The Book Am-Tuat and The Book of Gates: Deep Thought

In the lower part of the middle section of the scene we have another boat, in the centre of which is a beetle; on one side of the beetle is a god with his knees in the direction of the prow of the boat, but having his head turned behind him and his hands raised in adoration of the beetle, and on the other is a god who also has his hands raised in adoration of the same object. The legend reads "the coming into being of Osiris"; as the boat has no reed mat or carpet hanging from the prow, we may assume that it is intended to represent the Atet or Matet Boat, i.e., the boat in which the Sun-god travelled over the sky from sunrise to noon. In front of the boat glide three serpents, which are called SEK-RE, SEFA, and NEPEN, and in front of these march four man-headed gods and two hawk-headed gods, each with a serpent in his left hand, a god called NABTI, who holds a crook in each hand, NET, or NEITH, goddess of the South, NET, or NEITH, goddess of the North, and the goat goddess ARTET.

In the mutilated text above the boat it is said that "this great god approacheth this region, and he is conveyed along in the boats of the earth, by means of their....., and he paddleth along through this Field and uttereth words," The name of the fore part of the boat appears to be URER, and in front of the boat is written "Chief of the gods of the Tuat;" the hieroglyphics above the full moon read, and those above the stern of the boat read, "Field of him that beareth up URNES." The ends of the SECOND BOAT likewise terminate in bearded human heads, but each is surmounted by a pair of plumes. In the centre of the boat, between two goddesses, stands a huge sistrum, which is the symbol of the goddess Hathor, and indicates that the boat is that of HATHOR, or of HATHOR-ISIS. In the fore part of the boat is a beetle, which is described as "This great god NEPER," Above the goddess to the left of the sistrum are written the words, "their boats send forth their words," over the plumed head in front is written and over that at the other end of the boat, "Osiris crieth to it."

Here we see that the end of the Tuat is reached, and the boat of the sun has reached that portion of it through which he is about to emerge in the waters of Nu, and thence in the form of a disk in the sky of this world. Having passed on to the water the boat is supported by the two arms of Nu himself, or, as the text says, "These two arms come forth from the waters, and they bear up this god." The god appears in the boat in the form of a beetle, which is rolling along a disk; on the left of the beetle is Isis, and on the right Nephthys. The three beings in the front of the boat are probably the personifications of doors, and the gods to the left are SEB, SHU, HEK, HU, and SA, In the hieroglyphics at the top of the open space above the boat is written, "This god taketh up his place in the MATETET Boat [with] the gods who are in it." Away in the waters above, or beyond the boat, is a kind of island, formed by the body of a god, which is bent round in such a way that the tips of his toes touch the back of his head.

Of the two steersmen, only the name of the second, KHEN, or KHENNU is given; the name of the serpent which stands on its tail is SET-EM-MAAT-F. The procession of boats is met by four forms of Osiris, who stand with the upper portion of their bodies swathed. Their names are: 1. NEB-NET, 2. MENI, ARA-TCHERU, 4. MAA-TCHERU. The text written above the boats reads: "This great god journeyeth over NET-NEB-UA-KHEPER-AUT (i.e., the Water of the Lord One, the Creator of food). [He who is in] this picture transporteth the boats which are in the earth, and he paddleth Osiris to this City. This great god resteth for a period in this City, and he sendeth forth his voice to Osiris, and to those who are in his following, and [then] these hidden boats guide him into this Field. This great god paddleth through this Field towards the Hour TENT-BAIU, and these boats journey round to the district of THETTU, after traversing this City. Whosoever knoweth these things shall have both his habitation and his bread with Ra."

In the middle register are: 1. The boat of the sun, in which stands the god under a canopy formed by the body of the serpent Mehen; on his head are horns and a disk. In the fore part of the, boat is the beetle of KHEP[R]A, i.e., Khepera, which takes the place of the solar disk that rested on the prow of the boat in the Eleventh Hour. The text reads: "This great god in this picture journeyeth along through this City by means of the faithful servants ( amkhiu ) of this hidden image ANKH-NETERU. His gods draw him along by a cord, and he entereth into his tail and cometh forth from his mouth, and cometh to the birth under the form of Khepera, and the gods who are in his boat [do] likewise. He taketh up his place on the face of the hidden image of the horn (or, forehead) of the sky at the end of the thick darkness, and his hands seal lip the Tuat. Then this great god taketh up his position in the Eastern Horizon of heaven, and Shu receiveth him, and he cometh into being in the Rast."

IN THE FIRST DIVISION of the "Book of Gates of the Tuat," according to the sarcophagus of Seti I., we see the horizon of the west,, or the mountain of the west, divided into two parts,, and the boat of the sun is supposed to sail between them, and to enter by this passage into the Tuat. On the right hand is fixed a jackal-headed standard, and on each side of it kneels a bearded god; one god is called TAT, and is a personification of the region which is beyond the day, and the other SET,, and represents the funeral mountain. On the left hand is a ram-headed standard, and on each side of it also kneels a bearded god; as before, one is called Tat and the other Set. The ram's head has the horizontal, wavy horns, which belong to the particular species of ram that was the symbol of the god Khnemu; this animal disappeared from Egypt before the XIIth Dynasty, but the tradition of him remained. In the middle of the scene sails the boat of the sun. The god is symbolized by a beetle within a disk, which is enveloped in the folds of a serpent having its tail in its mouth.

On the left of the path of the boat of Ra are: 1. A hawk-headed god, leaning upon a staff; he is called Horus. 2. Four groups, each group containing four men. The first are RETH, the second are AAMU, the third axe NEHESU, and the fourth are THEMEHU. The RETH are Egyptians, the AAMU are dwellers in the deserts to the east and north-east of Egypt, the NEHESU are the black races and NEGROES, and the THEMEHU are the fair-skinned Libyans. 3. Twelve bearded beings, each of whom grasps with both hands the body of a long serpent; these are called the "Holders of the period of time in Ament." 4. Eight bearded gods, who are called the "Sovereign chiefs of the Tuat." The hieroglyphic text which relates to these groups reads: The passage which refers to the four groups, each containing four men, reads: Horus saith unto the creatures of Ra who dwell in the Black Land (Qemt, i.e., Egypt) and in the Red Land (i.e., the deserts which lie on each side of the Black Land formed of the mud of the Nile):"Magical protection be unto you, O ye creatures of Ra, who have come into being from the Great One who is at the head of heaven!