176: The Ancient Egyptian Book of Gates (Part 2)

The History of Egypt Podcast

Dominic Perry

History, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2023

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

From hours 6-12, Ra continues his journey. The great serpent Apep returns, bringing an army of his followers. The sun god deals with those who have died in horrible ways. The journey reaches its climax, and the dawn approaches... Date: c. 1305 BCE (first appearance). Website: www.egyptianhistorypodcast.com. Support the show via Patreon www.patreon.com/egyptpodcast. Make a one-time donation via PayPal payments. Music intro and interludes: Luke Chaos. Sistrum: Tahya Hathor Systrum. TRANSLATIONS of the Book of Gates by Erik Hornung (2014) and John Darnell & Colleen Manassa Darnell (2018) Select Bibliography: C. Carrier, Grands Livres Funéraires de l’Égypte Pharaonique (Paris, 2009). J. C. Darnell and C. Manassa Darnell, The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books (Writings from the Ancient World 39; Atlanta, 2018). N. J. Dominy, ‘Mysteries of Ancient Egypt’s Sacred Baboons Revealed’, Scientific American, accessed 3.21.2023 (2021). N. J. Dominy, ‘Secrets of the Sacred Baboons’, Scientific American 325 (2021), 46–53. E. Hornung, Das Grab des Haremhab im Tal der Könige (Bern, 1971). E. Hornung, The Egyptian Book of Gates, trans. T. Abt (Zurich, 2014). 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 (New York, 2016), 316–332. M. Smith, Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millenia (Oxford, 2017). Theban Mapping Project, ‘KV 57 The Tomb of Horemheb’. J. Zandee, ‘The Book of Gates’, Liber Amicorum: Studies in Honor of Professor Dr. C.J. Bleeker (Leiden, 1969), 282–324. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Previously on the Book of Gates. At sunset, the sun god Ra travelled below the western
0:10.5	horizon. In his great bark, or barge, Ra left our world, the world of the living. He entered
0:17.8	the world of the dead, called the Duat.
0:22.6	Ra was not alone.
0:27.5	On his boat, he was accompanied by two deities, or two attributes.
0:32.7	These were Heka, magic, and Sia, divine perception.
0:39.2	Together with these attributes, Ra would journey through the 12 hours of the night. We explored the first five hours, and a special interlude, the great Hall of Osiris.
0:46.3	Ra came face to face with the king of the dead, and he witnessed the judgment of the souls.
0:52.5	Those who had acted properly in life received their blessings in the Duat.
0:57.2	Those who had not received their punishments.
1:00.5	Ra's journey was fraught with dangers, and he was frequently threatened by the great
1:04.8	devourer, Apep or Apophis.
1:07.7	He also had to deal with Seth, the trexter, chaotic god, who had once murdered Osiris long,
1:13.6	long ago.
1:14.6	Fortunately, these dangers were overcome, albeit temporarily in some cases.
1:20.6	Ra emerged from the hall of Osiris, safe and sound, and fully rested, ready for the next phase of his journey.
1:29.8	Now the second half could begin. RAH left the hall of Osiris and carried on into the next hour of the night.
1:57.0	This was hour number six.
2:00.0	Hour six is a pivotal moment for Ra's journey.
2:03.6	Here, exactly halfway through the night, the sun god would undergo a powerful ritual,
2:10.6	and he would do something quite interesting.
2:13.6	In this hour, Ra came face to face with his own corpse.
	...

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