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The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, Volume II: The Book of Gates

Anonymous (New Kingdom Egypt) · tr. E. A. Wallis Budge · tr. 1905 · 33,546 words

The companion to the Am-Tuat: the sun’s night passage through twelve gates guarded by serpents, from the sarcophagus of Seti I, with the judgment hall of Osiris.

Editor’s note: Budge’s commentary reflects the confident and sometimes dismissive tone of Edwardian Egyptology toward Egyptian religion; it is kept as written.

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Opening

The Short Form · The First Hour

The Beginning of the Horn of Amentet, [Which Is] the Uttermost Point of the Deepest Darkness

This god entereth into the earth through the Hall of the horizon of Amentet. There are one hundred and twenty ATRU to journey over in this Hall before a man arriveth at the gods of the Tuat. The name of the first Field of the Tuat is NET-RA. He (i.e., Ra) allotteth fields to the gods who are in [his] following, and he beginneth to send forth words to and to work out the plans of the divine beings of the Tuat in respect of this Field. Whosoever shall have these made (i.e., copied) according to the similitude which is in Ament of the Tuat, [and] whosoever shall have knowledge of these similitudes, [which are] the copies of this great god himself, they shall act as magical protectors for him upon earth regularly and unfailingly, and they shall act as magical protectors for him in the Great Tuat. USHEMET-HATU-KHEFTI-RA is the name of the [first] hour of the night which guideth this great god through this Hall.

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Contents

  1. The Short Form · The First Hour
  2. The Short Form · The Second Hour
  3. The Short Form · The Third Hour
  4. The Short Form · The Fourth Hour
  5. The Short Form · The Fifth Hour
  6. The Short Form · The Sixth Hour
  7. The Short Form · The Seventh Hour
  8. The Short Form · The Eighth Hour
  9. The Short Form · The Ninth Hour
  10. The Short Form · The Tenth Hour
  11. The Short Form · The Eleventh Hour
  12. The Short Form · The Twelfth Hour
  13. Chapter I: The Alabaster Sarcophagus of Seti I
  14. Chapter II: The Ante-Chamber of the Tuat
  15. Chapter III: The Gate of Saa-Set: The Second Division of the Tuat
  16. Chapter IV: The Gate of Aqebi. The Third Division of the Tuat
  17. Chapter V: The Gate of Tchetbi. The Fourth Division of the Tuat
  18. Chapter VI: The Gate of Teka-Hra. The Fifth Division of the Tuat
  19. Chapter VII: The Judgment Hall of Osiris. The Sixth Division of the Tuat
  20. Chapter VIII: The Gate of Set-em-maat-f. The Sixth Division of the Tuat—continued
  21. Chapter IX: The Gate of Akha-En-Maat. The Seventh Division of the Tuat
  22. Chapter X: The Gate of Set-hra. The Eighth Division of the Tuat
  23. Chapter XI: The Gate of Ab-ta. The Ninth Division of the Tuat
  24. Chapter XII: The Gate of Sethu. The Tenth Division of the Tuat
  25. Chapter XIII: The Gate of Am-netu-f. The Eleventh Division of the Tuat
  26. Chapter XIV: The Gate of Sebi and Reri. The Twelfth Division of the Tuat

About this edition

Source: Internet Sacred Text Archive

Public domain: First published tr. 1905; public domain in the United States.

What’s included: Budge’s translation (1905) from the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I: the short form of the Am-Tuat in twelve hours, and all fourteen chapters of the Book of Gates. The vignettes are not reproduced.

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