallowed by Nut and ending when she gives birth to him in the morning as a scarab. The sun god take the form of the Ram-headed nocturnal god, and is designated as flesh. Sia takes an important role in this book, appearing as the spokesman of the sun god. The sun god has his own escort in the middle register of each hour, in place of the hour goddesses who accompany him in the Amduat and the Book of Gates.

Only in the Seti I version are remains of an introductory text. Here, the sun god provides us with an explanation of the goal of his journey through the underworld, which has to do with judging the damned and caring for the blessed. The primeval darkness is mentioned as a border area. As in the Amduat and the Book of Gates, the first hour is seen as interstitial, and thus is not presented. The book begins with the second hour, where in the upper register depicts both individual and groups of deities. These include the deities of the four cardinal points, the bas of Buto and Hierakonpolis, and the two Enneads, which stand for the all divine beings. In the upper register of the seventh hour, general forms also appear that represent existence and nonexistence. To their opposite are all of the deceased in the lower register, appearing as transfigured ones (akhu), mummies and the "dead", who are damned. Missing is the union of Re and Osiris, found in other funerary text, though the representation of bas and corpses in the lower register of the sixth hour indicates the longed for union in the depths of night, with which the regeneration in the seventh hour is connected. Here, the critical moment requires the overcoming of various enemies. In the lower register of the seventh hour, another motif that first appears in the Book of Gates (13th scene) takes form. here, Horus looks upon both foreigners (shown as Asiatics, Libyans, Medja bedouins and Nubians) and Egyptians (shown as dwellers in the fertile land and the desert). The foreigners are depicted as bound enemies. The speech of the sun god also includes motifs from the 21st scene of the Book of Gates. On the lower register of the eighth hour we find an enthroned Osiris, with Horus and the other gods connected with him in attendance. He is shown in victory over enemies, though only in Late Period representations are they directly addressed as Seth. Here, the groups of the blessed and damned are turned to Osiris is prayer, and their depiction continues into the ninth hour, when they are addressed by Sia. He dictates their fate in the afterlife and their attachment to Osiris, but in the tenth hour, only the blessed appear in the lower register. The towmen preceding the solar barque are joined by four jackals designated "Western bas" in the twelfth and last hour. Here, the deities, including Osiris, in the lower register pray before the concluding representation which summarizes the entire course of the sun. The sun god, with the help of the primeval gods, is transformed into a scarab and a child. In the backdrop are the two boats of his daytime and nighttime passage, together with Isis and Nephthys who were later

depicted in the prow of the barques, keeping the sun in motion between them. The text here refers to the total course of the sun god in the three cosmic realms consisting of the netherworld (Duat), the primeval waters (Nun) and the sky (Nut). The Book of the Heavenly (Celestial) Cow

The first rendering of the Book of the Heavenly Cow was produced on the outermost of the four gilded shrines of Tutankhamun discovered in his tomb, though it was incomplete. However, we do find fairly complete versions of the book in the tombs of Seti I (KV17), Ramesses II (KV7) and Ramesses III (KV11). In each of these instances, the book is exclusively depicted in an annex off of the burial chamber. We also find brief excerpts from the book in the left niche of the third corridor in the tomb of Ramesses VI, and another even shorter version on a papyrus from the Ramesside Period now in Turin. While this book does not seem to appear after the New Kingdom, it was incorporated into the Book of the Fayoum during the Roman Period. Within the first part of the text in this book, a parallel to the biblical narrative of the great Flood has inspired considerable interest both within and outside of Egyptology. The heavenly cow in the tomb of Seti I was noted by early adventurers who visited the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of Luxor (ancient Thebes) such as Henry Salt and Robert Hay. In 1876, Edouard Naville published the version of the Book of the Heavenly Cow found in the tomb of

Seti I, translating it into French. He supplied the first translation into English in 1876. Later, in 1885, he also published the version found in the tomb of Ramesses III. Heinrich Brugsch published the first translation into German in 1881. In 1941, Charles Maystre published the first synoptic version of the book, taking into account the text discovered in the tomb of Ramesses II (though he omitted the text from Tutankhamun). In 1983, Erik Hornung, taking into account all of the versions of the book including that found in the tomb of Ramesses III, published an improved version of the text, which included a metrical transliteration by Gerhard Fecht, which saw a second edition with four pages of supplemental material and corrections in 1991. The Book of the Divine Cow is not a manual of spiritual instruction, or a guidebook through the Duat, as are the other funerary text of the New Kingdom. Rather, it tells a story that mixes magic spells with the exact details of the Divine Cow herself. It is purely mythological in nature, and in fact, it is difficult to see how this particular book fits into the evolutionary framework of the other funerary text. The central theme of The Book of the Heavenly Cow is mankind's rebellion against the elder sun god, Re, resulting in the punishment of humans by the fiery "eye" of Re in the form of the goddess Hathor. It takes place after Re's long rule on earth. The first part places considerable emphasis on the royal role of the sun god, who bears the royal title and who's name is surrounded by a cartouche. He is specifically given rulership over both the deities and the humans. Prior to the rebellion, which required a complete reordering of the world, there had been a golden age where the various deities and humans were both under the sovereignty of the sun god. During this previous age, the sun god had not yet begun his daily course through the sky and the netherworld. Hence, there was no cycle of day and night, nor was there a netherworld and death did not exist. When mankind's rebellion took place, the sun god first consulted with the primeval deities, including Shu, Tefnut and Geb but particularly the goddess Nun and Hathor in the Great House in Heliopolis. These gods were to come to Re in secrecy, as not to alert mankind about their meeting. Re then addressing Nu, the father of the first-born gods, told him to give heed to what men were doing, for they whom he had created were murmuring against him.

And he said " Tell me what you would do. Consider the matter, invent a plan for me, and I will not slay them until I have heard what you shall say concerning this thing." Nu replied, " You O my son Ra, are greater than the god who made You (i.e. Nu himself), you are the king of those who were created with you, your throne is established, and the fear of you is great, Let shine Eye (Hathor) attack those who blaspheme you. " And Rw said, " Lo, they have fled to the mountains for their hearts are afraid because of what they have said." The gods replied, " Let shine Eye go forth and destroy those who blasphemed you, for no eye can resist shine when it goes forth in the form of Hathor." Afterwards, Hathor was sent to inflict her punishment. For three nights the goddess Hathor-Sekhmet waded about in the blood of men, the slaughter beginning at Hensu (Herakleopolis Magna).. But the sun god took pity on those humans who were left. He saved them by causing Hathor to become drunk on blood red beer. Afterwards, the sun god, Re, withdrew to the sky on the back of the celestial cow who is the Goddess Nut transformed. The cow is supported by Shu, the eight Heh-gods along with the Pharaoh. This would account for the importance of the book for the king, who was the "son" and successor of Re, and who withdraws to the sky upon his death, like Re, on the back of the heavenly cow. Now, humankind could suffer death, and so from his position in the sky, Re constructed the netherworld as their realm (third section of book). Within the netherworld, Re placed many serpents that were entrusted to the care of Geb, the earth god. He also sets the moon in the sky and appoints Thoth lord of the moon and deputy over creation. Now, through Thoth, people will know Re. The final, or fourth part of the Book of the Heavenly Cow is devoted to the power of magic. It contains the theology of ba and explains the various deities and sacred animals that are bas of other divinities. Reference: Gods of the Egyptians, The (Studies in Egyptian Mythology) Budge, E. A. Wallis