Chapter 11 (part 2)

The realm of Osiris had to be cleared of such beings, and the gods whose duty it was to protect him destroyed them with fire. We may note, too, that in this Division the shadows and souls of the dead were supposed to wander about, and though we do not know how they arrived there, or exactly why they failed to please Osiris, it is quite certain that they were regarded as a danger to the god, and destroyed in consequence. On the left of AFU-RA stands a row of deities (vol. i. p. 50 ff.), some wholly in animal forms, who appear to have taken part in the burial ceremonies which were performed for Osiris; the exact functions of many of them are unknown, and the names of certain of them are not found elsewhere. According to the text these gods are clothed with their own bodies of flesh, and their souls speak from them, and their shadows are joined to them. Having been addressed by p. 124 they sing praises to the god, and when he has passed from their Division they, as well as the gods on the right of the BOAT, lift up their voices and weep. In return for the lands which were given them by Osiris, in the possession of which they were confirmed by AFU-RA, these gods have certain duties to perform, viz., to take vengeance upon the fiend SEBA, to make Nu to come into being, and to cause HAPI to flow. From this it appears that SEBA possessed at times power over Nu, that is to say, the great celestial watery mass which was the source of the river NILE in Egypt; to destroy this fiend was all-important, for without water the inhabitants of the Tuat could not live, and the cessation of the flow of the NILE would cause the ruin and death of the people of Egypt. It is interesting to note the connexion of the NILE with the chief domain of Osiris, and it is, no doubt, a reminiscence of the period in the history of the god when he was a water-god. A knowledge of the beings in these pictures and of the texts of this DIVISION was considered of very great importance for the deceased, for, knowing their forms and their names, he would not be terrified by their "roarings," and would not in his haste to escape from them fall headlong into their pits. In this DIVISION of the Tuat we see that AFU-RA was absolute master, and that he is made to create its inhabitants to serve Osiris, and Khenti-Amenti, and himself, and to allot to them places to dwell in, and food to keep them alive. When he withdraws his light from them they p. 125 weep, and sink into a state of inertness to await his return on the following day. The Kingdom of Khenti-Amenti-Osiris According to the Book of Gates