Chapter 26 (part 1)

p. 182 CHAPTER XIII. NINTH DIVISION OF THE TUAT. II. KINGDOM OF TEMU-KHEPERA-RA ACCORDING TO THE BOOK OF GATES. THE NINTH, TENTH and ELEVENTH DIVISIONS of the BOOK OF GATES contain series of pictures and texts which are very hard to explain satisfactorily, and the difficulty is further increased by the fact that only one copy of them is known, i.e., that on the sarcophagus of Seti I. It is quite certain that they cannot refer to the Kingdom of Osiris, and we are driven to conclude that they are intended to illustrate and describe the region of AKERT, which, as has already been said, formed the Tuat to which the worshippers of the Sun-god of Heliopolis relegated the spirits of their dead. The FIRST DIVISION of this remarkable region, i.e., the NINTH in the BOOK OF GATES, is entered by the Gate called AAT-SHEFSHEFT, which is guarded by the monster serpent AB-TA; a company of gods keep watch outside, and the corridor is swept by flames of fire, and a warder in mummied form stands on guard at each end of it. When AFU-Ra has passed through, and the Gate is closed, the gods outside set up a wail, for they must abide in darkness until he re-appears. So soon as the god has entered the DIVISION four gods of the p. 183 [paragraph continues] Tuat appear and take hold of the tow-line, but they cannot advance until a path is cleared for them. The obstacles in their way take the forms of the huge serpent APEP, and a great crocodile, the tail of which is in the form of a serpent's head and neck; the name of the latter monster is given both as SESHSESH and SESSI (vol. ii., pp. 242, 244). These have taken up their positions at the end of the DIVISION, in that portion of the Tuat which is not very far from the place of sunrise, and a company of beings appear on behalf of AFU-RA, and proceed to remove the monsters by means of words of power and magical ceremonies. The company consists of six men, four apes, and four goddesses; in front of these are three men armed with harpoons, and grasping a rope, which passes over the prostrate body and head of the god AAI, its end being held fast in his two hands. AAI has on his head a small disk, which is set between two objects that resemble the ears of an ass, and these suggest that the figure is intended to represent a form of the Sun-god. The ass is well known as a type of the Sun-god, and "Eater of the Ass" is equally well known as a name for SET or APEP. In an illustration from the Book of the Dead (Chapter XL.; see above, p. 113), the "Eater of the Ass" is seen biting into the back of an ass, which is being delivered by the scribe Nekht in his character of Osiris. That AAI is a solar being, and that he opposes APEP on behalf of Ra, is obvious. It seems, however, that he is in need of the help of the men with harpoons, and of p. 184 their companions behind them, each of whom holds the ends of a pole or rope (of a net), which is bent in the shape of a bow over his or her head.