Amduat
That Which Is in the Underworld
The sun god's nightly passage through twelve hours of the underworld is a precise itinerary that only the properly equipped dead, and no other, can follow to rebirth at dawn.
- the underworld divided into twelve hourly regions
- the sun god's nightly battle with the serpent Apophis
- correct knowledge of names as a condition of safe passage
- originally restricted to royal burial chambers
First attested complete on the walls of the burial chamber of Thutmose I and fully illustrated in the tomb of Thutmose III, this text divides the sun god Ra's nocturnal journey into twelve hours corresponding to twelve regions of the underworld, each populated by named beings who must be correctly identified, including a perilous confrontation with the serpent Apophis, and each ending in the promise of the sun's renewal at dawn. Restricted at first to royal tombs, it served as a topographical guide the king's spirit could use to merge with the sun's endless cycle of death and rebirth.
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