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Ma'at, Goddess of Truth, Balance, Order...
by Caroline Seawright Ma'at, Symbol of Order Ma'at, Goddess of Truth, Balance, Order... Ma'at, unlike Hathor and Nephthys, seemed to be more of a concept than an actual goddess. Her name, literally, meant 'truth' in Egyptian. She was truth, order, balance and justice personified. She was harmony, she was what was right, she was what things should be. It was thought that if Ma'at didn't exist, the universe would become chaos, once again! For the Egyptian believed that the universe was above everything else an ordered and rational place. It functioned with predictability and regularity; the cycles of the universe always remained constant; in the moral sphere, purity was rewarded and sin was punished. Both morally and physically, the universe was in perfect balance.
Because of Ma'at, the Egyptians knew that the universe, that everything in the universe, worked on a pattern, just as, later on, the Greeks called the underlying order of the universe logos (meaning, order, pattern).
"In the beginning was the logos*, and the logos* was with God and the logos* was God." - John 1:1
* Logos was the 'Word', another name for Jesus.
Egypt, then, was seen to be nothing without Ma'at. Ma'at was reality, the solid grounding of reality that made the Sun rise, the stars shine, the river flood and mankind think. The universe itself, all the world around them, was sacred in the ancient view. "Ethics" is an issue of human will and human permission. It is a function of the human world of duality. What is "ethical" for one group is sin for another. But Ma'at, the reality that made all groups what they are is transcendent of ethics, just as a rock or a flower is amoral, a-ethical, without "truth or falsehood." How can a flower be "false" or "ethical." It just is. How can the universe be "ethical or moral, right or wrong"? It simply is. That is Ma'at.
Despite being a winged goddess (like Nephthys), she was judge at the Egyptian underworld at the Halls of Ma'ati or Halls of the Double Ma'at.
The dead person's heart was placed on a scale, balanced by Ma'at herself, or by the Feather of Ma'at (her symbol that she wore on her head was an ostrich feather). Thoth (god of writing and scribes) weighed the heart... if the deceased had been found to not have followed the concept of ma'at during his life (if he had lied or cheated or killed or done anything against ma'at) his heart was devoured by a demon (she was called Ammut - Devouress of the Dead) and he died the final death. If the heart weighed the same as Ma'at, the deceased was allowed to go on to the afterlife. In life, it was the pharaohs' duty to uphold ma'at. "I have done Ma'at" has been spoken by several pharaohs, as well as being called "beloved of Ma'at". The ruler who forcibly emphasizes his adherence to Maat on his monuments in Akhenaten �?the very king whom later pharaohs considered to have deviated immensely from her laws.
Ma'at, as would be logical, was also was the justice meeted out in ancient Egyptial law courts. It is likely that a "Priest of Ma'at" referred to people who were involved in the justice system, as well as being priests of the goddess herself.
There is a small temple dedicated to Ma'at (in ruins) at Karnak. The temple is inside Precinct of Montu, the smallest of three enclosures at Karnak. The temple seems to have been built by Hatshepsut, then reconstructed by Thuthmose III. You can see a computer reconstruction of Ma'at's temple at http://www.ifrance.com/homann/t3maatec.jpg. Ma'at did not exist until Ra rose from the waters of Nun (various gods and goddesses of Chaos). She was known as a Neter goddess, and as such, was described as a daughter of Ra. But without Ma'at, Egyptians believed that Nun would reclaim the universe. She was also thought to be the wife of Thoth, moon god and god of the wisdom. She was, really, the most important deity of them all.
Hathor, Goddess of Love, Music, Beauty ......
by Caroline Seawright Hathor and Seti I Hathor (Ht-hr - House of Horus) She was a goddess of many things, among them she was a: Celestial goddess: The Mistress of Heaven
Goddess of love, music and beauty: the Goddess of Love, Cheerfulness, Music, and Dance,
Goddess of women, firtility, children and childbirth: The Mother of Mothers, the Celestial Nurse,
Goddess of destruction and drunkeness: The Vengeful Eye of Ra, the Lady of Drunkeness,
Goddess of the dead: Lady of the West
She was also known as the Mistress of Life, the Great Wild Cow, the Golden One, the Mistress of Turquoise, Lady of Dendera (her cult centre was located at Dendera), Mistress of Qis, Lady to the Limit (of the Universe), Lady of Punt (perhaps an area in present day Somalia) the Powerful One, the Mistress of the Desert, Lady of the Southern Sycamore (she was depicted as handing out water to the deceased from a sycamore tree, hence a goddess of moisture as well as of the dead, both relating to the sycamore tree), Lady of Malachite (eye makeup from Sinai was made from green malachite - Sinai was one of Hathor's domains)... and many other names, besides.
The reason that she has so many names, one would assume, is because she is an ancient goddess - she seems to have been mentioned as early as the 2nd Dynasty. She may even been associated with the Narmer palette - although the two human faced bovines may also have been a representation of the king. It is interesting to note, though, that there is not a personal name of the goddess mentioned in the list of names - they are all titles. Another interesting thing about Hathor is found in one particular Egyptian tale - when the hero of the story was born, the 'Seven Hathors', disguised as seven young women, appeared and announced his fate. They seemed to be linked with not only fortune telling, but to being questioners of the soul on its way to the Land of the West. These goddesses were worshiped in seven cities: Thebes, Heliopolis, Aphroditopolis, Sinai, Momemphis, Herakleopolis, and Keset. They are linked to the Pleiades. Generally, Hathor is pictured as a woman with cow's horns with the sun between them (Eye of Ra, Golden One), or as a beautiful woman with cow's ears, or a cow wearing the sun disk between her horns, or even as a lioness or a lion-headed woman (destruction and drunkeness). She often is seen carrying a sistrum, an ancient musical instrument (hence a goddess of music). The sycamore was sacred to her (Lady of the Southern Sycamore). She is said to be the mother of the pharaoh, and is often depicted in a nurturing role, suckling the pharaoh when he was a child (hence a goddess of motherhood). The Eye of Ra One of the tales of Hathor was how she was originally a goddess of destruction (Hathor-Sekhmet), and how she came to be the goddess of happier things: Then Ra took on the shape of a man and became the first Pharaoh, ruling over the whole country for thousands and thousands of years, and giving such harvests that for ever afterwards the Egyptians spoke of the good things "which happened in the time of Ra".
But, being in the form of a man, Ra grew old. In time men no longer feared him or obeyed his laws. They laughed at him, saying: "Look at Ra! His bones are like silver, his flesh like gold, his hair is the colour of lapis lazuli!" Ra was angry when he heard this, and he was more angry still at the evil deeds which men were doing in disobedience to his laws. So he called together the gods whom he had made - Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut - and he also summoned Nun. Soon the gods gathered about Ra in his Secret Place, and the goddesses also. But mankind knew nothing of what was happening, and continued to jeer at Ra and to break his commandments. Then Ra spoke to Nun before the assembled gods: "Eldest of the gods, you who made me; and you gods whom I have made: look upon mankind who came into being at a glance of my Eye. See how men plot against me; hear what they say of me; tell me what I should do to them. For I will not destroy mankind until I have heard what you advise." Then Nun said: "My son Ra, the god greater than he who made him and mightier than those whom he has created, turn your mighty Eye upon them and send destruction upon them in the form of your daughter, the goddess Sekhmet." Ra answered: "Even now fear is falling upon them and they are fleeing into the desert and hiding themselves in the mountains in terror at the sound of my voice." "Send against them the glance of your Eye in the form Sekhmet!" cried all the other gods and goddesses, bowing before Ra until their foreheads touched the ground. So at the terrible glance from the Eye of Ra his daughter Sekhmet came into being, the fiercest of all goddesses. Like a lion she rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight was in slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood. At the bidding of Ra she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay those who had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among the mountains which lie on either side of the Nile, and down beside the river, and in the burning deserts. All whom she saw she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of blood. Presently Ra looked out over the land and saw what Sekhmet had done. Then he called to her, saying: "Come, my daughter, and tell me how you have obeyed my commands." Sekhmet answered with the terrible voice of a lioness as she tears her prey: "By the life which you have given me, I have indeed done vengeance on mankind, and my heart rejoices." Now for many nights the Nile ran red with blood, and Sekhmet's feet were red as she went hither and thither through all the land of Egypt slaying and slaying. Presently Ra looked out over the earth once more, and now his heart was stirred with pity for men, even though they had rebelled against him. But none could stop the cruel goddess Sekhmet, not even Ra himself: she must cease from slaying of her own accord -and Ra saw that this could only come about through cunning. So he gave his command: "Bring before me swift messengers who will run upon the earth as silently as shadows and with the speed of the storm winds." When these were brought he said to them: "Go as fast as you can up the Nile to where it flows fiercely over the rocks and among the islands of the First Cataract; go to the isle that is called Elephantine and bring from it a great store of the red ochre which is to be found there." The messengers sped on their way and returned with the blood-red ochre to Heliopolis, the city of Ra where stand the stone obelisks with points of gold that are like fingers pointing to the sun. It was night when they came to the city, but all day the women of Heliopolis had been brewing beer as Ra bade them. Ra came to where the beer stood waiting in seven thousand jars, and the gods came with him to see how by his wisdom he would save mankind. "Mingle the red ochre of Elephantine with the barley-beer," said Ra, and it was done, so that the beer gleamed red in the moonlight like the blood of men. "Now take it to the place where Sekhmet proposes to slay men when the sun rises," said Ra. And while it was still night the seven thousand jars of beer were taken and poured out over the fields so that the ground was covered to the depth of nine inches -- three times the measure of the palm of a man's hand-with the strong beer, whose other name is "sleep-maker". When day came Sekhmet the terrible came also, licking her lips at the thought of the men whom she would slay. She found the place flooded and no living creature in sight; but she saw the beer which was the colour of blood, and she thought it was blood indeed -- the blood of those whom she had slain. Then she laughed with joy, and her laughter was like the roar of a lioness hungry for the kill. Thinking that it was indeed blood, she stooped and drank. Again and yet again she drank, laughing with delight; and the strength of the beer mounted to her brain, so that she could no longer slay. At last she came reeling back to where Ra was waiting; that day she had not killed even a single man. Then Ra said: "You come in peace, sweet one." And her name was changed to Hathor, and her nature was changed also to the sweetness of love and the strength of desire. And henceforth Hathor laid low men and women only with the great power of love. But for ever after her priestesses drank in her honour of the beer of Heliopolis coloured with the red ochre of Elephantine when they celebrated her festival each New Year. Note that in the above tale, the goddess called 'Eye of Ra' was Hathor who became 'Sekhmet', then 'Hathor'. But afterwards, Sekhmet and Hathor were two seperate deities, both having claim to the title 'Eye of Ra'!
Isis, Sister of Nephthys, Mistress of Magic...
by Caroline Seawright Isis, Sister of Nephthys, Mistress of Magic... Unlike her twin sister Nephthys, Isis (Ast, Aset) is one of the most famous goddesses of ancient Egypt. Her worship originated in Africa, was nurtured and refined in Egypt, then spread through the ancient world by the Greek tourists the Romans conquerors, albeit in a different form with the original myths of the goddess long forgotten. Her fame quickly spread to all corners of the Roman empire. There was even a temple to Isis on the River Themes in Southwark, London! The last recorded festival of Isis was held in Rome in 394 AD but it was one of the last of the old faiths to die out.
Isis was, of course, sister to Nephthys, and also to Osiris and Set, and mother of Horus. To the ancient Egyptians, she was all that a mother should be - loving, clever, loyal and brave. Many statues and images show Isis holding the infant Horus on her knee, suckling the young god. To the Egyptians, she was the purest example of the loving wife and mother, and that was how they worshiped her - and loved her - the most. In a culture where fertility was a sign of success and sexual attractiveness, it's no wonder that the Egyptians cherished the fruitful Isis.
She wasn't just a mother - Isis was also a great magician. She became one of the most powerful magicians in Egypt when she managed to trick Ra into revealing his secret name to her. Thus when she wished to make Ra reveal to her his greatest and most secret name, she made a venomous reptile out of dust mixed with the spittle of the god, and by uttering over it certain words of power she made it to bite Ra as he passed. When she had succeeded in obtaining from the god his most hidden name, which he only revealed because he was on the point of death, she uttered words which had the effect of driving the poison out of his limbs, and Ra recovered. Now Isis not only used the words of power, but she also had knowledge of the way in which to pronounce them so that the beings or things to which they were addressed would be compelled to listen to them and, having listened, would be obliged to fulfil her bequests.
With her magical powers, she was able to bring her husband back to life, when he had been torn apart by his brother Set. She then fashioned a replacement for Osiris' missing penis, and blew life - with the appropriate magic words, intonations and rituals... and a little help from Thoth - back into husband. Sharing a night of passion, the deities conceived Horus and Osiris died again, and went on to become Lord of the Underworld.
But despite all of her magic, there were things that even she could not do without help. Isis hid her son Horus in the papyri and lotus thickets of Chemmis, in the delta area of Lower Egypt. She knew that if Set ever found out about her son, he would kill him. She had to hide with her son, and watch over him, day and night. Even though she was a goddess, and a great magician, she still had to leave the safety of the thickets to beg for food. On one of her trips, Set found out where the mother and child were hiding. Knowing that Isis would be gone for a while, he transformed himself into a snake and reached the child unseen. Biting the young god, shooting poison through his body, Set then made a quick getaway. Returning to the thicket, Isis found Horus lying lifeless on his back. She could hardly hear his heartbeat. Not knowing what sort of illness affected her song, she tried to work her great magics, but her powers had deserted her. She was alone, her husband was head and none of the gods were there to help her. Despairing, she took Horus in her arms and ran to the nearby village. The fishermen of the village took pity on her, and did their best to try to cure her son, to no avail. A wise woman examined the child, who told the goddess that it had been Set, disguised as either a snake or a scorpion, who poisoned him. Realising that the woman was right, Isis became angry. She let out a great wail:
'Horus has been bitten!
O Re! a scion of yours has been bitten!
Horus has been bitten!
The heir to your heir, a direct link with the kingship of Shu,
Horus has been bitten!
The babe of Chemmis, the infant of the House of the Prince,
Horus has been bitten!
The beautiful golden child, the innocent orphan child
Horus has been bitten!
The son of the "Beneficent Being", born of the "Tearful One",
Horus has been bitten!
Him I watched over so anxiously, for I foresaw that he would avenge his father....' Nephthys heard Isis' cries, and came in her bird form of a kite, flying to the mashes, "Pray, tell what has happened to Horus the son of Osiris? Ah Isis, my sister! Beseech heaven and the divine crew will bring Ra's boat to a standstill and the cosmic wind will cease to blow for the boat of Ra while Horus lies on his side."
Raising her voice, she cried to the Boat of a Million Years with a cry so great that it stopped the sun boat in its course and shook the earth, because Isis knew the secret name of Ra. Looking down at the grieving goddess, Ra sent Thoth to find out what happened. When he heard, Thoth consoled the goddess: "What is the matter, O Isis, you who are so divine and skilful and know your spell? Surely nothing has gone amiss with Horus? An assurance of his safety is in the boat of Ra. I have just come from the barge. The sun is in its place of yesterday so that all has become dark and the light has been driven away until Horus recovers his health - to the delight of his mother Isis."
Thus it was that Thoth worked great magic and the poison was driven out of Horus' body, bringing the baby back to life again, to the delight of his mother.
Thoth then ordered the people of the marshes and all birds and animals who lived there to keep watch over them. Their life in the delta was still hard, but they stayed until Horus was old enough to have revenge on his uncle for the death of his father. Her heavenly symbol was the star Sept (Sirius), the star that marked the beginning of not only the Egyptian new year, and the season for inundation of the Nile, but also the arrival of spring. It was a sign of renewed wealth and prosperity for the whole country. During her history, Isis was a goddess up took on the attributes of the other goddesses (including Nekhebet, Uatchet, Ma'at, Bast and Hathor), even from a very early stage in Egyptian history. As such, she became a goddess of limitless attributes, a goddess of water, earth, corn, star, wind, motherhood and a goddess of the underworld. She, along with her twin, was both a goddess of mourning and a friend of the dead, and a patron goddess of childbirth and motherhood. Isis was a winged goddess who represented all that was visible, birth, growth, development and vigour. Having wings, she was a wind goddess (as was her sister). She travelled widely, moaned and cried loud enough to shake the heavens and used her wings to blow life into her husband. The kite was sacred to her, and she could transform herself into this bird at will. She brought the heavenly scent with her through the land, leaving lingering scenes of spices and flowers her wake. She brought fresh air with her into the underworld when she gave food to the dead. She represented both the life-giving spring winds of Egypt and the morning winds that hailed the arrival of the sun each day. Some of her many specific titles included: The Great Lady
The God-Mother
Lady of Re-a-nefer
Isis-Nebuut, lady of Sekhet
Lady of Besitet
Isis in Per Pakht
The Queen of Mesen
Isis of Ta-at-nehepet
Isis, Dweller in Netru
Isis, Lady of Hebet
Isis in P-she-Hert
Isis, lady of Khebt
Usert-Isis, Giver of Life
Lady of Abaton
Lady of Philae
Lady of the Countries of the South
Among her general titles may be mentioned those of "the divine one, the only one, the greatest of the gods and goddesses, the queen of all gods, the female Ra, the female Horus, the eye of Ra, the crown of Ra-Heru, Sept, opener of the year, lady of the New Year, maker of the sunrise, lady of heaven, the light-giver of heaven, lady of the North Wind, queen of the earth, most mighty one, queen of the South and North, lady of the solid earth, lady of warmth and fire, benefactress of the Tuat, she who is greatly feared in the Tuat, the God-mother, the God-mother of Heru-ka-nekht, the mother of the Horus of gold, the lady of life, lady of green crops, the green goddess (Uatchet), lady of bread, lady of beer, lady of abundance, lady of joy and gladness, lady of love, the maker of kings, lady of the Great House, lady of the House of fire, the beautiful goddess, the lady of words of power, lady of the shuttle, daughter of Seb, daughter of Neb-er-tcher, the child of Nut, wife of Ra, wife of the lord of the abyss, wife of the lord of the Inundation, the creatrix of the Nile flood." Isis's name comes from the hieroglyph of the throne with a female ending reading "Mistress of the Throne" (Osiris also has the throne in his name, meaning "Occupier of the Throne"). Originally it was the symbol for 'flesh', reading "Mistress of Flesh". Not only did her name suggest that she was Queen of the Gods, but that she had also once been a mortal woman. In Egyptian art and myth, she has been depicted as both human and divine. She was represented as a goddess with the headdress of a miniature throne. Later on, she took on the aspects of Hathor, and took on the bovine goddess' headdress of cow's horns with the sun disk between them. As a human woman, she was shown with a queen's headdress, with the uraeus on her forehead.
Her cult originated at Per-hebet, and spread over the whole of Egypt and beyond. Ancient Egyptian festivals for Isis included 'The Festival of Isis', 'The Birthday of Isis', 'The Marriage of Isis and Osiris', 'The Feast of Lights of Isis', 'The Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys for Osiris', 'Isis Seeks the Body of Osiris', 'Isis Rejoices as She Finds Osiris' and 'The Birth of Horus, Child of Isis'. Originally, she was a black goddess, identifying her as of African origin.
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The Ancient Egyptian Concept of the Soul
by Caroline Seawright The Ancient Egyptian Concept of the Soul To the Ancient Egyptians, their soul - their being - were made up of many different parts. Not only was there the physical form, but there were eight immortal or semi-divine parts that survived death, with the body making nine parts of a human. The precise meaning of ka, ba, ach (akh), `shm (sekhem), and so on is no longer clear to us. Well-meaning scholars try again and again and again to force the Egyptian idea of the soul into our traditional categories without enabling us to understand even a little of it any better
-- J. J. Poortman, Vehicles of Consciousness - the Concept of Hylic Pluralism The Egyptian's other worldly parts include:
Khat (Kha) - The physical form, the body that could decay after death, the mortal, outward part of the human that could only be preserved by mummification. Ka - The double that lingered on in the tomb inhabiting the body or even statues of the deceases, but was also independent of man and could move, eat and drink at will. (There was both a higher, guardian angel like Ka and lower Ka that came from knowledge learned on earth.)
Ba - The human headed bird flitted around in the tomb during the day brining air and and food to the deceased, but travelled with Ra on the Solar Barque during the evenings. Khaibit - The shadow of a man, it could partake of funerary offerings and was able to detach itself from the body and travel at will, though it always was thought to stay near the Ba.
Akhu (Akh, Khu, Ikhu) - This was the immortal part, the radiant and shining being that lived on in the Sahu, the intellect, will and intentions of the deceased that transfigured death and ascended to the heavens to live with the gods or the imperishable stars. Sahu - The incorruptible spiritual body of man that could dwell in the heavens, appearing from the physical body after the judgement of the dead was passed (if successful) with all of the mental and spiritual abilities of a living body. Sekhem - This was the incorporeal personification of the life force of man, which lived in heaven with the Akhu, after death.
Ab (Ib) - The heart, this was the source of good and evil within a person, the moral awareness and centre of thought that could leave the body at will, and live with the gods after death, or be eaten by Ammut as the final death if it failed to weigh equally against Ma'at.
Ren - The true name, a vital part to man on his journey through life and the afterlife, a magical part that could destroy a man if his name was obliterated or could give power of the man if someone knew his Ren - naming ceremonies in Egypt were secret, and a child lived his whole life with a nickname to avoid anyone from learning his true name!
The multiplicity of Egyptian thought is so different from the traditional view of western thought that it can be hard to imagine. The dead man is at one and the same time in heaven, in the god's boat [Re, the sun-god's, celestial barge], under the earth, tilling the Elysian fields, and in his tomb enjoying his victuals.
-- Lionel Casson, Ancient Egypt In Egypt one person could have multiple afterlives - each different part of the person would be able to have its own existence after death, if they survived the trials of the underworld and the Osirian judgement of the dead with all of their magic spells.
While the Khat lies in the tomb, ready to be animated by the Ka, the Ba might be travelling the underworld with Ra. While the Ab is with the gods, the Khaibit might be with the Ba on the barque, or in the tomb eating some offerings. At the same time, the Akhu, Sekhem and Sahu might be contentedly living in the stars, looking down at the earth. An interesting point to note is that the Egyptians believed that animals, plants, water and even stones had their own Ka. A human's Ka could move around while a person slept, and even inhabit a plant if the Ka so desired, rather than the human. The Ka could manifest itself, as a ghost, to others, both when the person it was 'born' with was dead or a live. It was even thought to haunt those who did wrong to it - if family failed to make proper offerings, the starving and thirsty Ka would haunt them until they corrected this error! The Egyptians mummified their bodies because their physical form was an integral part to their afterlife. Being such a practical people, liking what they could see and touch, an existence without a physical body was unacceptable to them. Even the destruction of the heart (the spiritual Ab rather than the physical heart) would mean the death of all of the other parts of the being, but it meant that the physical heart was preserved along with the physical body. Other rituals point to the importance of the physical body after death - the Opening of the Mouth ceremony allowed the body to breath, while other rituals were performed on the corpse to allow the deceased to see and hear in the Land of the West. Death was a complex affair. Originally this was only for the pharaoh, but the rich soon believed that they could take part in the afterlife, and eventually the poor believed they could join the ranks of the blessed dead. Other reasons for the complexity of life after death came from the Egyptian way of clinging to ideas, rather than discarding them when new ideas came along. The intermingling of peoples, the different religious ideas and cults all were incorporated into the Egyptian belief system, giving rise to this elaborate belief system. From the monuments and papyrus scrolls and tombs left today, it's no wonder that Egyptians were thought to have focused their lives around death! But the Egyptians, like any other people, enjoyed life, and did not look forward to death. They followed the maxim "live life not that thou shalt die" - partying and generally trying to enjoy life. But death, to the Egyptians, was a somewhat better version of their current life. They would eat, drink and share good companionship in the stars or in the Land of the West. They would have servants to do their chores for them. Life, after death, would be ideal. The only problem was that there was no guarantee that they would actually get to the afterlife, and there was always the threat of their names, physical bodies or images being destroyed, killing their multiple parts in the process. Spells, prayers, tomb paintings and statues could help, but if everything was obliterated, then they died, too. No wonder the Egyptians lived their lives to the fullest!
Nephthys, Sister of Isis, Mistress of the House...
by Caroline Seawright Nephthys in Splendour Nephthys, Sister of Isis, Mistress of the House... Nephthys is one of the Egyptian goddesses who seems to have been ignored or pushed into the background. She didn't become a major cult figure, like her sister Isis, but one must remember that Nephthys, too, was a sibling of the most famous gods of ancient Egypt - Isis and Osiris. She was also the sister-wife of the god Set, the god of storms and the desert... and aunt to the god Horus. Her Egyptian name (Neb-hut, Nebthet) means "Mistress of the House"... ...but by the word "house" we must understand that portion of the sky which was supposed to form the abode of the Sun-god Horus; in fact "het" in the name of Nebt-het is used in exactly the same sense as "het" in the name "Het-Hert," or Hathor, i.e., the "House of Horus."
Despite being the wife of Set, she was seen as a loyal sister to her other siblings, helping Isis to gather Osiris' scattered limbs (after Set cut him into pieces), and helped her revive the dead god. She thus became associated with the dead, becoming a friend of the deceased. She offered guidance to the newly dead, and comfort to the family of the one who died.
She was depicted as a woman with the hieroglyphs of her name (a basket and a house on top of each other) on her head, though she was also sometimes given wings or the form of a bird (the kite), making her a solar deity, as well as a deity of the dead. In the later period, she became the mother of Anubis (the god of the dead) through Osiris. As comforter, she stood at the birth-bed to offer comfort and help with the birth of new born children - Isis was seen as the midwife. The two sisters were often together, only being able to be told apart by the hieroglyph on their heads. Also, like her sister, she was thought to have great magical powers - she was the Mighty One of Words of Power. Yet, originally, where Isis was visible, birth, growth, development and vigour, Nephthys was invisible, death, decay, diminution and immobility. She was the darkness to Isis' light. Isis was the day, her twin sister the night. The goddesses were personified by two priestesses who were virgins and who were ceremonially pure; the hair of their limbs was to be shaved off, they were to wear ram's wool garlands upon their heads, and to hold tambourines in their hands; on the arm of one of them was to be a fillet inscribed "To Isis," and on the arm of the other was to be a fillet inscribed "To Nephthys." On five days during the month of December these women took their places in the temple of Abydos and, assisted by the Kher Heb, or precentor, they sang a series of groups of verses to the god.
Here is an except from the 'Songs of Isis and Nephthys', sung to Osiris by the two priestesses:
Hail, thou lord of the underworld, thou Bull of those who are therein, thou Image of Ra-Harmachis, thou Babe of beautiful appearance, come thou to us in peace. Thou didst repel thy disasters, thou didst drive away evil hap; Lord, come to us in peace.
O Un-nefer, lord of food, thou chief, thou who art of terrible majesty, thou God, president of the gods, when thou dost inundate the land [all] things are engendered. Thou art gentler than the gods. The emanation of thy body make the dead and the living to live, O thou lord of food, thou prince of green herbs, thou mighty lord, thou staff of life, thou giver of offerings to the gods, and of sepulchral meals to the blessed dead. Thy soul flieth after Ra, thou shinest at dawn, thou settest at twilight, thou riseth every day; thou shalt rise on the left hand of Atmu for ever and ever. Thou art the glorious one, the vicar of Ra; the company of the gods cometh to thee invoking thy face, the flame whereof reacheth unto thine enemies. We rejoice when thou gatherest together thy bones, and when thou hast made whole thy body daily. Anubis cometh to thee, and the two sisters (i.e., Isis and Nephthys) come to thee. They have obtained beautiful things for thee, and they gather together thy limbs for thee, and they seek to put together the mutilated members of thy body. Wipe thou the impurities which are on them upon our hair and come thou to us having no recollection of that which hath caused thee sorrow. Come thou in thy attribute of "Prince of the Earth," lay aside thy trepidation and be at peace with us, O Lord. Thou shalt be proclaimed heir of the world, and the One god, and the fulfiller of the designs of the gods. All the gods invoke thee, come therefore to thy temple and be not afraid. O Ra (i.e., Osiris), thou art beloved of Isis and Nephthys; rest thou in thy habitation for ever. Among her titles, Nephthys was known as:
Lady of the Body (of the Gods)
Dweller within Senu
Lady of Heaven
Mistress of the Gods
Great Goddess, Lady of Life
Her major centres of worships were Senu, Hebet, (Behbit), Per-mert, Re-nefert, Het-sekhem, Het-Khas, Ta-kehset, and Diospolites. Her principal sanctuary was at Heliopolis.
Re (Ra) was the Egyptian sun god who was also often referred to as Re-Horakhty, meaning Re (is) Horus of the Horizon, referring to the god's character. The early Egyptians believed that he created the world, and the rising sun was, for them, the symbol of creation. The daily cycle, as the sun rose, then set only to rise again the next morning, symbolized renewal and so Re was seen as the paramount force of creation and master of life. His closest ally is Ma'at, the embodiment of order and truth.
Right: Re-Horakhty (right) and Osiris (left) Re was also closely connected to the Pharaoh, Egypt's king. While the king ruled earth, Re was the master of the universe so they were of the same nature and were in effect a mirror image of each other. Interestingly, up until the 2nd Dynasty, there is an absence of references on Re, but his development began in the late 2nd Dynasty and matured through the 5th Dynasty. Re became more and more associated with the king, who was both human and a god at once, embodied in the falcon named Horus and by the 4th Dynasty, referred to as the son of Re. Hence, a relationship also developed between Horus and Re as they were merged in the symbol of a winged sun disk, an icon that remained constant in Temples and religious monuments through the end of Egyptian history. Re's early worship really became very significant during the 5th Dynasty, when kings not only erected pyramids aligned to the rising and setting sun, but also built solar temples in honor of Re. This sort of temple must have been a difficult conception for the Egyptians, because Re never had a sanctuary with a cult statue. Instead, his image was the sun itself, so the sun temples were centered upon an Obelisk over which the sun rose, and before the obelisk would be an alter for his worship. However, the most significant early solar temple was probably erected at Heliopolis, where a pillar resembling an obelisk made up part of the hieroglyphs for the city's name, Iwn. Unfortunately, that structure is now completely destroyed. These 5th Dynasty rulers were also responsible for the first Pyramid Texts during the Old Kingdom, a collection of spells describing the journey of the dead pharaoh through the underworld. These texts were some of the first decorations inscribed in Pyramids, and are an important source of information on the sun god. For example, one hymn states: "Homage to thee, O thou who risest in the horizon as Ra,
"thou restest upon law unchangeable and unalterable. Thou
"passest over the sky, and every face watcheth thee and thy
"course, for thou hast been hidden from their gaze. Thou dost
"show thyself at dawn and at eventide day by day. The Sektet*
"boat, wherein is the Majesty, goeth forth with light; thy beams
"are upon all faces; the [number] of red and yellow rays
"cannot be known, nor can thy bright beams be told. The lands
"of the gods, and the lands of Punt* must be seen, ere that which
"is hidden [in thee] may be measured. Alone and by thyself thou
"dost manifest thyself when thou comest into being above Nu*.
"May I advance, even as thou dost advance; may I never cease to
"go forward as thou never ceasest to go forward, even though it be
"for a moment; for with strides thou dost in one little moment
"pass over the spaces which would need millions and millions of
"years [for men to pass over; this] thou doest and then thou dost
"sink to rest. Thou puttest an end to the hours of the night, and
"thou dost count them, even thou; thou endest them in thine
"own appointed season, and the earth becometh light. Thou
"settest thyself therefore before thy handiwork in the likeness of
"Ra [when] thou risest on the horizon." The story of creation related in the Pyramid Text explains that Re, as Atum, rose in the beginning of creation as a benben stone, an obelisk-like pillar, in the temple of the Benu-Phoenix in Heliopolis. He then spit forth Shu and Tefnut, who became the first godly couple, and who respectively, symbolized air and moisture. To them, Geb and Nut, were born, symbolizing the earth and sky. Geb and Nut, in turn, begot two divine couples consisting of Osiris - Isis and Seth - Nephthys. Called the Ennead of gods, the combined attributes of this divine group were needed in order for the world to function. However, while Re is never paired with a goddess, he also bears several other off springs including, among others, his son the king, who becomes one with his father in death and the Goddess Hathor, who is often depicted with the solar disk in her headdress. The story continues with Osiris, who is murdered by his brother Seth. In this version of the story, Re resurrects Osiris to rule over the dead. The deceased pharaoh identifies with both Re and Osiris, thus forming a link between them. Though Re and Osiris might be seen as complete opposites, death was not seen by the ancient Egyptians to be the end of life, but rather its original source. Thus, in the Pyramid Text, Re is perpetually resurrected in the mornings in the form of a scarab beetle, Khepri, which means the Emerging One. He rides on the primordial waters, called Nun, in his sacred bark (boat) along with a number of other deities across the sky, where at sunset he becomes Atum, the "All Lord". At sunset, he is swallowed by the goddess Nut, who gives birth to him each morning again as Khepri. Therefore, the cycle continued with birth, life and death. By the Middle Kingdom (about 2055 BC - 1759 BC), Re's character evolved and now several hymns tell us that he created the earth solely for mankind, who are made in his image. Now, evil, the opposite of Ma'at, comes from mankind's own deeds. While in life, it is the king who controls humans, rewarding the obedient and destroying the disobedient and evil, in death, it is Re who fills this role. Furthermore, we find a newly defined relationship between Re and Osiris. Mortals now become Osiris in death, a concept that would make Osiris very popular with common Egyptians who were rather excluded theologically from the prior myths. Re and Osiris travel through the underworld together at night, and the sun god's birth in the morning is symbolized by an amulet in the form of a scarab beetle that becomes very popular among Egyptians of this period. It is also at this time that Re takes on additional attributes by his combination with other gods. This is often seen as a political move to unite important gods of different regions, and so we see Re, who was most prominent in the north combined with another creator god, Amun of southern Egypt into Amun-Re. He was also combined with a number of other creator gods. Left: Various forms of Re By Egypt's New Kingdom (about 1539 BC - 1069 BC), Re's reverence was at its peak. Now, the tombs of kings such as those in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of modern Luxor (ancient Thebes) contained complex decorative themes depicting the various books of the underworld describing the sun's nightly journey. Here, Re is depicted with the body of a human and the head of a ram. These books record the sun god's nocturnal voyage hour by hour. In the fifth hour, Re suffers death and is united with his corpse, Osiris. Yet at the same time, new life springs forth. In the twelfth hour, when the sun rises once more, Re is newly born as a scarab. Another text, called the Litany of Re, describes how the king is identified with some 75 different underworld figures of Re. We know much more of the theology of Re during the New Kingdom because of Papyri recounting his myths. Actually, there are two forms of the myth, with the first focusing on Re as an elderly and tired deity. In this theme, he organizes the world so that he is no longer required to intervene in human affairs and transfers his powers to Horus, the King, thus conceding the throne to his physical son. However, some New Kingdom temples were built with an open courtyard with an alter for Re, where the priests, or theoretically the king himself, would recite one of twelve poetic hymns predicting the victorious course of the sun, each our of the day. In these temples, the rising sun is sometimes depicted as a squatting human infant, while the full, daylight sun takes on the form of a human adult. During this period, the king is very directly identified with Re. H Amenhotep III, for example, calls himself "the dazzling sun", while Amenotep IV, the heretic king who later called himself Akhenaten, even went so far as to make the cult of the solar disk, called Aten, a semi-monotheistic religion. And while Akhenaten's efforts were reversed after his death, Amun-Re nevertheless became a universal god, all encompassing, who maintained life for the sky, earth, the other gods and humans. However, it should be noted that at times, so powerful was the cult, particularly of Amun-Re, that the priests of the cult threatened the kingship. Towards the end of the New Kingdom, what was now Re-Horakhty-Atum became more closely associated with the mummiform shape of Osiris, who was generally seen as the nocturnal manifestation of Re. By now, Osiris had become a god of the people so that anyone could make the journey in Re's nocturnal bark, so we see in this merger a democratization of Egyptian religion. Hence, we find magical papyri from different social strata intending to protect both the living and the dead, which relies on solar symbolism, in order to assure the believers resurrection. We also find many amulets placed on the mummies of both royalty and non-royalty to protect the dead. These solar symbols include the sun in the horizon, the sun disk, the celestial bark, the double lion and the obelisk. There was also a disk showing Re with four ram's heads, a nocturnal form called a hypocephalus. Though Re lived on in various forms into the Greco-Roman period, his worship gradually deteriorated during the fist millennium. This decline was probably due to the weakening of the kingship under various foreign rulers. Though he continued to be a part of Egyptian theology, he was no longer a part of the peoples living faith. Devotion to Re became more and more limited to priests of the temple.
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Khephri
Other Names: Kheper, Khepera Patron of: the sun, creation, life, resurrection. Appearance: A scarab-headed man, a scarab, and a man wearing a scarab as a crown. Description: The word kheper means scarab, and as the animal was associated with life and rebirth, so was Khephri. The scarab lays its eggs in a ball of dung and rolls it to hide in a safe place. From this unlikely substance the Egyptians observed new life emerging. Similarly, they believed that Khephri, in the form of a gigantic scarab, rolled the sun like a huge ball through the sky, then rolled it through the underworld to the eastern horizon. Each morning Khephri would renew the sun so that it could give life to all the world.
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 middle register in the third hour of the Book of the Dead from the burial chamber of Ramesses I 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.
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 many-coiled 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.
The Egyptians believed that every person was composed of three essential elements: body, ba, and ka. The body is the physical body and is unique to each individual. As a person gets older, so the body ages and changes - the Egyptians' expressed the idea of growing up as a process of "making changes" - and death is the last change. Each person also has a ba. Though the ba is also unique to each individual, it is not a physical entity. Ba is sometimes translated as "manifestation," and can be thought of as the sum total of all the non-physical things that make a person different from others. In this sense, ba is very similar to what we call "personality" or "character." In the afterlife, the ba is represented as a bird, often with a human head. Each person also has what is called a ka, or life-force, and it is the ka which is the difference between being alive and being dead. Unlike the ba, the ka is not individual, but common to all living people and the gods: in the beginning, the creator made ka, and ka enters each person's body at birth. Like the ba, the ka is not a physical entity, though it has a definite physical connection. In the plural, ka means "sustenance," linking it to the idea of food. In fact, ancient Egyptians would bring food to a dead person's tomb as an offering to his or her ka. But since the ka is not strictly physical, the food was not there to be literally eaten by the deceased or the deceased's ka, but it was the life-preserving force in the food that was being offered. When a person dies, so the Egyptians believed, the ba and ka become separated from the body, though they do not die. In the New Kingdom period and after, the Egyptians effected this separation through the Opening of the Mouth ritual, in which the ba and ka are released to go to the next world. In the next world, or underworld, the goal is to live with ones ka. In order for this to happen, the ka needs to be summoned back to the body and recognize it. But since the body is bound in its wrappings, it must rely on its ba to seek out its ka. During the nightime, when the sun god, Ra, is said to visit the underworld, the ba may roam freely in the underworld, or to popular places in this world, but it's anchor in this world, where it must return when Ra leaves the underworld, is the body, because together they are part of the same whole being. In seeking a union with the ka, the ba must overcome many potential dangers in the underworld. But if it does succeed, it will reunite with the ka and form what is called akh. The Egyptian's believed that there are only three kinds of beings that inhabit the hereafter: the dead, the gods, and akhs. Akhs are those who have successfully made the transition to new life in the next world, where they live with the gods. The dead are those who have failed to make the transition. It is said that they have "died again," with no hope of renewed life.
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Lesson 13 Eyyptology
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