175: The Ancient Egyptian Book of Gates (Part 1)

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 March 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the dark of the night, Ra took a journey through the Duat (underworld). His voyage was fraught with danger, but he also made many friends along the way. In the Book of Gates, the sun god takes a mysterious but meaningful journey... Details: Date: c.1305 BCE (first recorded appearance). Source: KV57, the tomb of Horemheb, and others. Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music intro: Jeffrey Goodman. Music interludes: Cover versions by Luke Chaos. Music outro: Ancient Lyric. TRANSLATIONS of the Book of Gates by Erik Hornung (2014) and John Darnell & Colleen Manassa Darnell (2018). Select Bibliography: J. Assmann, Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom: Re, Amun and the Crisis of Polytheism (1995). C. Carrier, Grands Livres Funéraires de l’Égypte Pharaonique (2009). J. C. Darnell and C. Manassa Darnell, The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books (2018). E. Hornung, Das Grab des Haremhab im Tal der Könige (1971). E. Hornung, Das Buch von den Pforten des Jenseits, I (1979). E. Hornung, Das Buch von den Pforten des Jenseits, II (1984). E. Hornung, The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife (1999). E. Hornung, The Egyptian Book of Gates, trans. T. Abt (2014). C. Manassa, ‘The Judgement Hall of Osiris in the Book of Gates’, Revue d’Égyptologie 57 (2006), 109—150. J. Roberson, ‘The Royal Funerary Books: The Subject Matter of Scenes and Texts’, in R. H. Wilkinson and K. R. Weeks (eds), The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings (2016), 316–332. M. Smith, Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millenia (2017). Theban Mapping Project, ‘KV 57 The Tomb of Horemheb’. Y. Volokhine, Le porc en Égypte ancienne (2014). J. Zandee, ‘The Book of Gates’, Liber Amicorum: Studies in Honor of Professor Dr. C.J. Bleeker (1969), 282–324. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the History of Egypt podcast, Episode 175 in the Hall of the Duat King.
0:21.3	This is the ancient Egyptian Book of Gates, Part 1.
0:25.7	Today we are going past the Western horizon, the land of sunset.
0:30.7	We are heading into the deadlands to confront the souls who live within the afterlife.
0:37.1	It is a journey that will take us through
0:38.8	many curious places, and we will witness great and mysterious events. This episode is brought
0:46.5	to you by Jean Lam, Adrian Moore, Lauren Close, and Kathleen Tway. These fine folks, from such diverse lands as California, New York,
0:58.1	and Florida made donations to the podcast, for which I am most grateful. Folks, you have given
1:05.5	offerings in a generous manner. Surely you will receive rewards from the great deities of the Duat.
1:14.0	To everyone listening, thank you for joining me. Come, let us journey to the underworld.
1:26.4	Around 1,305 BCE, approximately, an Egyptian pharaoh went to his grave.
1:33.8	His name was Horme M. Hebb, Horus Investival.
1:38.7	And he was a significant ruler in the political history of the time.
1:42.6	Religiously, Hormeb's tomb is quite interesting.
1:46.5	On the walls of this monument, we find a new underworld text. This is the Book of Gates.
1:54.1	The Book of Gates is a text dealing with the lands beyond life. It is similar to famous works
2:00.4	like The Book of the Dead or the Amduat.
2:03.7	The Book of Gates is concerned with the Duat. This is the Egyptian name for the Netherworld,
2:10.6	the afterlife, whatever you want to call it. The Duat is a vast land with its own geography and divisions.
2:19.4	It exists somewhere outside our world, but connected to it, and what happens in the
2:25.5	Duat affects life on earth.
2:28.7	The Duat is home to many beings, including the souls of the dead, monsters and demons who threaten those souls,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dominic Perry, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dominic Perry and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.