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The Egyptian Heaven and Hell Volume I
E. A. Wallis Budge
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Pages (PDF): 148
Publication Date: 1905
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Summary:
This is Volume 1 of E. A. Wallis Budge's Egyptian Heaven and Hell trilogy, this one being 'The Book of Am-Tuat'. A cosmological treatise which describes the Tuat, the underworld that the boat of the Sun God, Ra, traverses during the night hours. Each chapter deals with one of the twelve hours of the night.
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Excerpt:
IN the scene that illustrates the FIRST DIVISION of the Tuat, which is passed through by the Sun-god during the FIRST HOUR of the night, we see that the centre of the middle section is divided lengthwise into two parts by a river which flows along it.
In the upper part is the boat of the dead Sun-god AF, who is in the form of a rain-headed man; he wears a disk upon his head, and stands within a shrine in the SEKTET boat, i.e., the boat in which the god travels from noon to sunset. In front of the shrine in the boat stand the three deities, AP-UAT, SA, and the "Lady of the Boat," who wears on her head a disk and horns. Behind the shrine stand five gods, each having the head of a man; the names of the first four are HERU-HEKENU, KA-SHU, i.e., the "double of Shu," NEHES, i.e., the "Look-out," and HU, and the fifth is the Steersman KHERP. On the high prow of the Sektet boat hangs an object which is said to be a carpet by some, and a reed mat by others, and on the side, near the curve of the prow, is an utchat. In front of the boat march:--
1. The two goddesses MAAT, the one representing the South of Egypt, and the other the North.
2. The god NEKENT-F, who holds a spear, or knife, in his left hand.
3. The god KHENTI AMENTET, bearded, and in mummy form, and wearing the White Crown and the Menat.
4. The god SEKHET, or as it is written here SEKHMET, lioness-headed.
5. The god SEHETCH-UR, ram-headed.
6. Four Terms, the first of which is called UT-METU-RA, the second UT-METU-TEM, the third UT-METU-KHEPERA, and the fourth UT-METU-ASAR.
7. The leader of the company, who is called TCHA-UNNUT; by his side is a serpent, called SA (?), that stands on his tail.
This scene is explained by the horizontal line of inscription written above it, and the hieroglyphic text, based on the editions of Lefébure and Champollion, reads:--
"The name of this Field is 'MAATI.' This god arriveth in the SEKTET BOAT, he maketh a way through the Court of this city, which is two hundred and twenty measures in length, which he travelleth through to URNES. He passeth through the water, which is three hundred measures in extent, and he bestoweth the fields upon the gods who follow him. NET-RA is the name of this Field, ARNEBAUI is the name of the guardian [of this Field]. This god beginneth to declare in this region the words which perform the destinies (?) of those who are in the Tuat."
In the lower part of the middle section of the scene we have another boat, in the centre. of which is a beetle; on one side of the beetle is a god with his knees in the direction of the prow of the boat, but having his head turned behind him and his hands raised in adoration of the beetle, and on the other is a god who also has his hands raised in adoration of the same object. The legend reads "the coming into being of Osiris"; as the boat has no reed mat or carpet hanging from the prow, we may assume that it is intended to represent the Atet or Matet Boat, i.e., the boat in which the Sun-god travelled over the sky from sunrise to noon.
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