Chapter 9 (part 2)

One scene makes the morning and evening boats of Ra to sail along the back of Nut; another depicts Shu holding up the boat of the sun wherein is the disk on the horizon. A third from the sarcophagus of Seti I. represents Nu the god of the primeval water holding up the boat of the sun, wherein we see the beetle with the solar disk facing it accompanied by Isis and Nephthys, who stand one on each side; behind Isis stand the gods Seb, Shu, Hek, Hu, and Sa, and behind Nephthys are three deities who represent the doors through which the god Tmu has made his way to the world. The Tuat , or abode of the dead. Within the two bowed female figures which represent the day and the night sky, and which have been referred to above (Fig. 2), is a third figure which is bent [1. Lanzone, op. cit. , tav. 155. 2. Le Livre de ce qu'il y a dans l'Hadès , p. 3 3 Ibid., tav. 157. 4. Ibid., tav. 158. 5 Brugsch, Religion und Mythologie , p. 216.] The Egyptian heaven. round in a circle; the space enclosed by it represents according to Dr. Brugsch the Tuator Egyptian underworld, wherein dwelt the gods of the dead and the departed souls. This view is supported by the scene from the sarcophagus of Seti I. (Fig. 1). In the watery space above the bark is the figure of the god bent round in a circle with his toes touching his head, and upon his head stands the goddess Nut with outstretched hands receiving the disk of the sun. In the space enclosed by the body of the god is the legend, "This is Osiris; his circuit is the Tuat." Though nearly all Egyptologists agree about the meaning of the word being "the place of departed souls," yet it has been translated in various ways, different scholars locating the Tuat in different parts of creation. Dr. Brugsch and others place it under the earth, others have supposed it to be the space which exists between the arms of Shu and the body of Nut, but the most recent theory put forth is that it was situated neither above nor below the earth, but beyond Egypt to the north, from which it was separated by the mountain range which, as the Egyptians thought, supported the sky. The region of the Tuat was a long, mountainous, narrow valley with a river running along it; starting from the east it made its way to the north, and then taking a circular direction it came back to the east. In the Tuat lived all manner of fearful monsters and beasts, and here was the country through which the sun passed during the twelve hours of the night; according to one view he traversed this region in splendour, and according to another he died and became subject to Osiris the king, god and judge of the kingdom of the departed. The Fields of Aaru and Hetep. The souls of the dead made their way to their abode in the "other world" by a ladder, according to a very ancient view, or through a gap in the mountains of Abydos called Peka according to another; but, by whichever way they passed from earth, their destination was a region in the Tuat which is called in the pyramid and later texts Sekhet-Aaru, which was situated in the [1. Brugsch, op. cit. , p. 211. 2. The legend reads "This is Nut, she receiveth Ra." 3. ###. 4. Wörterbuch , p. 1622.