Chapter 8 (part 1)

p. 103 CHAPTER V. THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK AM-TUAT AND THE BOOK OF GATES COMPARED. THE WESTERN VESTIBULE OR ANTECHAMBER OF THE TUAT. HAVING already briefly described the general character of the BOOK AM-TUAT and the BOOK OF GATES we may pass at once to the comparison of their contents. For the sake of convenience, in describing the various divisions of the Tuat let us assume that we are occupying the position of a disembodied spirit who is about to undertake the journey through the Tuat, and that we are standing at the entrance to the First Division awaiting the arrival of the BOAT OF THE SUN-GOD, on which we hope to have permission to travel. Every funeral rite has been duly and adequately performed, the relatives and friends of the deceased have made the legally appointed offerings, and said all the prayers proper for the occasion, amulets inscribed with magical names and formulae have been attached to the body, copies of sacred writings have been laid on it or near it in the tomb, the priests have said the final words which p. 104 will secure for the soul a passage in the BOAT OF RA, and a safe-conduct to the abode of the blessed, whether this abode be in the boat itself or in the kingdom of Osiris. The result of all these things is that we have been enabled to pass through the tomb out into the region which lies immediately to the west of the mountain-chain on the west bank of the Nile, which we may consider as one mountain and call MANU, or the mountain of the Sunset. At this place are gathered together numbers of spirits, all bent on making their way to the abode of the blessed; these are they who have departed from their bodies during the day, and they have made their way to the sacred place in Western Thebes where they can join the BOAT OF THE SUN-GOD. Some are adequately equipped with words of power, and amulets, and their ultimate safety is assured, but others are less well provided, and it will be the fate of many of these to remain in the place wherein they now are, and never to enter the HOUSE OF OSIRIS or the BOAT OF RA. They will not suffer in any way whatsoever, but will simply remain there, protecting themselves as best they can by any words of power they may possess until such time as they are overcome by some hostile being, when they will die, and take their places among the other dead spirits, having failed to present themselves in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. p. 105 Now the dead who are in the various divisions of the Tuat do not, apparently, pass entirely out of existence; for, as we shall see later, they are revivified once each day by light which the Sun-god casts upon them as he passes through the Tuat, and for a season they enjoy his rays, and when, as he leaves one division to enter another, the Gate closes upon him, and shuts out his light, they set up dismal cries at his departure, and then sink down into inertness in the darkness which will swallow them up for twenty-four hours. It is possible that the dead here referred to represent the primitive inhabitants of the country, and the gods of the dead whom they worshipped when on earth, but there is no doubt that to these were joined the spirits of those who for some reason or other failed to advance beyond one or other of the divisions of the Tuat. Now, however, the time of evening has come, and the Sun-god in the SEKTET BOAT, wherein he has travelled since noon, draws nigh, flooding the FIRST DIVISION of the Tuat with light.