Chapter 43 (part 79)

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. 5. Lanzone, Domicile des Esprits , p. 1; Dizionario , p. 1292. 6. Maspero, La Mythologie Égyptienne ( Études , I. ii., p. 207); Jéquier, Le Livre , p. 3 The eastern mountain peak was called Bakhatet, and the western Manu. 7. I.e. , the Field of reed plants.] The Fields of Aaru and Hetep. Sekhet-Hetep,[l] and was supposed to lie to the north of Egypt. Here dwell Horus and Set, for the fields of Aaru and Hetep are their domains, and here enters the deceased with two of the children of Horus on one side of him, and two on the other, and the "two great chiefs who preside over the throne of the great god proclaim eternal life and power for him." Here like the supreme God he is declared to be "one," and the four children of Horus proclaim his name to Ra.