The Book of the Hidden Chamber (Amduat)

In the mid-18th Dynasty (c.1430 BCE), pharaohs were decorating their tombs with a beautiful and intricate set of religious images. These texts/scenes comprised the Amduat (“That Which is in the Underworld”), and they told the story of Re’s journey through the night-time hours. In twelve chapters, Re travelled deep into the Duat, met his own corpse, and was reborn on the eastern horizon, ready for a new day.

How did the Amduat play out? We explore…

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Bibliography

  • Erik Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, 1999
  • Erik Hornung, Texte zum Amduat, 1987.
  • Erik Hornung, Valley of the Kings: Horizon of Eternity, 1990.
  • Emily Teeter, Religion and Ritual in Ancient Egypt, 2011.

     

Show 5 Comments

5 Comments

  1. mahmoud noaman

    very nice but the pictures from tomb or papyrus ?
    thanks

  2. Christine Pizan

    Fascinating episode,

    The centrality of the role of the various serpents in this is particularly interesting, serpents feel like such a primeval cross ancient religious phenomenom, as sowers of discord, chaos, but also all encompassing creatures and protectors, interesting to see this was true of Egypt too

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