Chapter 10 (part 1)

SECOND DIVISION OF THE TUAT. II. THE KINGDOM OF KHENTI-AMENTI-OSIRIS ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF GATES. To advance into this Division the Boat of AFU-RA must first pass through the Gate which is guarded by the huge serpent SAA-SET, and this done the god now takes upon himself the form in which he appears in the BOOK AM-TUAT, i.e., that of a ram-headed man. The snake-goddess MEHEN, which surrounded the disk enclosing a beetle, now envelops the shrine in which he stands; it must be noted that SA and HEKAU stand, as before, in the Boat, which is now towed along by four gods of the Tuat, who represent the four quarters of the earth and the four cardinal points. The Boat is received by a company of thirteen gods, who are apparently under the rule of a god who holds a staff. The object of the visit of AFU-RA is to "weigh words and deeds in Ament, to make a distinction between the great and little gods, to assign thrones to the Spirits [who are pure], to dismiss the damned to the place set apart for them, and to destroy their bodies." (vol. ii., p. 91). Now this is an important statement, for it distinctly implies that a judgment of the dead takes place in the Second Division, or Hour, of the Tuat, p. 117 which is here called AMENT, that the positions of the dead are graded, and that reward and punishment are meted out to the dead, according to their deserts. It is said by AFU-RA to the dwellers in AMENT, "the dead ( mitu ) shall not enter in after you"; which proves that, wherever the place of punishment was, it was not in the SECOND Division of the Tuat. The gods who assist AFU-RA in his work of judgment are said to live upon the offerings made to them upon earth; here was a direct inducement to the faithful to make offerings regularly to the gods of the Tuat, and it was understood that such acts of piety would tell on their behalf when their words and deeds came to be weighed in Ament. The reader will note that it is AFU-RA who is the judge here, and not Osiris. Examining now the beings who are on both banks of the river we see that they fall naturally into two classes, viz., the good and the bad; the former are on the right hand of the god, and the latter on his left, just as saints and sinners are arraigned before God's throne in mediaeval pictures of the Judgment. The good are divided into two classes, "the HETEPTIU who praise RA," and the "MAATIU who dwell in the Tuat" (vol. ii., p. 93). The HETEPTIU are thus called because they made "offerings" ( hetepet ) to Ra upon earth, and burned incense to him; they also sang praises to RA and worshipped him upon earth, and uttered hekau , or words of power, against APEP, the p. 118 arch-foe of Ra (vol. ii., p. 94). From this text we see that it was not enough for the followers of Ra to praise him and give him gifts, but that they must also use magical words and formulae in order that Ra's foe may be destroyed; and, because when they were upon earth they made offerings to the Tuat-gods, now that they are themselves in the Tuat and have need of food, Ra declares that offerings made to them shall never fail, and their souls shall never be destroyed.