Chapter 7 (part 3)

As the BOOK AM-TUAT was composed with the view of asserting the absolute supremacy of Amen-Ra in the Other World, so the BOOK OF GATES was compiled to prove that, in spite of the pretensions of the priests of Amen-RA, Osiris, the ancient god of the dead, was still the over-lord of the Underworld, and that his kingdom was everlasting. The BOOK AM-TUAT practically ignores Osiris, and is silent even concerning the doctrines of the Judgment and Sekhet-Hetepet, and in fact about all the fundamental principles of the religion of Osiris as regards the dead, which had been universally believed throughout Egypt for thousands of years. The most complete copy of the BOOK OF GATES known to us is found inscribed on the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I, 1 king of Egypt about B.C. 1375, p. 86 and it consists of two parts:--1. A series of texts and pictures which describe the progress of the Boat of the Sun-god to the kingdom of Osiris, the Judgment of the Dead, the life of the beatified in Sekhet-Hetepet, the punishment of the wicked, and the foes of the Sun-god. 2. A series of texts and pictures which represent the magical ceremonies that were performed in very ancient times with the view of reconstructing the body of the Sun, and of making him rise each day. That the BOOK OF GATES embodied many of the most. ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and traditions is evident, but it is. quite certain that it never became as popular as the BOOK AM-TUAT; it must always be a matter for wonder that Seti I., having covered several walls in his tomb with the texts of this Book, should fill several more with sections of the BOOK OF GATES, and then have a complete copy of it cut and inlaid on the sides of his alabaster sarcophagus and its cover! We may now consider the region through which the Sun-god passed during the hours of the night, and the descriptions of its divisions and their inhabitants which are furnished by the BOOK AM-TUAT p. 87 and the BOOK OF GATES. This region was called by the Egyptians "Tat," or "Tuat," or "Tuaut"; the oldest form of the name, and that which is met with in the earliest of the Pyramid Texts is "Tat;" the chief god of the Tuat was called "Tuat," or "Tuaut," and the beings who lived therein were called "Tuatiu." The meaning of the name Tat, or Tuat, is unknown, and it is useless to speculate upon it or to invent etymologies for it; it was applied to the home of the beatified spirits and the damned, no doubt in predynastic times, and the exact meaning which it conveyed to the minds of those who first used it has been lost. To describe its general situation is less difficult, but not many details as to its exact extent are forthcoming. To find a word which shall at once describe the situation and character of the Tuat is impossible, for the reason that the Egyptian conception of the place of departed spirits is unique. The Tuat is not the "Lower Hemisphere," because it is not under the ground, and though for want of a better word I have frequently used "Underworld," when speaking of p. 88 the Tuat, it is unsatisfactory, for unless it is specially defined to mean the place of departed spirits in general, it produces a wrong impression in the mind. Again, the word Tuat must not be rendered by "Hades," or "Hell," or "Sheol," or "Jehannum," for each of these words has a limited and special meaning.