An Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld
From A Shrine of Tutankhamun
by Jimmy Dunn writing as Taylor Ray Ellison
Engraved on the second gilded shrine of Tutankhamun, discovered in his tomb by Howard Carter, was two parts of a book that is completely unique, though they do seem to have similarities to two scenes from the Amduat
which were depicted on the child king's third shrine. In fact, these
texts are designated as an "amduat", which here for the very first time
the term is used to describe a netherworld text
in general rather than the specific text to which it is normally
applied. This is also the first instance of a composition describing the
creation of the new solar disk.
No real title has been found for the book. Amduat. Winfried Barta
described the text as a "Kryptograph". However, because of its obscure
nature, with text that was not translated into normal hieroglyphs,
most Egyptologists refer to it as the Enigmatic Book of the
Netherworld. That is, in the outer panels, the texts which accompany
some of the illustrations are cryptographic in order to preserve the
secrecy of the formulas. Indeed, this leads to some controversies where
the meaning of the text is certainly not clear. However, it should be
noted that other compositions exist that are also labeled "enigmatic"
mostly from 20th Dynasty tombs such as KV6 (Ramesses IX) and KV9 (Ramesses V / VI).
The written portions of text that are spread amongst the registers
seem to stem from the Book of the Dead, making it a unique book of the
Netherworld at this point in time. Only as late as the 21st Dynasty would we again see portions of the Amduat and the Book of the Dead occasionally combined.
Egyptologists believe that this composition deals with the creation
and refilling of the solar disk with fire during the night. The
conception that the sun loses its heat by day and has to be replenished
by night is very similar to the view of Heraclitus, much later, who
believed that the solar 'trough,' or disk, was automatically replenished
during the night by fumes which rose from the earth and which became
ignited every morning, when the trough was full. Here, in the region of
death, the sun passes by, or through, the bodies of the gods who reside
there. Their bodies remain in the dark while their souls, or essence,
follow the sun in its journey. In other words, in the region of death
the sun collects new energy for his rebirth in the morning.
This text is divided into three registers, similar to the more familiar Amduat and within, the solar barque is absent. However, just as in the Book of Caverns,
the sun god's presence is represented by ram-headed birds within a sun
disk in the first section, and by only a sun disk in the second part.
The order of the two sections of the book is defined by two boundary
posts prior to the so called first section, because they also proceed
the first hour of the Book of Gates.
This prelude consists of a "head of Re" and the jackal-headed "neck of
Re", which symbolize the sun god's creative power. Another indication of
the order of the two sections is that darkness and the Place of
Annihilation dominate section A, which has only two large sun disks
containing ram-headed bas, whereas light plays a major role in section
B, which is dominated by rays of light that emanate from disks, stars,
or serpents. We really do not know if there were additional sections to
the book.
Section A of the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld
The first two scenes in section A in the upper and lower register
each display eight deities. Those in the upper register are in the
"caverns of the Duat (?)" and reside in darkness, while those of the
lower register are in the Place of Annihilation, though it seems that
their ba-souls
are able to accompany the sun god. Piankoff believes that these beings
symbolize the different transformations undergone by the sun god while
passing through the Netherworld. He appears to believe that those in the
bottom register, which are split between two groups of four with the
chests of the four in front having the shape of the scarab, a symbol of
renewal, indicate that the process of transformation is complete.
Section A is split at its central point by a huge figure that spans the
entire height of the three registers, which John C. Darnell sees as a
union of Re and Osiris. However, Piankoff, perhaps more correctly, sees it as the mummiform figure of the king, Tutankhamun.
The figure is named "He who hides the Hours". Both the head and feet of
this figure are surrounded by an ouroboros-serpent, that is designated
as Mehen,
the Enveloper. This is the earliest representation of the ouroboros that
we know. It, along with the text, refers to the beginning (genesis) and
the end of time. A rope upheld by seven adoring gods in the center
register evidently serves to pull the disk from the body of the
mummiform figure.
After the central division of section A, there are three scenes
arranged vertically. In the upper register, seven goddesses within their
coffins gaze upon the rays of the sun and follow the sun god with their
ba-souls,
as their bodies remain in place. Depicted in the middle register are
seven beings, turned in the opposite direction from those in the upper
register, praising the solar ba and receiving the rays of his disk with
raised arms. The lower register is flanked by two guardians, and its
caption again refers to the Place of Annihilation. However, Re lights up
this region "with his voice", so that its inhabitants may breathe.
There is also a serpent, with the head of a human, that is coiled
several times about two sarcophagi that contain the corpses of Osiris and Re. Here, a large oval containing hands has been read as "coffer".
Section A of the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld
In the second part of the composition referred to as section B, we find three registers that each contain three scenes. Here, Re
is represented by means of sun disks in each scene, and even to each
figure within the scenes, for the disks are usually connected to the
figures by rays of light. This is a graphic representation of text
referring to the light of Re that enters their bodies.
Both the upper and lower registers begin with a spitting cobra.
Within the top most register, each of six gods is fronted by a ba-bird,
and the god receives light from a star, though the first of these
figures receives it directly from the initial cobra. According to the
caption, this is the light of Re, which enters them.
After this, the second scene in the upper register begins with a cat.
Next, there are seven headless figures. They are fronted by faces,
however, in each case inserted between a star and a sun disk with rays.
They are flooded with light from the rays of the sun disks above.
Apparently, this scene refers to the separation and rejoining of the
head and the body. In the final scene of the upper register, six gods
each stands on a Mehen-serpent, which helps with his regeneration, aided
by light from a disk in front of them.
The caption of the beginning scene of the middle register mentions
the ram-headed solar ba, and here, we find depicted a mummy that has
turned itself over and is extending a hand to the solar ba. A serpent
that is flooded by light springs from the feet of the mummy. After this,
there are four beings with lion heads. We cannot see their arms, and
from similar material in the sixth hour of the Book of Gates,
we may conclude that they are carrying the corpse of the sun. The last
scene in the middle register is almost identical to the second scene,
though now with six lion-headed figures. In each of these scenes, light
from a sun disk surmounting a pair of legs enters the mouths of all
these beings.
At the beginning of the lower register of section B, the cobra spits
light that in every case is received by a lion's head and, in turn, is
emitted again by a cobra next to it. This light floods over six Osiris figures that, we are informed by the caption, are "clothed" with the light of Re, while their ba-souls
follow them. Sail hieroglyphs that signify wind or breath in front of
them indicate that the Osiris figures have been granted breath.
The middle scene of the lower register starts out with a lion that,
like the cat in the upper register, is rising out of the earth, which
hides a serpent. Afterwards, there are six mummiform figures with ram
heads, and the caption here indicates that the deceased king is the
object of their attention. In the last scene we see six goddesses. Each
of them receives light from a disk and in turn, lets it pour from their
hands onto the head of a serpent named "Evil of Face". Though these
goddesses carry the sun, represented as a star and disk, in their wombs,
their names designate them as punishing beings. It should be remembered
that Tutankhamun's
reign followed that of the heretic king, Akhenaten, and the significant
and striking role of light in the realm of the dead may stem from that
king's theological realm.
Section B is terminated by the appearance a doubled sun disk with its
ram-headed ba. Here, it is part of a symbolic summary of the daily
course of the sun, which is kept in motion by four pairs of arms. At the
very end of the scene, we find serpents, the heads of four
negau-cattle, together with goddesses making a gesture of praise, an Osiris
figure and an "arm of Re". Some scholars recognize all this as the end
of the composition, though Darnell prefers to see it as a beginning,
because of a very similar depiction on the ceiling of corridor G in the
tomb of Ramesses VI.
References:
| Title | Author | Date | Publisher | Reference Number |
| Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, The | Hornung, Erik | 1999 | Cornell University Press | ISBN 0-8014-3515-3 |
| The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon | Plankoff, Alexandre | 1962 | Harper and Row | |
| Life and Death of a Pharaoh: Tutankhamen | Desrochnes-Noblecourt, Christiane | 1963 | New York Graphic Society |
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