America and the “Old World” are Each Other’s Underworlds
Evan Lansing Smith has described the descent to the Underworld as “the single most important myth for Modernist authors”. <14> Jim Bailey writes: “In Greek tradition the Hesperides were islands far out across the Atlantic. In Welsh tradition the Atlantic Isles were known as Avalon of the Apples or Glas Innes. *** To Mesopotamians the land in mid-ocean was Kur”. <8p30> Bailey: “Tradition claimed that Peru was the land where one does not die. Compare this Amerindian tradition with the identical tradition of Ireland, of Mesopotamia, of Japan about the land in the middle of Ocean.” <8p65plate26description>
Bailey: “It is significant that so many peoples put the abode of the dead beyond the ocean. I believe that they fashioned their heaven as they fashioned their gods, out of the materials of their ordinary working lives, and if the soul crossed the ocean to its ultimate destination in the Paradise Land, ‘going west,’ it was because sailing across the ocean was a major fact in the experience of the living. The sun worshippers naturally tended to see the soul as following the daily path of the sun from east to west, as they generally put the afterworld in the west…. As a symbol of this, the Valley of the Kings, where some of the pharaohs were buried, was in the desert on the west side of the Nile, and their bodies were carried westward across the river in the funeral barge. However, at an early period, when some voyaging was eastward across the Indian Ocean rather than westward across the Atlantic, the land of the dead was sometimes placed in the east, which can be seen as the resting place of the sun, where it is before it rises. In fact the sea peoples who exploited both the Pacific and the Atlantic routes referred to the Americas as the land where the sun set and where the sun rose — and little time was wasted between the two! We find Ireland, China, Japan, Egypt, and Mesopotamia agreeing that Paradise lay across a great ocean and that it was somehow associated with the possibility of eternal youth.” <8p327>
Bailey: “Chronos, the Phoenician god, is described as living in ‘the Isles of the Blest’ and living in ‘the Underworld’; these are of course the same place — and Chronos being much the same as El we can quote Ezekial 24:2: ‘I am El, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas.’ All this is consistent with … the tradition of America as being ‘the Paradise Land.’” <8p363plate230description>
Bailey writes that “the Mesopotamian names Kur and Dilmun both stand for America, the latter not for Bahrain; that the Chinese Fu Sang was the Chinese name for America; that the Japanese Horaisan, the Eternal Land, the Abode of the Blessed, ten years’ sailing east of Japan, is the Americas, not Formosa; to the Egyptians’ Tuat, the Field of Reeds, means the Americas; … that the Hesperides and Tartarus were Greek names referring to the Americas, that Hi Brazil was the old pre-Columbian Portuguese name for the Americas, Irish version Ui Breasail; that it was Armorica to the Bretons, Glan Innes or Avalon to the Welsh, Mag Mel or Tir na Og to the Irish, Vinland to the Scandinavians”. <8p383>
The upcoming book, “Pyramidomania, a World of Pyramids”, written by Ivan Petricevic, says that “ancient hieroglyphs from the Maya suggest the city of Teotihuacan was referred to as ‘The Place of Reeds’.” <16>
Bailey: “If we now notice that from the earliest times the Americas are referred to as islands, Paradise Islands, one can infer that the speakers knew their entire geography to be able to enter upon that accurate description of them from a very early date indeed. It was in association with immortality and with Paradise that the Americas were described worldwide, as well, of course, as being the place where the sun set and so the place of the dead.” <8p393> Bailey: “As we have seen, America was known to many nations of the Old World by a variety of names. America was looked on then — as now — as the Paradise Land: God’s own country. Perhaps the biggest single source of confusion lies in this term, the underworld, which originally meant the Americas — where the sun was at midnight — but was converted by the Christians and others at that time into the inferno: two totally contradictory meanings to the same term, but convenient for raising money for the church.” <8p389>
Inferno is Latin for Underworld, and even Christians knew that Hell was across the Atlantic, which knowledge was probably suppressed when Europe began colonizing America.
Tartaria and the sacred tablets says: “The ancient cultures believed that everything in the underworld is upside down, the dead walk there with the soles of their feet against ours. Growing downward was normal for trees.” <15>
William Fairfield Warren writes of “the mount of the rulers of the dead — exactly opposite, beneath the earth”: “Of the latter mount, Lenormant correctly says that, in ancient Chaldæan thought, it is ‘située dans les parties basses de la terre,’…he…locates it in the West. In like manner the mountain of the gods — ‘le point culminant de la convexité de la surface de la terre’ — he places…in the East or Northeast. Origines de l’Histoire, Paris, 1882, tom. ii, 1, p. 134. See also Tiele, Histoire Comparée des Anciennes Religions, Paris, 1882, p. 177, where he speaks of the entrance to Hades as at the Southwest.” <1p173n> Warren: “See Tiele, History of the Egyptian Religion (English edition, 1882), p. 68, ‘the reversed world’; and the still more forcible expression in his Histoire Comparée (Paris, 1882), p. 47, ‘le monde opposé au monde actuel.’ Comp. Book of the Dead (Birch’s version), where it is styled ‘the inverted precinct’; and Thompson’s Egyptian Doctrine of the Future State, wherein Hades is described as ‘the inverted hemisphere of darkness,’ and where it is said to be ‘evident that the leading features of the Greek Hades were borrowed from Egypt.’ Bibliotheca Sacra, 1868, pp. 84, 86.”
Warren: “Tiele, History of the Egyptian Religion, p. 67: ‘The heaven (at night) rests upon the earth, like a goose brooding over her egg.’ Chabas, Lieblein, and Lefèbure have each maintained that the ancient Egyptians were acquainted with the spherical figure of the earth; while Maspero, despite his language in Les Contes Populaires de l’Egypte Ancienne (Paris, 1882, pp. lxi-lxiii), in a private letter of still more recent date admits the possibility that the Egyptians held to such a view as long <1p174n> ago as eighteen centuries before the Christian era.” <1p175n> Warren: “At least one tribe of our American Indians at the time of their discovery had a myth of creation in which the earth was conceived of as a ball. H. H. Bancroft, Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. iii, p. 536. That the same idea underlay the Hades-conception of the New Zealanders is plain from various indications.” <1p172n> Warren: “The universality of the ancient belief that disembodied souls must cross a body of water to reach their proper abode has attracted the attention of Mannhardt, and led him to remark, ‘Da auch die keltische, hellenische, iranische und indische Religion diese Vorstellung kennt, so ist es von vorn herein wahrscheinlich, dass dieselbe uber die Zeit der Trennung hinausgeht.’ — Germanische Mythen, Berlin, 1858, p. 364.” <1p176n> The poet Lewis Morris wrote, in his Epic of Hades:
The world of Life,
The world of Death, are but opposing sides
Of one great orb, and the Light shines on both.” <2p230>
Warren:
…if in ancient Hindu thought “the gods in heaven are beheld by the inhabitants of hell as they move with their heads inverted,” if in Roman thought—
Mundus, ut ad Scythiam Rhipaeasque arduus arces
Consurgit premitur Libyae devexus in austros:
Hic vertex nobis semper sublimis, at illum
Sub pedibus Styx atra videt, Manesque profundi”;
…then the earth of the ancients is incontestably a SPHERE, and Hades its under-surface. The “flat disk” notion is itself a myth, and a myth without foundation. <1p177>
F. B. Jevons writes: “There is, however, one entrance to the nether world which is familiar to many different peoples ; and it is known to many, because the facts which prove it to be a gate of the underworld are patent to all. Those facts are that the sun disappears below the surface of the earth in the west, and emerges again from it in the east ; therefore in the night he must have travelled from west to east below the earth, i.e. through the realm of the dead. Among the natives of Encounter Bay the sun is feminine : ‘every night she descends among the dead, who stand in double lines to greet her and let her pass.’ Amongst the Magyars it is day in Kalunga, the land of the dead, when it is night on earth, because the sun passes through it by night, as it is also believed to do by the people of Mangaia, and was believed to do by the ancient Egyptians to the end. ‘The New Zealander who says “the sun has returned to Hades,” simply means that it has set’ ; and it was an Aztec saying that the sun goes at evening to lighten the dead. … In Australia they travel for that purpose to Nynamnat, the sunset; in Torres Strait, to kibuka, the western world ; in Polynesia, too, they go west; to the west, likewise, the spirits of the Iroquois, of the Fijians, and of the Brazilians ; in Virginia the cave Popogusso lies west, west the Gulchinam of the Chilians. Odysseus found the entrance to <4p306> Hades in the west. In Babylonia ‘the mountain of the west, where the sun set, was a pre-eminently funereal place,’ and ‘the entrance to Hades was near this mountain of the west.’” <4p307>
Warren writes that Hindus and Persians had an upper-world and underworld. <1p81>
Warren lists commonalities of Babylonian & Indo-Aryan cosmologies:
1. Like the “Upper E-KUR” in that diagram, the Sumeru of the Indo-Aryans is a mons montium, a true “Weltberg.”
2. In both cosmological systems this Weltberg is at the same time par excellence the possession of the gods, a Götterberg.
3. In both this Götterberg is not only divinely vast and beautiful, but also, in shape, quadrangular.
4. In both the axis of the heavens and of the earth is perpendicular in position, and consequently the top of the quadrangular Götterberg is the true summit of the earth.
5. In both this crowning summit of the earth has an antipodal counterpart in a corresponding inverted Weltberg underneath the earth. In Chaldea this peculiar conception seems to have been of pre-Semitic antiquity. One of the first of Western scholars to recognize the parallelism and something of its significance for Comparative Cosmology was Lenormant, who a generation ago wrote as follows: “Dans les conceptions de la cos- <1p205> mologie mythique des Indiens on oppose au Sou-Merou, ‘le bon Merou’ du nord, un Kou-Merou mauvais et funest, qui y fait exactement un pendant et en est l’antithèse. De même les Chaldéens opposaient à la divine et bienheureuse montagne de l’Orient (accadien ‘garsag-babbarra = assyrien šad çit šamši) une montagne funeste et ténébreuse (accadien ‘garsag-gigga = assyrien šad erib šamši), située dans les parties basses de la terre.” — Origines de l’Histoire, tom, ii, 1, p. 134.
6. In the Babylonian cosmos the upper hemi-gæa has seven stages; in the Indo-Aryan it has seven varshas.
7. In the Babylonian system the lower or inverted hemi-gæa has seven stages; in the Indo-Aryan it has seven pātālas.
8. West of Babylonia is found the Hebrew conception of a quadrifurcate river of Paradise which flowed forth in opposite directions to water the four quarters of the pristine earth. East of Babylonia is found the Indo-Aryan conception of the Gan̄gā-stream which, descending from heaven to the top of Sumeru, there divides itself, according to the Vishnu Purana, into four world- rivers, and descending the several sides of the mountain from varsha to varsha, waters the whole earth. It is hardly possible to doubt that in both cases the conception was borrowed from the world-view of the people residing midway between the Hebrews on the one side and the Indo-Aryans on the other, or was at least common to the three.
9. In the Indo-Aryan, as in the Babylonian world-view, the seven divisions of the lower or inverted hemi- <1p206> gæa can be described (as they are in the Mahā-Bhārata) as subterranean, and yet, at the same time, as capable of receiving light from the sun and moon. Our diagram clearly shows both the possibility and the entire naturalness of this.
10. In the Babylonian conception the upper or northern planetary hemi-ouranoi were seven in number, and each of them, in receding order away from the Weltberg, was located at an increasing interval or distance; so is it also in the Indo-Aryan cosmos.
11. According to the Babylonians, the under or southern planetary hemi-ouranoi were also seven in number, and these, numbering from their center, were located at ever wider distances asunder; so is it also with the dvīpas in the Indo-Aryan cosmos.
12. In Babylonian thought each of the celestial spheres was assigned to the guardianship and government of a particular divine being; so was also each dvīpa in Indo-Aryan thought. (See Wilson’s Vishnu Purana, p. 162.)
13. In the Babylonian cosmos the lower hemi-ouranoi are, as a group, below the seven stages of the lower hemi-gæa; in like manner in the Indo-Aryan, the Narakas are, as a group, below the Pātālas. (Wilson, ibid., p. 207.)
<1p207>
***
15. In the Indo-Aryan as in the Babylonian system the lowest hells are antipodal to the highest heavens; hence the statement in the Vishnu Purana (Wilson, p. 209) : “The gods in heaven are beheld by the inhabitants of hell as they move with their heads inverted.” In the Jain Sūtras also persons in hell are represented as moving about with their “heads downward.” (SBE., xlv, p. 279.) Even in Plutarch the same ancient idea survives.
16. In both systems the diurnal movement of the sun is in a horizontal instead of a vertical plane, and night’s darkness is caused simply by the passage of the <1p208> sun around the farther side of the Weltberg. According to Maspero, the same apparent paradox as to the sun’s motion was held and taught by the most ancient Egyptians as well as by the most ancient Chaldeans. (Dawn of Civilization, Eng. ed., p. 544.)
17. In both systems a cross-section of the cosmos in the plane of the equator would show seven solid horizontal world-rings, one within another, and all of them inclosing their common center. Here, possibly, was the origin of the “world-rings of rock” separated by seven intervening seas in the common description of the Buddhist world-view. It should be remembered, however, that in the Buddhist cosmography the tops of these world-rings are by no means in a common plane.
18. In both systems the order of the seven planets is not that of the matured Greek teaching of Ptolemy, but is conformed to the older Babylonian view, according to which both sun and moon are nearer to the earth than the nearest of the remaining five.
19. Precisely as in Babylonian thought the sphere of the fixed stars is far above, beneath, and beyond the seven concentric planetary globes, so in the Indo-Aryan is found, far above, beneath, and beyond the earth and all the Deva-lokas, the all-including shell of Brahma’s cosmic egg.
20. Finally, as in the Babylonian, so in the Indo-Aryan cosmos, there is present and visible to every eye that most wonderful of all monuments of prehistoric astronomic science, the starry world-girdle of the twelve-signed Zodiac, attesting in both peoples a clear recognition of the great circles and the poles of the ecliptically defined celestial sphere. <1p209>
Warren:
Again, if in the beginning the Indo-Aryan series consisted of seven concentric spheres, like the Babylonian, the second of them, Plaksha, would correspond to the Babylonian lunar sphere, the globe of the moon-god Sin. Like that it would be conceived of as perfectly transparent, and hence like the others invisible. The visible lunar disk would doubtless be thought of, as it was in Babylonia, as the moon-god’s “Ship of Light,” the vehicle in which in sacred state he made his nightly journeys round and round upon his spacious earth-inclosing sphere, lighting at the same time the central world of men within. In Babylonian thought the only natural passages into or out of this earth-inclosing lunar sphere were one through a north-polar gate on the “Way of Arm,” and one through a south-polar gate on the “Way of Ea.” Three items almost seem to imply that the original conception of Plaksha was in correspondence with this.
First, while in the Vishnu Purana Vishnu is naturally represented as worshiped in all the dvīpas below Brahman’s, he is said to be worshiped in Plaksha in the form or person of Soma, the moon. <1p211>
Warren compares Babylonian & Homeric cosmology, writing that “we do find, in both systems, (1) the geocentric feature, (2) the plural heavens feature, (3) the perpendicular world-axis, (4) the earth-encompassing Ocean-stream, and (5) the outre mer Hades, under yet not within the earth. Taken together, the five correspondences are certainly striking evidence of a common origin of the two world-views.” <1p74>
Warren writes of Babylonians & Egyptians: “Each people applied to its under-earth — that far-off original of Dante’s pendent Purgatorio Mount — terms strikingly descriptive of the inverted pyramid of our diagram. Among the terms applied to the Egyptian Amenti are, ‘mountain,’ ‘pyramid,’ ‘hidden mountain,’ ‘inverted precinct.’ Nor should it be forgotten that, corresponding to the Semitic expression ‘heaven of heavens,’ Naville has found in a Litany of Ra the counterpart expression, ‘The Hades of Hades.’ Furthermore, as in Mithraism, and in that survival of Babylonian lore which scholars call Sabeanism, so in the oldest Egyptian teaching, the ‘Ladder of heaven,’ according to St. Clair, had just seven steps. Corresponding hereto, in the Book of the Dead, chapter 144, we read of ‘seven halls’ in the <1p67> underworld.” <1p68> Also, the Great Bitter Lake in Egypt which is saltwater had a similar title to that given by Mesopotamians to the sea that surrounds the World and divides it from the Underworld, the “Bitter River”. Warren: “The Egyptian pictures of the nocturnal voyage of their sun-god, Ra, recall to the memory of every reader of the classics the corresponding Greek myth of the ‘cup,’ or coracle, in which Helios was represented as each night making the same semicircular passage on the surface of the Ocean-stream.” <1p108n>
Warren lists the commonalities of Hinduism and Buddhism, such as “the second heaven, that of Sakra (Indra). Third. In each the heaven of Yama is the third. Fourth. In the parent system the heaven of Brahma is the seventh and last, in the Buddhistic his are the seventh and all the superadded.” <1p98> In the Mishkatu ‘l-Masbih, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad describes his travels through the cosmos: “Then I entered the seventh heaven, and, behold, I saw Abraham. And Gabriel said, ‘This is Abraham, your father; salute him.’ Which I did, and he returned it <1p55> and said, ‘Welcome, good son and good Prophet.’” <1p56> The third Hindu heaven, Svarga, is guarded by Airavatha, who is also called “Arkasodara”, meaning “brother of the sun”. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavata> Warren writes of Hinduism & Buddhism: “Finally, in each system the respective abodes of the gods and demons are antipodal”. <1p99> Buddhists represent their cosmology in mandalas. <1p100> Warren: “In the foregoing chapters we have seen not a little evidence that in countries widely separated the earliest traceable teachers held and taught what was essentially one and the same world-concept. This included appropriate local abodes for gods and demons, for living men and for dead. It grouped these several abodes into one all-inclusive geocentric, upright-axled, poly-uranian cosmos. In the land in which we can study the system to the best advantage, it presents two earths adjusted base to base: the upper the abode of living men; the under, its inverted counterpart, the abode of the dead. To the seven planetary divinities it gives seven distinct concentric spheres, to Anu and Ea an eighth, outermost in position, all-including, the sidereal sphere.” <1p109>
The Earth was known to be a sphere by Borneo’s Bataks. <1p23> Astronomer Simon Newcomb wrote: “Not enough credit has been <1p24> given to the ancient astronomers. There is no time within the scope of history when it was not known that the earth is a sphere, and that the direction down, at all points, is toward the same point at the earth’s center.” <1p25> Jim Bailey compares the estimates by Columbus and Eratosthenes of the circumference of the planet: “What is most interesting about this is that, in emulation of the Egyptians, the Greek Eratosthenes had made a far more accurate measurement. *** And…if Eratosthenes, seventeen centuries before Columbus, was so much better a geometer, why could not even earlier attempts to measure the earth have been as successful as Erastothenes’? Or perhaps even more so? The Greek Eratosthenes cross-checked measurements in Egypt.” <8p52> Bailey: “The Greek-Sicilian geographer, Eratosthenes, is credited with having first measured the earth. He traveled to Egypt and took the distance of Alexandria from Syene, which lay on the north-south meridian. This distance is five thousand stadia. Working on the basis that the sun’s rays that strike the earth are parallel, Eratosthenes at the summer solstice took the difference in angle subtended by these rays at the two stations and from this calculated the curvature of the sphere of the earth and thus the length of its circumference to be 252,000 stadia or 39,690 kilometers, a figure that is almost precisely correct.” <8p277> Bailey:
Eratosthenes was reputed to be the first Greek of the Classical Age to measure the circumference of the earth. He was head of the library of Alexandria (c. 250 B.C.).
I think it is likely that he would have made use of the sun dials, obelisks or shadow clocks, the giant gnomons that the Egyptians had already set up to obtain the greatest possible accuracy in this important affair, as well as the scaphe, or traveling sun dial, Eratosthenes is described as using. *** For by the First Dynasty, c. 3100 B.C., the Egyptians had measured the circumference of the earth, knew the value of π and had established their own measures of the remen and cubit as functions of this circumference. <8p162>
From https://bakcheion.wordpress.com/our-god/the-mystery-of-the-midnight-sun/:
The evocative phrase Midnight Sun comes from Apuleius’ fictional account of initiation into the Isiac mysteries:
I approached the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I returned therefrom, being borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the Sun shining with its brilliant light; and I approached the presence of the Gods beneath, and the Gods of heaven, and stood near, and worshipped them. (Metamorphoses 11.23)
Though these mysteries were heavily syncretic and Romanized, this appears to have been one of the more authentic elements carried over from Egypt, as Jan Bergman has observed:
The most decisive divine confrontation encountered in Egyptian religious thought is without doubt that between Ra and Osiris. As the principal representations of sky and earth, life and death, light and darkness, day and night, they constitute one another’s necessary compliment. Without some form of union between them, the Egyptian world view would have been hopelessly divided and the rhythm of life broken. <https://bakcheion.wordpress.com/our-god/the-mystery-of-the-midnight-sun/>
Warren writes in his 1909 book, The Earliest Cosmologies: “Nearly every eminent Egyptologist except Maspero holds that the ancient Egyptians were acquainted with the true figure of the earth, and that they had all the astronomical knowledge necessary to enable them to orient pyramids and temples to a hair’s breadth, and to harmonize the solar and lunar years. Brugsch, Chabas, Lieblein, and Lefébure are of this opinion. Lieblein, in fact, confidently maintains that the texts show that the ancient Egyptians already understood and believed the heliocentric theory of the universe.” <1p61>
Georg Steindorff described ancient Egyptian texts: “Under the earth is supposed to lie a counter-earth, which is made exactly like the earth and the heavens, and which is peopled by the dead.” Referring to Egyptian cosmology, Warren refers to “this conception of an underworld which is the perfect antipodal counterpart of our overworld”. <1p69> Gerald Massey said that “in the making of Amenti the one earth was divided into upper and lower, with a firmament or sky to each, and thus the earth was duplicated.” <1p69n>
Bailey: “The Egyptian word Tuat for the underworld is clearly the underside of the earth, not the center of the earth.” <8p310> Bailey: “It should be noted … that Amenti lay to the remote west of Egypt, where the sun went at night. *** <8p219> Amenti is the Coptic for Hades.” <8p221> Bailey: “America was known to Egypt as Tuat”. <8p112> Bailey writes of America: “That was in the Tuat, the place where the sun was at midnight, <8p66> the Paradise Land.” <8p67>
Warren writes: “As the name of some region of the world, the word Tuat is found in the very oldest of Egyptian texts. As Budge correctly states, it is ordinarily translated ‘Underworld.’ *** Renouf…expressly states that it was ‘below the earth.’ Steindorff says, ‘underneath the earth.’” <1p104> Adolf Erman, who led in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian grammar, described Duat: “A kingdom of light, the dwelling-place of the gods, who traveled with the happy dead, ‘on those beautiful ways where the glorified travel.’” <1p105> Warren: “The nightly journey of the sun from the place of his setting to the place of his rising…lies in this elusive land of Tuat. *** The sun-god does not enter the land of Tuat proper immediately on sinking below the horizon of Egypt, but only after making one hour’s journey and passing through the nearer of the two parallel semicircular mountain ranges. In like manner the twelfth hour of the voyage is not in Tuat proper, but is spent in passing from Tuat proper to the eastern horizon of Egypt.” <1p106>
George St. Clair writes: “Devéria says that the manuscripts of the Book of the Lower Hemisphere, found in the Egyptian tombs, are almost all retrograde, and certain illustrations depict the dead upside down. On the sarco- <13p408> phagus of Seti, the mountain at the entrance to Hades is upside down. Dr Birch, in his Book of the Dead, makes Amenta to be the ‘inverted precinct’; Tiele calls it the reversed world.” <13p409>
The oldest map of the Underworld that I can confirm was in the oldest known Egyptian painted tomb, namely Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, dating to around 3,500 BC. It was the centerpiece of the painted wall, which is on the tomb’s southwestern side, consistent with the antipodal Underworld tradition.
It was painted with east and west reversed, and with north and south reversed. This was part of the Underworld tradition, since in the antipodes east becomes west and north becomes south. For this reason I have flipped the images of it to show the more familiar bird’s-eye view of America, and I generally show it with north as “up” instead of west being “up” as it originally was, to be more easily recognizable to people who are familiar with north being “up” in modern maps. I have also restored the color to a faded portion of North America.
Warren writes of
a most curious and instructive funeral-custom among the modern Karens of Burmah. This tribe is certainly not more highly gifted or more highly civilized than were the Greeks of the heroic age, yet they have precisely this Homeric conception of an antipodal Hades. A most competent authority gives us the following account: <1p171> “When the day of burial arrives, and the body is carried to the grave, four bamboo splints are taken, and one is thrown towards the West, saying, ‘That is the East;’ another is thrown to the East, saying, ‘That is the West;’ a third is thrown upwards towards the top of the tree, saying, ‘That is the foot of the tree;’ and a fourth is thrown downwards, saying, ‘That is the top of the tree.’ The sources of the stream are pointed to, saying, ‘That is the mouth of the stream;’ and the mouth of the stream is pointed to, saying, ‘That is the head of the stream.’ This is done because in Hades everything is upside down in relation to the things of this world.”
Warren writes of the Greeks and Karens: “Both simply inherited from their fathers the old pre-Hellenic Asiatic idea of an antipodal Underworld. Ages ago the notion which underlies the Karen’s rites was so prominent in the mind of the East Aryans that the sudden and inevitable reversal of the points of the compass, consequent upon entering the Underworld, became a poetic circumlocution to express the idea of dying: thus, ‘Before thou art carried away dead to the Ender by the royal command of Yama, . . . before the four quarters of the sky whirl round, . . . practice the most perfect <1p172> contemplation.’” <1p173>
This map was recently erased by archaeologists, who falsely claimed it was a stain of some kind which was covering up the real painting. They also severely damaged the rest of the painting. That is a perfect example of modern archaeologists’ destruction of ancient sites and suppression of truth.
The Hierakonpolis map depicts the shape of Greenland more accurately than many modern maps, such as the satellite-map below. Unlike the celebrated Waldseemüller map of 1507 (also below), the Hierakonpolis map includes Baja California and Hudson Bay and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, as well as the pointy tip of South America. The proportional sizes of North and South America are much better depicted in the Hierakonpolis map than in the Waldseemüller map. The Waldseemüller map was the best European map of its time, and may have been partly based upon Pre-Columbian maps of America, since it includes many geographic details not thought to have been seen yet by Europeans in 1507. Its actual name is “The Universal Cosmography according to the Tradition of Ptolemy and the Discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci and others”. Ptolemy ordered the system of longitude in his world-map based upon degrees east of America, which he calls “the Islands of the Blest”. Ptolemy wrote in his Geography: “The western limit [is bounded by] the meridian drawn through the Islands of the Blest, which is 60 1/2, or 4 equinoctial hours, from the most eastern meridian.” <23p110> Waldseemüller reportedly interpreted the Islands of the Blest as the Canary Islands, which must have wreaked havoc on his map of Afro-Eurasia, if he used Ptolemy’s description of those lands. Since there’s reason to suspect that Waldseemüller used ancient maps of America, he may have called the Canaries the Blessed Isles to throw off the scent. Either way, that designation is still the orthodoxy, which is why multiple books have been written about Ptolemy’s supposed longitudinal error, trying to find explanations for why he positioned Africa so far from the Canary Islands.
Five horned animals, each a different color, were arranged in a circle, and may have represented a compass. This portion has been destroyed by archaeologists.
The Hierakonpolis map shows not only America and Greenland but also Iceland and part of Africa, Antarctica, and East Asia. America is the smallest compared to its actual proportional size, likely indicating it is further away than the other lands like Africa. The shape of Antarctica beneath the ice is shown.
It seemingly resembles Ptolemy’s Geography in the diagonal angle of western Africa, as well as the lack of a southern African coast, with Africa merged with Antarctica. Like today’s haughty modernists who despise the genius of the ancients, Ptolemy rejected the sound wisdom of his forebears regarding the shape of the ocean: “Again, they made the Western Ocean turn away to the east [at its southern end] because [the edge of] the [planar] surface blocked them in the southern direction, and there too, neither the bottom of Inner Libye nor [that] of India had anything as they continued [southward beyond the known parts] that could be inscribed on the western coast [of Libye and India]. And it is for such reasons as these that the doctrine that the Ocean flows around the whole world has arisen out of errors of drawing, to be turned [subsequently] into a confused narrative.” <23p119> He is saying the ancient Mesopotamians and Scandinavians and Celts were wrong about the World and Underworld being separated by water on every side. He is scoffing at Homer, and indeed at the concept of ocean, Okeanos, whose World-encircling nature may be his most prominent attribute. But perhaps Ptolemy snubbed the ancients in favor of even more ancient ancients, maybe from a time when Africa somehow did connect to Antarctica when the sea level was lower. The multiple similarities between Ptolemy’s Geography and the Hierakonpolis map may mean the Geography made use of the Hierakonpolis map or others of the same model.
Perhaps it relates to something celestial like the tilt of the planet during summer solstice.
It seems to show West Africa, with southern Africa connected to Antarctica, or perhaps it’s showing southern Africa with what may be since-submerged land connecting East Africa to Antarctica where Madagascar is currently. Either way Africa is disproportionately large compared to America, as are Antarctica and Asia. Maybe it was because America is further from Egypt that it was shown smaller, as if the planet was transparent and America was being viewed from Egypt.
The map seems to show Florida and the Yucatán Peninsula as they were during the last ice age, before the sea level rose 400 feet, so those peninsulas are much wider in the map than they are now. Baja California also seems wide, the way it was during the ice age.
Two juxtaposed goats may represent the Tropic of Capricorn, since goats symbolize Capricorn, and they are in the right place on the map.
It also shows a bulbous peninsula emerging from the Andean region of South America. This may be San Felix and/or the Nazca Ridge, and may include Rapa Nui, Easter Island.
If Rapa Nui was part of a huge peninsula, that better fits the fact it had the only written language in South America: it may have been the power and culture center of South America, like the Greek and Italian and Iberian peninsulas were at times. Many Amerindian artifacts are similar in style to those of Rapa Nui. The Moai statues are similar to many Pre-Columbian statues and figurines in South and North America.
This map below, from the 1400s, might include the peninsula in question. This map is mostly based on Ptolemy’s Geography, but that feature may be from another source, perhaps an ancient map like the Hierakonpolitan one.
Islands, including the Japanese Archipelago, seem to be depicted as ibexes, as we see in the following comparison.
Hans Barnard writes, in Maps and Mapmaking in Ancient Egypt, in the Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures, 2016 Edition:
Maps, plans, and models present a reduced version of the real world, either existing or anticipated, by incorporating selected properties of reality, while intentionally disregarding others. The selection process is governed by the purpose of the final result. Maps and plans are two-dimensional representations of a three-dimensional reality, usually drawn at a smaller scale. This scale need not be uniform for a map to be useful, as clearly shown by the map of the London Underground, and can in special cases be 1:1 or even larger than reality. Selected details are replaced by symbols (such as the circles representing cities on a modern map of the world) or ignored (like individual buildings on a city plan). Other features are given a distinctive appearance (such as the color of the highways on a modern roadmap) or size (like the exaggerated width of the roads on the same roadmap). *** These must have been as perplexing to members of another culture as the Ancient Egyptian maps of the Netherworld, depicting the geography encountered in the afterlife, are to us. Maps and plans from different periods or cultures may not only have an unexpected subject matter, but the scale, symbols and orientation are often very different from what we are used to. Likewise, our convention of having North at the top of the map would not have been understood in Ancient Egypt as that would have the water of the Nile flowing up.
Maps were most likely used in Ancient Egypt since the beginning of the Old Kingdom (2575–2150 BCE according to the chronology of Baines and Malek 2000: 36–37). There are no unambiguous examples of maps from this early period, but there is ample evidence that at least certain members of Ancient Egyptian society were able to create and understand reduced representations of reality (Harrell 2001; Shore 1987). On the well-known Predynastic Narmer palette (dated about 3000 BCE, found in Hierakonpolis, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo) one of the images seems to represent a walled city in bird’s eye view. This is obviously not a map in the modern sense, nor is it meant to be, but nevertheless a representation of a geographical reality (a walled city) in a way in which it would not have presented itself to the artist (but rather in bird’s eye view). Other early examples of maps include the “topographic design” on a Predynastic ceramic vessel (3700–3100 BCE, provenance unknown, now in the Petrie Museum in London), clearly showing rivers and mountains, and the very schematic “Map of the Netherworld” in the wooden coffin of General Sepi of the 12th Dynasty (1938–1755 BCE, found in al-Bersha, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), showing the landscape awaiting the deceased according to the “Book of the Two Ways.”
***
As with many other aspects of Ancient Egyptian society, most of our information on ancient maps and plans dates to the New Kingdom (1539–1075 BCE). Examples of mythological maps from this period include those of the Netherworld, for instance in the tomb of Sennedjem in Deir al-Medina dating to the 19th Dynasty (1292–1190 BCE) and as an illustration with Spell 110 of the Papyrus of Any (19th Dynasty, found in Luxor, now in the British Museum in London). These maps are based on texts from the “Book of the Dead” (or the “Book of Going Forth Day by Day”). Astronomical (or astrological?) maps can be found painted on the ceiling of the tombs of the royal architect Senmut in Deir al-Bahri (near Luxor), dated around 1450 BCE, and of Pharaoh Seti I of the 19th Dynasty (1290–1279 BCE) in the Valley of the Kings. These display individual stars and the signs that were associated with them, which are often markedly different from the Mesopotamian signs that are still used today (Wells 1999). A cosmographical map was carved in the lid of the stone sarcophagus of Uresh-nefer of the 30th Dynasty (380–343 BCE, found in Sakkara, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York). The complicated image shows the goddess Nut, representing the sky, bending herself over an image of the world, depicted as two concentric disks. The god Shu, representing light and air, is also shown, directing the sun in its course (Hernandez Marin 1992–1994) (Fig. 2).
***
The first unequivocal maps also date back to the New Kingdom. One depicts the events during the battle between the famous Pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty Ramesses II (1279–1213 BCE) and the Hittite king Muwatallis at Qadesh (near modern Homs in Syria) in May 1274 BCE (Baines and Malek 2000: 202–203). Examples of this map can be found, among other places, on the first pylon of Luxor Temple and on the northern wall of the great pillared hall of the Great Temple in Abu Simbel. Shown are the Orontes, the city of Qadesh and the placement of the troops. A second map from this period, drawn on a length of papyrus found in Deir al-Medina (near Luxor), is most reminiscent of a modern map (Harrell 2001; Shore 1987). It shows the gold mines, stone quarries and settlements in the Wadi Hammamat area, about halfway between Luxor and Quseir (on the Red Sea coast), and can be considered the oldest known geological map (Harrell and Brown 1992). The map, now kept by the Museo Egizio in Turin, was probably prepared by Amennakhte, son of Ipuy, for Pharaoh Ramesses IV (1156–1150 BCE) of the 20th Dynasty (Fig. 3).
***
Alexandria was the capital of Egypt during the Greco-Roman period and by far the most powerful and influential city in the region. Thanks to the patronage of the Ptolemaic rulers and the renowned library of Alexandria (with about 500,000 “books”) scholarly and scientific knowledge advanced greatly. This was partly fueled by a renewed onomastic tradition, compiling existing knowledge in long lists. One of the librarians of Alexandria was Eratosthenes, born in Cyrene (Libya) and brought to Egypt by Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BCE) as a tutor for his son. He is said to have collected a comprehensive geography of the then known world, which is lost but was cited extensively by the Greek geographer Strabo (63 BCE–24 CE). Eratosthenes was also the first to attempt to calculate the circumference of the earth, by comparing the difference in the height of the sun in Alexandria and Aswan, and came surprisingly close to the actual figure (Berthon and Robinson 1991). A compilation of geographical and astronomical knowledge that did survive is that of Claudius Ptolemy, an Egyptian who lived and worked in Alexandria around 150–200 CE (Dilke 1987: 177–200). His works form the basis of many early Arabic and European maps, especially after some of his works were rediscovered at the end of the thirteenth century CE in Istanbul (Constantinople) by the monk Maximus Planudes (Berthon and Robinson 1991). <https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-94-007-7747-7_8718>
Ptolemy’s Geography gives America’s location and uses it as the Prime Meridian, under the title “the Islands of the Blest”, which are erroneously identified as the Canary Islands. The Turin Papyrus, which Bernard said “can be considered the oldest known geological map”, is stylistically very similar to many Underworld maps in the Book of Two Ways, especially B6C and similar versions. The primary difference is that the Turin Papyrus seems much more stylized, while most of the Underworld maps are much closer to modern maps in their specificity of detail. The fact the Turin Papyrus, the oldest recognized Egyptian map, is of gold mines, may also be instructive in interpreting the Underworld maps, which may have mapped the copper mines of North America. The Book of Two Ways was painted and carved in coffins in Hermopolis, just as the Book of the Dead was later to be left in tombs. An older version of the Book of Two Ways was found by Egyptologist Wael Sherbiny in the oldest and longest leather manuscript from ancient Egypt, the Cairo leather roll, like the leather codices of Mesoamericans which are largely the same format and motifs as ancient Egyptian funerary texts such as this. The oldest Book of Two Ways in a coffin is that of Ankh, a woman who lived over 4,000 years ago. Katherine J. Wu writes for Smithsonian Magazine: “Unlike the bound books of modern times, the ancient text wasn’t a standalone volume. Instead, excerpts were written on the inside of the sarcophagus itself, surviving in the form of two rotting cedar panels etched with images and hieroglyphs. The inscriptions clearly quote the Book of Two Ways, and other artifacts in the grave have been dated to the reign of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II, who ruled until 2010 B.C.” Wu writes of the Book of Two Ways: “This intricate map of the ancient Egyptian underworld may be the first illustrated ‘book’ in history.” <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/4000-year-old-guide-ancient-egyptian-underworld-may-be-oldest-illustrated-book-180973880/> The oldest Book of Two Ways with an intact map is in the coffin of Djehutynakht, Overlord of the Hare nome, which is the province in which all of the Books of Two Ways have been found.
To the right of the Underworld map in the Book of Two Ways is this text: “Trembling befalls the eastern Akhet of the sky at the voice of Nut when she clears the roads for Re, <10p113> when/as the Great one turns around. <10p114> Raise yourself, Re! Raise yourself, you who are in <10p113> his <10p114> shrine, that you may lick the winds, that you may swallow the spines [Sherbiny: “All our sources read the plural save B6C ‘may you swallow the spine’.” <10p114>], that you may spit out the day, that you may inhale Maat, that the Followers may go around, that your bark may travel to Nut, that the Great ones may move at your voice, that you may claim your bones, that you may gather your limbs, and that you may turn your face to the beautiful West. <10p113> It is every day you come anew <10p115> because you are this beautiful image of Gold that is under the branches of (the trees of the) jtnwt-(grove)! The Sky and earth fall into trembling for you because of <10p113> (or: at <10p116>) your going around anew, anew, every day, the Akhet is aroused, and acclamation is at your tow-rope. Look! Her thousand bas are in Heliopolis, and the sun-folk are in Babylon, because of the birth of her thousand gods for the One who ties his fillet, the One who grasps his oar. [Sherbiny: “B2Bo omits the preposition n, and I suggest reading here a passive imperfective sdm.f ‘when her thousand gods are born’.” <10p118> Sherbiny: “The thousand gods here must be a designation of the stars. This also holds true for the suffix pronoun in the other designation of stars in the text, namely h3-b3.s in CT VII, 258a. Note also that msj is a common astronomical term denoting the rise and appearance of stars. The text may allude to the rising of decans after the reappearance of Sothis star, see Neugebauer — Parker, Astronomical Texts I, 41; Brugsh, Thesaurus I, 133f.” <10p119>] This [Osirian] will go with them aboard the zsnt-boat towards the dockyard of the gods, that this [Osirian] may hollow out a bark there, two thousand cubits between its two heads (i.e. the prow and stern), that this [Osirian] may sail in it together with Re, that this [Osirian] may sail in it together with the One whose heart is monkeyish [Sherbiny: “Our sources invariably write the god determinative, which most of the late variants replace by a bark-determinative.”<10p122>], and that this [Osirian] may act as a pilot in it towards this district of Nut, towards this Staircase of the Mercury-bark.” <10p113>
All of this is written north of the map of America, and at least part of it dates back to the Old Kingdom and may have been associated with the north, as Sherbiny writes: “The precursor of this text occurs in the Pyramid Texts on the northern wall of the subterranean antechamber of the Pyramid of Merenre.” <10p585> The Great One often refers to Osiris, who is an earth-God, which would imply the ancient Egyptians understood, despite their geocentric symbolism, that it is Earth which is spinning, making the Sun appear to “go around” it. Sherbiny: “The concept of ‘swallowing the spine’ is neither attested in the Coffin Texts nor in the Pyramid Texts.” <10p156> It may refer to the spine of Osiris, the Djed-Pillar, which may be the Earth along the ecliptic. As Sherbiny explains, “her thousand bas” is a common term for the stars of the sky goddess Nut. <10p117> Writing of the zsnt-boat, Sherbiny says that “Meeks reads our zsnt as ‘la barque au papyrus’.” Sherbiny writes that “the word zsnt is also a designation of the papyrus stalk.” He says that “our zsnt may be a substantivized passive participle that refers to a ferry or a raft made of bundled papyrus reeds. The papyrus boats and rafts are well-known in ancient Egypt and can adequately be used as ferries.” Regarding the hieroglyphs for “dockyard of the gods”, Sherbiny writes: “The use of the staircase-determinative may indicate that the wharf is probably located at a quay.” <10p120> Staircase shapes are shown in the Underworld map in the Book of the Dead of Ani with boats.
Sherbiny writes about the boat that is to be hollowed out at the wharf: “The deceased will go to a ship-building yard in order to construct a vessel. This is supported by the parallel passage in CT 162. Altenmüller reached the same result in his comment on the verb in question, where he stated that sdj when used in the context of boat-building rather denotes constructing a vessel at a wharf. This verb further denotes that the material used in building the boat is wood. The term probably stood behind designating the wood used in ship construction as sd.” Later versions said this wooden boat should be one thousand cubits, instead of the two thousand cubits in the early versions. <10p121> One thousand cubits are over five hundred meters, whereas of course two thousand cubits is over a thousand meters. Large ships were depicted in ancient Egyptian art, like the boat in the Kom Ahmar tomb where we can see twenty-five rowers on one side alone, implying up to fifty total. But a thousand meters, or even five hundred meters, is much longer than the longest ship we know of, ancient or modern. There are no thousand-meter or even five-hundred-meter trees to hollow out into boats, the tallest tree in history being one hundred and thirty two meters. Cosmological symbolism is probably at play here. Sherbiny discusses the presence of the “Staircase of the Mercury-bark” here in the Book of Two Ways as well as in the Book of the Dead:
Perhaps, rd/rwd here denotes a quay/harbor or stairs of landing on the shore. In his rendering of the late BD variant of our text, Thomas Allen refers in passing to the staircases in the vignettes of BD 110. Also here boats are used to navigate watercourses and to land at several banks and islands. ***
*** The word sbg has two determinatives in our sources except in B2Bo which has three. The first determinative is a star sign, which may indicate the astronomical nature of the word (the planet Mercury). This sign is followed by the god determinative in B2Bo. The last determinative of the word in all the sources is a bark sign. … [T]he bark sign in B2Bo and B3C has a falcon in the middle of the vessel. The determinative of the bark suggests a relation of Mercury with the solar bark. These writings of the bark do not appear in the general listing of hieroglyphic signs. Nor were they cited by van der Molen in his hieroglyphic and hieratic sign list appendix to his dictionary.
The planet Mercury was customarily associated with Seth in the Egyptian astronomical texts. This planet is the closest to the sun and it can be visible for a few days at the evening twilight, and after approximately two months for a few days at the morning twilight. The reference to Seth in our text should not be surprising, since we will come across more references to his protective role at the prow of the solar bark later in our composition. These references seem to be connected with a certain “great district”. It stands to reason that such a scene, where Seth plays a protective role using magical means against Apopis, takes place sometime after setting off from the quay (literally: staircase). It can be gathered from CT 1094 and CT 1129 that this quay seems to be located at the northern bank of the Winding Waterway. ***
On the other hand, Sethe proposed that the “Despicable One” (Hbd) addressed in PT 255 is probably identified with Seth who plays an important role at the solar bark. A comparable text is found in pGardiner II. In both texts, Hbd is invoked and is asked to give his insignia to the deceased. This latter appears to be equipped with both Perception (sj3), and Utterance (hw) by the end of the text. The power of magical speech in averting the evil glance of Apopis is also referred to in our composition. In such context, as is the case in CT 1127, the deceased seems to be identified with the Eldest Magician (Hk3-smsw) as a designation of Seth. Accordingly the deceased assumes the role of Seth who defends the solar bark by means of magic. <10p123>
For all these considerations, the “staircase of the Mercury-bark” may be a reference to a quay of the solar vessel which seems to be under the auspices of Seth. Later on Seth is going to defend the solar bark against the threats of Apopis. Therefore, it may not be a surprise that there is a relation between the two-thousand-cubit-long bark and the staircase of the Mercury bark. This may be influenced by Seth’s exceedingly important role at the prow of this vessel in this celestial area. It is also possible that the sun god (who seems to be alluded to in form of the falcon in the middle of the bark) will change vessels when he will disembark from the two-thousand-cubit-long bark and get aboard the “Mercury-bark”. At any rate, this is not clear from the text. It is still another open question whether the staircase of the Mercury-bark is related to the staircase of the Flame (rwd hnft) mentioned in CT 162. The staircase of the Flame forms a destination of a one-thousand-cubit-long bark which the deceased will construct in CT 162.
Although not everything is clear, it should be taken into account that the illustrated sources of our composition show different drawings of barks. Therefore, changing the vessel and having several halting points on the trajectory should not be surprising. <10p124>
It seems that the word “cubit” might not be present in the text but rather assumed from the context. Based upon late versions like B5C, it’s possible that the craft is two thousand of a much larger measurement, since B5C seems to depict America itself as a craft. That may relate to the largest boat in the Hierakonpolis map which is atop/along America. Also it seems very possible to me that Seth is actually Jupiter, and that Thoth is Mercury, because the Greeks called Thoth “Hermes”, and because Seth is so similar to his fellow storm-gods Thor and Jupiter and Marduk. For example, Seth attacks Apopis, and Thor attacks the Midgard Serpent. Apopis and the Midgard Serpent both are in the ocean or are themselves the ocean, which separates the World from the Underworld. I suspect many of the most prominent gods in most or all pantheons were planets. I think the attributes of the gods are related to the attributes of the planets they represent: for example, Hermes is the god of speed, and the planet Mercury, which Hermes represents, is the fastest planet. Likewise Zeus is the strongest god, and the planet he represents, Jupiter, is the largest planet. Inanna is famous for her travels in the Underworld, and the planet she represents, Venus, is known for visibly descending below the western horizon and rising from the eastern horizon. Modern “scholars” pretend the planets were named after the gods as an afterthought, but the facts of ancient religion debunk that.
Apopis is responsible for red in the sunset and sunrise, by attacking Re and making him bloody and fatigued until being healed by the protagonist. This is probably why people think Mesoamericans needed human sacrifices to make the sun rise, because of confusion over funerary traditions regarding the afterlife, in which the soul assists the sun’s passage, which the Christian conquerors conveniently interpreted as implying human sacrifice. Gory imagery relating to ritual treatment of the body of the deceased, and symbolically referencing cosmology, gave more figurative fuel to the actual fire which ultimately burned almost every book in America, nearly all of the many codices of the Mayans and Aztecs and Mixtecs and other Mesoamerican peoples.
Budge writes of Re’s journey between Duat and Egypt: “Twelve gods tow the boat, not over a river, or <1p106n> over a serpent or serpents, but completely through a serpent.” E. Amélineau agreed with Budge that the Duat journey is through the serpent. <1p107n> This serpent (Mehen and/or Apopis) is likely similar or identical to Okeanos of the Greeks (from whence the word “ocean” derives), as well as the Celtic Lasconius and the Norse Midgard Serpent.
Sherbiny writes of a parallel text, CT 162:
In the second part of this spell, the Four Winds of the sky, who are described as the “bulls of the sky”, are invited to travel together with the ritualist on a bark of his own making. They will ferry across towards the zsnt-structure, which lies at the far side of a watercourse. Upon the arrival at the area of the zsnt- <10p162> structure, the ritualist will hollow out another bark there which is one thousand cubits long. The reference to the length of this second vessel indicates that it is probably larger than the ferry used in arriving at the area where the zsnt-structure is. It is in this latter bark that the ritualist will sail to another destination specified in the text as the Staircase of the Flame.
***
*** CT 163, which is intimately related to CT 162, has the title: “the ferry crossing of the Winding Waterway”. The ritualist himself in some other CT is said to take the form of the “heron of zsnt (nwr zsnt) or “the heron belonging to the zsnt” (nwr zsntj) in order to fly over the Winding Waterway. The process of crossing the Winding Waterway towards the zsnt-building on the other side does not hinder using the word zsn in the name of the means of transportation involved (be it a vessel or a bird).
The word zsnt turns up in the ferryman spells, where it appears as a designation of a building lying on the other bank of the Winding Waterway. It has the form of a quay (lit. staircase). Moreover, the analysis of the words built on the root zsn clarifies that zsnt must be a type of structure on the bank of the Winding Waterway located at a quay (lit. staircase). This is interesting, for it indicates that the waterway to be crossed by the ritualist in the company of the Four Winds in CT 162 and the thousand gods in CT 1030 is indeed the Winding Waterway. Upon arrival at the other bank, the bark stops at a staircase, probably a quay, connected with the zsnt-building. <10p163>
CT 162 says: “it is this [Osirian] who built the bark himself, that <10p162n> he may ferry-cross with it towards Zsnt-building, and then he shall hollow out a bark of 1000 cubits long, that he may sail in (it) towards the Staircase of the Flame”. <10p163n> Sherbiny: “Some late variants make clear that the zsnt in question is not the bark but a locality or building(s), hence agreeing with the logic of CT 162.” <10p163>
Also in Ani’s “Book of Going Forth By Day”, the America map shows two boats docked on the East Coast of North America, and each boat has a stairway on top of it. Another stairway is shown in Cuba, without a boat. The northernmost boat is likely either in the Saint Lawrence River, the Hudson River, or Hudson Bay, and the other boat, noticeably larger, looks to be docked in the Gulf of Mexico. Perhaps this relates to the same sequence of events, wherein the zsnt-boat departs from Hudson Bay or the Saint Lawrence River, and journeys to the dockyard of the gods and the zsnt-building or locality in the Gulf of Mexico, from which a larger boat journeys on to the Staircase of the Mercury-bark in Cuba. Or maybe the zsnt-boat arrives at the dockyard of the gods and the zsnt-building or locality in Hudson Bay or the Saint Lawrence, and then the larger boat is built and navigated to the Staircase of the Mercury-bark in the Gulf of Mexico, from which the Mercury-bark is piloted to Cuba. In either case, it may imply that the Mercury-bark is not an actual boat, since the staircase in Cuba is not accompanied by any boat depiction. Or maybe Cuba has the dockyard of the gods where the heron of zsnt arrives, and the large craft is built there to journey on to the Mercury-bark in the Gulf of Mexico, which is piloted to the Saint Lawrence River or Hudson Bay, or the Hudson River. If so, the goal may be the copper mines of the Great Lakes. And the Hierakonpolis map has multiple boats also. It has what may be the Night-Bark and Day-Bark and Henu-Bark, all in the same place as in these later maps. The Night-Bark is in the Caribbean, the Day-Bark is at Greenland or Iceland, and the Henu-Bark is between Africa and South America. The Night-Bark is also shown at Antarctica, and the Day-Bark is also shown at the Falkland Islands, and a boat is shown on the West Coast, larger than the others, but similar to the Day-Bark. I am basing these designations off the fact that what I see as likely Night-Barks have a black square in the center, while the Day-Barks are fully white, and the Henu-Bark curls upward at the prow and is asymmetrical like those in the other maps. Since I can’t read hieroglyphs and am only reading their translations, I don’t really know, but I am curious whether the spells in the Book of Two Ways rhyme, like similar literature from ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Scandinavia. I may have found an instance of this in a later spell for which the Egyptian words are given by Sherbiny.
An example of Nordic Hell-spells is given in The Road to Hel by Hilda Roderick Ellis: “Svipdagr protests he has not the necessary wisdom and experience to travel the path ‘where none go’ to Menglöð. For this journey he needs certain magic spells, and these she teaches him. There are spells for the loosening of burdens, for protection against wandering, joyless, far from the path, and against overwhelming rivers of Hel; spells against lurking foes and against fetters on the limbs; spells which will guard against stormy seas, bitter cold, and ghosts of malignant Christian women wandering in the night; and finally a spell to give the necessary wisdom for the contest with a terrible giant.” <6p154> Ellis writes of “spells which give power to the possessor, which can guard him against the baleful magic of others, or give him the power to overcome certain perils in his journeyings.” <6p156> Ellis:
In the two poems which have to do with the adventures of Svipdagr, Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, we have first an account of his visit to his mother’s grave, and of the spells which she teaches liana, and secondly a description of his arrival outside the hall of Menglöð, and of the successful end of his wooing. Svipdagr seeks out his mother for one particular purpose; he needs her help because, as he tells her in verse 3, he has been sent to travel the way “that none may go”, to seek out the maiden Menglöð. In verse 5 he begs her to chant spells for him, since he fears he will otherwise perish on the way, and <6p175> deems himself all too young for the quest. The nine spells which are chanted by Gróa in reply to this appeal, then, are presumably for one particular purpose — to assist him in making this journey — and so a study of them may be expected to assist us in gaining knowledge of the way by which Svipdagr is to travel.
The first spell is to enable him to cast off anything harmful. The second is to prevent him from [“?]wandering, deprived of will, in the ways”. The third is against the power of certain rivers, which might overwhelm him, and is to cause them to sink back into Hel before his advance. The fourth will turn the hearts of enemies who lie in wait for him away from their hostility. The fifth will loosen fetters laid on his limbs. The sixth will calm a raging sea, “wilder than men know”. The seventh will preserve him from death from the intense cold on the “high fells”. The eighth will help him, if suddenly overtaken by darkness, against the malignant power of “dead Christian women”; and the ninth and last spell is to give him eloquence and wisdom when he comes to converse with the wise and terrible giant.
In these spells we are given a fairly vivid picture of the path which Svipdagr is to take. He will encounter hostility on it; enemies will lie in wait for him, some of them actually specified as the dead. He may be deprived of the strength of his will, and wander aimlessly, without the ability to continue on the right path; and he may be bound with fetters. His path will lie over wild rivers, said to flow out from Hel itself, over a stormy sea, and over high mountains where the cold is terrible; and always darkness may overtake him suddenly. At the end of the journey is the giant whom he must outstrip in wisdom if he is to gain his quest. The gap between the two poems, Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, is not thus complete; since the nature of the “spell-songs” of Gróa affords a clue to the journey which Falk in his detailed study of the problems of Svipdagsmál seems to have neglected to follow. <6p176>
Next in the Book of Two Ways is a series of labels and of spells that are to be addressed to the gods encountered here, as well as some addressed to the protagonist by Horakhti and perhaps other gods. A rectangle here has a white or reddish frame (depending on the version), two and sometimes four sides of which read: “The Entourage [of the Fire].” <10p113>
This rectangle may denote the passage of the sun through the four corners of the Earth, with each side representing a cardinal direction. This fits with Sherbiny saying they may be identical to the Four Sons of Horus carrying torches, since the latter relate to the cardinal directions, and a solar origin of the fire may be indicated by the part that says: “This burning fire is directed against you (plural), even (this fire) which is around Re, and which is bound around him, that the Lord of storm may fear Re’s bark.” If so, the left side may be the west, since in B1C its eastern corner connects to the “Gateway of fire” <10p197> which may represent sunset in Greenland and its western corner connects to the other nearby shape labeled “Fire” <10p193>, which may represent sunrise in Siberia, which connects to the Lake of Fire that runs through the middle of America from Canada through South America. Since the red rectangle is in the north, it may be particularly associated with the starboard followers of Re, the decans, northern stars.
Inside the rectangle is the text: “This burning fire is directed against you (plural), even (this fire) which is around Re, and which is bound around him, that the Lord of storm may fear Re’s bark. You (all) join the fire! It is together with the One whose face is wiped that this [Osirian] has come <10p113> today. <10p126> This [Osirian] has seen the one who went forth against Maat, fallen through the hand(s) of the Ones whose shapes are sacred who are in the midst of the Sacred Lake, the Confederates <10p113> [or: the Unifiers <10p126>], the Reed-dwellers, the Lords of the Lake of Rushes. <10p126> [Sherbiny: “Although dsr can be rendered as ‘sacred’, the basic meaning of the verb is ‘segregate’, ‘be remote’, and the like. Thus, it could be this sense that the text hints at here.” <10p128>] This [Osirian] has seen them there, and {we} they were to give to them (offerings?) [or: we were to reveal them <10p128>]. Their Great ones were in excitement and their Little ones in happiness. Make way for this [Osirian] at the prow of his bark, he who is bright in his disk, who is effective in his ba, who rises up [B2Bo and B4Bo have: that this [Osirian] may rise up <10p128>] in front of his uraei [B1Bo and B2Bo have: uraeus <10p129>], when he partakes of the offerings as Lord of Maat! This [Osirian] has gathered together what was damaged in him, this [Osirian] has brought for him Maat that he may live on it.” <10p113>
Sherbiny: “The use of the preposition m-m in the late variants of CT VII, 273c is instructive here. It clearly indicates that the protagonist hopes to pass among or through the Entourage of Fire.” <10p171n> Sherbiny writes that
we now know that “He whose face is wiped seems to share with the ritualist the act of distributing the offerings in the Sacred Lake. It is therefore possible that these actions took place in a fertile area there and not inside water. In other words, distributing the offerings might have taken place on an island located in the Sacred Lake. This will bring us to CT 292, which is of relevance to our text, since it contains the only other occurrence of the name of “He whose face is wiped” in the hitherto published Coffin Texts.
CT 292 is only attested on two coffins that date back to the second half of the Twelfth Dynasty, namely B2L and Sq1C. Although not all the details of the spell are clear, the title indicates that it is a transformation spell. The text reciter hopes to be transformed into a “heron of zsnt” (nwr zsntj). The reference to zsnt offers a link with CT 1030 which has been discussed earlier.
According to B2L, the “heron of zsnt” refers to some events that will take place after the moment of speaking. Among other things, he states that he will cross the marshes and will stand on the shore of the hns-lake of the West. Moreover, he will enjoy the food in the “Island of Ruti”, and he will eat together with the “One whose face is wiped” in the midst of the Sacred Lake.
It can be further argued that the two clauses “I will eat from the flood, which is in the abundance of Thoth in the Island of Ruti”, and “I will eat together with the One whose face is wiped in the midst of the Sacred Lake” in CT 292 stand in parallelism or are at least very closely related. It follows that the area where the food is consumed would be a fertile island located in the Sacred Lake. This latter is the same place, where the “Ones whose shapes are sacred” are located in our text. Yet another corollary presents itself here. The “One whose face is wiped” can well be a designation of Thoth, who accompanies the ritualist during the described events in our text.
The accounts described in CT 292 fit nicely what we have concluded concerning this lake. It is therefore possible that the fertile area where food is available, and which is identified as the “Island of Ruti” in CT 292, is a place of granting offerings to the “Great ones” and the “Little ones” of the Dsrsw-jrw mentioned in CT 1033. In other words, giving the offerings to these beings takes place on the “Island of Ruti”, which is possibly located in the midst of the Sacred Lake.
After this point, the ritualist traveled together with the “One whose face is wiped” from this island towards the area where the solar bark is located. It is noteworthy that the ritualist has arrived carrying offerings referred to as Maat. Since food offerings and Maat played a role in the events that took place in the area where the ritualist came from, it is possible that he brought this offering from there, i.e. from the “Island of Ruti”. <10p169>
The offerings of Maat bring to mind the Vedic offerings of Soma, which is a god and the moon and also a divine beverage. I think Maat is Venus, and that her component goddesses, Isis of the East and Nephthys of the West, are Venus rising and Venus setting. Thoth is generally considered to be the moon, but I suspect he is Mercury, because the Greeks equated him with Hermes, the Greek Mercury god.
Sherbiny: “The theme of the ritualist threatening deities with physical annihilation is not uncommon in ancient Egyptian religious/magical texts. In Egyptian religion/magic, even very positively valued gods can be annihilated/burnt if they do not comply with the wishes of the magical practitioner. The use of fire is quite normal here, even against Osiris.” <10p125> Although the title “the Lord of Storm” seems to usually be applied to Seth, Sherbiny writes: “The ‘Lord of Storm’ is here a designation of Apopis who threatens the solar bark.” <10p125> I myself lean towards Seth as the god referenced there, but both Seth and Apopis are closely related, Seth being related to storms and Apopis being related to the sea. Regarding the line “Make way for this [Osirian] at the prow of his bark, he who is bright in his disk”, Sherbiny explains that “his” means “Re’s”: “B3C, that is known for its relative accuracy in adapting the first person pronoun of the Vorlage into a third person singular feminine or the proper name of the female deceased Z3t-hd-htp tn, writes ‘May you make way for this N at the bow of his bark’. *** B6C reads ‘Make way in his bark for this N’. *** B4Bo reads ‘Make way for N in the front of your bark’.” <10p128>
Then an utterance is directed toward the protagonist, perhaps by the Entourage of the Fire <10p131>: “Go! Go! Come, oh He who tells the condition of your father in Nun that you may convey his voice in the evening-twilight!”
This is followed by another utterance on behalf of the protagonist: “Look (plural), this [Osirian] has come after having <10p113> overcome <10p130> for him Apopis, and after having spat for him upon his wounds. [Sherbiny: “B2Bo reads psg.f n.f nzpw.f ‘that he may spit for him upon his wounds.’ B4Bo reads: ‘that this N may spit upon his wounds’.” <10p130>] Make way for this [Osirian] that he may pass, (for) this [Osirian] is the greatest god!”
Then another utterance is addressed to the protagonist: “Come! Pass, you, that your bark may be rowed! Oh Lord of Perception, you are the heir of the Great one!”
Next is another utterance on behalf of the protagonist: “So, dampen the flame and extinguish the fire! Make way for this [Osirian]! It is the ‘One who joins them’ who elevates the Akhet to this [Osirian], once this [Osirian] has passed by the Great ones, once this [Osirian] has witnessed the starboard (group) which is in his bark, and once this [Osirian] has passed by the Entourage of Fire which is around the Lord of the Ones who have braided locks.” [Sherbiny writes that “the braided lock is a characteristic of Heliopolitan priests (in addition to baldness), and from the MK onwards it was also linked to Hathor.” <10p134>]
“Pass!” says Horakhti, “that you may control the bark, the eye of your father!” <10p113>
Between the rectangle and America is the text: “On your face(s) [i.e. bow down <10p135>], oh snakes of the ‘ftt! Let this [Osirian] pass by, (for) this [Osirian] is the Mighty one, the Lord of Those of the wsrt-poles [singular “pole” in B4Bo. <10p151>], (for) this [Osirian] is the dignitary of Re, the Lord of Maat, who created Uto. This [Osirian’s] protection is Re’s protection from you (plural) during traversing for him (i.e. Re) the two Fields of Offerings! This [Osirian] is Re, a god greater than you (singular masculine), when he takes account of his Enneads in giving the offerings. Such is showing the roads of Rosetau.” <10p113>
Since this is written north of Canada, and “the wsrt-poles” are mentioned again south of Argentina, they may be the North Pole and South Pole, a very ancient concept. The name wsrt may be related to the name of the earth-god, Osiris, which is wsjr. The “snakes of the ‘ftt” may be ice or they may be the aurora borealis, since snakes sometimes represent fiery phenomena, and they are also found at the southern tip of South America, possibly representing australis borealis, which is visible from Tierra del Fuego.
More support for this theory is found in Figure 160c of Sherbiny’s book, which shows a mummification bed with Osiris lying on his front, looking even more like a landmass than usual, and uraei snakes above his head and above his feet, with none in between. That image and that above it (Figure 160b) which shows another mummification bed, both have a knotted shape in the upper part <10p340> which may relate to the tying of the fillet which is mentioned in the Book of Two Ways. Sherbiny: “Note that B6C reads wsrwt with the god-determinative. This may be understood either as a divine personification of the wsrt-poles, or as the gods of the wsrt-poles.” The hieroglyphs for the wsrt-poles include a pole with an animal’s head at the top, reportedly a canine. Sherbiny writes that B4Bo “omitted the plural determinative.” <10p151> Sherbiny:
It has been suggested that ‘ftt is a feminine form of the word ‘ftj which was identified by the Wb as demonstrative for the farer “yonder”. This suggestion rests on two words that appear in the Litany of Re in the same passage where we read that “my ba ‘f ascends to the sky, my ba ‘n enters in the Duat”. The Berlin Dictionary explains both ‘n and ‘f here as adverbs of place and puts them on a par with the demonstratives pn and pf respectively. This latter is compared with how ‘3 is related to p3. It should be stated that these suggestions were expressed with uncertainty. This interpretation has been followed by many scholars (see for instance Grapow, ZÄS 72 (1936), 37; Piankoff, Wandering, 14; Hornung, Sonnenlitanei II, 132, n. 334). It was Otto who canonized and expanded this interpretation (Otto, ZDMG 101 [1951], 53f, and 54, n. 2; followed among others by Kammerzell, LinAeg 2 [1992], 164f; Quack, BiOr 57 [2000]; 559, n. 41; idem, JAOS 126 [2006], 594). <10p136>
***
In addition, one should mention here the word ‘f3j found on one of the fragments of the unnumbered papyrus in Moscow known as the “Pleasures of Fishing and Fowling”. In view of the determinative, it could be argued that ‘f3j here has a deictic function. Hence a translation of [hieroglyphic words] with “the yonder northern region” might then be a valid option. <10p138>
In favor of ‘ftt relating to a direction or location is the fact that iAbtt means east, and imntt means west, mHtt means north, and words ending in tt are rare. However I can only find rst and rsyt for south. <29> Another possibility is a relation to fire, as “my ba ‘f ascends to the sky, my ba ‘n enters in the Duat” is similar to the Mesopotamian tradition that a cremated person’s soul goes up to the sky and a buried person’s soul goes to the Underworld, as explained in “Gilgameš, Enkidu and the nether world”: “Did you see [in the Underworld] him who was set on fire?” “I did not see him. His smoke went up to the sky. His spirit does not live in the underworld.” <28> Also, tf which is translated as “yonder” is also translated as “burn”. <29> Sherbiny writes of ‘ftt in another sentence: “The word ‘ftt appears here in a textual element associated with a drawing. The ‘ftt belongs here to the sun god Re. The wording of this passage finds parallel in another passage from the Coffin Texts, namely CT 247. Here we read ‘fdt tw nt r’. Once more we encounter the word ‘fdt. This phrase forms part of an address of the text speaker to a group of four beings who are in the ‘fdt of Re.” <10p142> This solar association supports an aurora interpretation, auroras being products of solar radiation.
Sherbiny writes of another text that “the roads of Rosetau” are mentioned in: “Here we learn that the roads of Rosetau are related to Osiris. At first glance, and according to the ‘traditional’ view which presupposes an Osirian-Solar dichotomy, this may be at odds with CT 1034. But it should be stated that this dichotomy is not beyond doubt. In fact, and as far as our composition is concerned, we will come to know later in our composition that Re is clearly mentioned in a context related to offerings in an utterance addressed to the guards of Osiris who are related to the water and land ways of Rosetau. Similarly, CT 1034 revolves around the same themes that we have in these spells. The sun god Re as ritualist heading towards the abode of Osiris to perform some rites for the latter is not an uncommon theme in the Coffin Texts. A comparison between CT 1034 and CT 1073 is enough to show that such a strict separation <10p154> between Osirian and Solar myths does not seem adequate for the religious texts we are dealing with. Therefore the mention of the roads leading to the place where (part of) Osiris is (i.e. Rosetau) in a rubric of a spell identifying the deceased with Re fits perfectly the logic of these texts.” <10p155>
Wael Sherbiny writes:
The “map” section is the most famous and the most characteristic of our composition and it stands behind the modern name of the composition as “the Book of Two Ways”. It is found in all the illustrated sources, both early and late. Although there are several changes in both the iconographic and the textual arrangement of the material in this part over the years, the main features remained more or less constant. As stated above in our discussion of the design, there are few “real spells” (to use de Buck’s terminology) in this part, the majority of the textual elements consisting of labels and titles accompanying the drawings. Although a large number of such labels are interspersed on the drawings, the message of this part is not easy to grasp. This is mainly due to two factors. Firstly, the fact that no clear parallels occur in the other iconographic material that hitherto survived from ancient Egypt. Secondly, the sequence of reading the textual and iconographic material is not immediately clear from the sources. We will return later to the problem of the sequence of the textual material. The enigmatic character of this part of the composition has led several scholars to interpret it in rather an impressionistic way. It has been noted that the textual sources, B1Bo and B4Bo are not in agreement concerning the order of the textual elements. Of the two, B4Bo is not only the richest text source, but, moreover, it contains textual elements compensating for the missing drawings.
The main feature of this part of the composition in the sources that are arranged in the form of a plan is its being divided into two large registers separated by a band representing a certain fiery lake. Both registers are characterized by a serpentine band running through the entire register from one end to the other. The upper register has a blue band, while the lower has a black one. This has led scholars to believe that the former band represents a waterway, while the latter is its counterpart, i.e. an overland road. We have already outlined earlier the problems pertinent to this hypothesis. Therefore, we will not discuss here the unwarranted speculations of some scholars concerning the directions and destinations of these so-called two ways, such as how “two ways” meet each other, or how they and/or parts of them end in the Lake of Fire … etc.
Our treatment of the material of the “map” section (CT 1036–1068) will try to envisage it with its two registers as one whole, and not as two completely separate partitions. <10p233>
Sherbiny: “Among other unclear things denoting places, there is mention of the place of sand and a number of basins or lakes. The textual elements written on the blue serpentine band make mention of ‘towns’ and again ‘ways’, e.g. 8: ‘the towns of the Ones who live on dates’, 16: ‘the towns of the Knife-wielders’, 20: ‘this is its road. You should not pass on it’, 22: ‘the way of the Fiery ones’. Several interpretations have been given to these drawings, e.g. ‘mounds’, ‘towns’, ‘gates’, ‘enclosures’ or ‘buildings’. These drawings thus represent localities, whether areas or regions such as towns, mounds, or architectural constructions. For the sake of convenience, we will designate these drawings in general as ‘localities’.” <10p187>
Sherbiny: “One may compare the representations of the localities we are discussing here with the oval shapes representing towns in the famous illustration of the Field of Offerings in the Deir El Barsha coffins. Solely on the basis of the accompanying text (CT 467) we know that the oval shapes represent towns. In other words, the drawings may not be realistic as one might expect, but stylized depictions, and this is actually one of the reasons for their being difficult to understand.” <10p238> Sherbiny: “It is clear that CT 451 deals with the entry of the ritualist to the West on his way to Osiris.” <10p236>
In the B5C version, the map section is between two long blue lines, the same color of blue used in the Pacific coastline, but the rest of the ocean was not colored in. The earliest illustrated version of the Book of Two Ways, called B2Bo, has a wider Florida than the later B3C has, and Honduras/Nicaragua and Tierra del Fuego extend much further east than is currently the case, but this may in part reflect an earlier shape of America, when the sea level was much lower.
Greenland contains the text: “The entrance [of the lake (?) …]. This is the gateway of darkness.” <10p191> That fits Greenland as being a place which is dark much of the year, and likely relates to the tradition about the red sunset being the blood of Re who is wounded by Apopis while crossing the ocean. Re is then unable to shine until he is resurrected inside his shrine in the Underworld at midnight, ready to shine again on the Eastern Hemisphere for the next day. This wasn’t a literal belief, at least by the adept, but a cosmological device, and a mythological device, which tend to overlap. Due to this tradition, the eastern coastline of America is a thick black line, and Greenland is a solidly black semicircle, while the western coastline of America is blue, representing night and day, darkness and sunshine. This likely means that both lines represent water, and the eastern sea is black for lack of sunshine. Sherbiny: “In the course of our translation of the texts of our composition we will use the conventional renderings of the word ‘rrt, such as ‘gate’, ‘gateway’, or ‘gate-hall’.” <10p197> This brings to mind the etymological connection between Hell and hall, which have the same basic meaning and origin. In Nordic tradition, there are nine Hells which are accessed by going northwest, like the route described by Plutarch to Iceland and Greenland and onward to America.
Two straight-edged shapes to the north of North America are labeled “Fire” <10p193>, and in later versions the eastern one is labeled “Gateway of fire”. <10p197> Sherbiny writes of these two sections: “The color of the representations of the gates is white in the early sources and red in the late ones.” <10p47table7remarks> In B1C, that one extends from the eastern coast of Greenland to the eastern edge of the map and northward to the eastern corner of the northern rectangle of the Entourage/s of the Fire, and the western one is north of Alaska and Western Canada, connected by two red lines to the red Lake of Fire, and it extends north to the western corner of the northern rectangle, and west to just shy of the end of the map. The “fire” labels likely relate to the sun, and the eastern and western “fire” shapes likely are or relate to sunset and sunrise respectively. Sherbiny: “For the positive connotation of fire, and to the degree that the officiant hopes to be identified with it, see Ch. Jacq, Voyage, 182 ([symbol]299) and pertinent notes.” <10p245>
Baffin Island is depicted in B1C as a zoomorphic god with horns like those of a ram, and it is labeled: “He who repels the demolishers.” To the right is the text: “This is an utterance for passing by him.” Above that is the spell: “Look, this [Osirian] has come in his dignity of Shu. This [Osirian] has treated Osiris. Make way for this [Osirian]! This [Osirian] shall see what he has treated in Osiris that his flesh may not swell up. Let your hand hit your forehead, (for) what is in the hand of this [Osirian] are the maces of Re! Withdraw yourself!” <10p191> Sherbiny: “Or: ‘this [Osirian] has come as the dignitary (or: with the insignia) of Shu’. B4C reads ‘… in (or: with) this Osiris N’s dignity (or: insignia) of Shu’. B1Bo and B6C omit [bird hieroglyph] before s’h n sw. This prompted Lesko to render B6C as ‘I have come that I may ennoble Shu’ and B1Bo as ‘this N came after this N had ennobled Shu (Lesko Two Ways, 40f, note b).” <10p194n> Sherbiny: “Or: ‘… and his flesh should not swell up’. Following the text of B4Bo, and partly B3C and B4C. * * * An alternative rendering with the imperative is equally possible: ‘Don’t let his flesh swell up (lit. get high)!’ (B4Bo, B3–4C). B1–2Bo, B6C, however, have an enigmatic text ‘Don’t be high (?) in his flesh’. * * * B4Bo reads: ‘his flesh should not swell up (lit. become high)’”. <10p195n> Sherbiny: “Perhaps the passage was merely an archaic epithet of Osiris that read something like ‘he who is in the hill of his flesh’?” <10p196n> Shu is the Egyptian Atlas who holds up Nut, the sky goddess. This may be indicating the North Pole, which may have been the location of one of the pillars of Shu. Certainly it doesn’t suggest that the Underworld is a cave deep within the earth. Sherbiny writes of the East Coast: “There is abundant evidence that the bends of the black serpentine band belong to a lake.” <10p266> And again he says the curves of the black line are “windings of a lake”. <10p270> D. Mueller reached the same conclusion. <10p267>
Baffin Island might be the inspiration for the depiction of the guardians as “knife-wielders”, because of the northwestern Brodeur Peninsula, which is really its own island, or because of Meta Incognita Peninsula in the south. Either peninsula could be likened in shape to a knife being wielded by Baffin.
Inside North America, at the latitude of the Great Lakes, is the text: “He whose face is great, who repels the aggressors. He is the guardian of this bend.” <10p192> The last sentence of that is in eastern Canada, indicating that “this bend” includes Canada’s eastern coastline. Hudson Bay contains the text: “What is under him and this lake is the utterance for passing by him.” <10p193>
Beneath Hudson Bay and Newfoundland is the utterance, indicating that Newfoundland is “He whose face is great, who repels the aggressors”, the guardian of eastern Canada. Newfoundland is depicted in B1C as a rabbit, which Greenland’s shape does distinctly resemble, but it is turned the other way, to face the coastline that it guards. The spell, which is to be addressed to Newfoundland, is: “Let this [Osirian] pass safely! Make way for this [Osirian] that he may sail the bark! His protection is the protection of this [Osirian], and what will happen to this [Osirian], the same will happen to him as soon as you act (against this [Osirian]).” <10p193>
Sherbiny:
We gather that the sailing of the solar bark has not yet taken place.
The ritualist’s destiny is clearly linked here with that of the solar god. This is not surprising, since we have encountered texts in our composition that equate the protagonist with the sun god. <10p267>
Sherbiny: “Several other occurrences will come later in our composition.” <10p267n>
In northeast North America in B1C is a god with a human head and the body of a four-legged animal. His front legs are the Saint Lawrence River, his back legs are the Hudson River, his tail, which splits at the end, is Lake Michigan, and his head is Lake Superior. His body includes the lakes Huron, Erie, and Ontario. There are two other Underworld-gods with human heads, and all three are depicted in Osirian/Pharaonic fashion, with beards protruding from their chins. The Great Lakes god also has ram horns like those of Khnum, which two other Underworld-gods have, while another one has another type of horns. A solar disc, a Disc of Re, is atop the head of the Great Lakes. No other illustrated Underword-god has anything on his head except ears or horns, other than his neighboring god, who guards the bend immediately to the south, and has a feather atop his head, also probably significant, likely the Feather of Maat. The Great Lakes’ horns and solar disc are identical to those atop Af/Afu-Re, a form Re is said to take while in the Underworld. The horns and disc are on the northwestern end of this god, which may indicate Isle Royale in northwest Lake Superior, which was mined for copper intensively from about eight thousand five hundred years ago.
David Malakoff writes in Science Magazine: “Earth’s largest and purest copper deposits are found around North America’s Great Lakes.” <https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/ancient-native-americans-were-among-world-s-first-coppersmiths> The longest spell in the Book of Two Ways is directly below the Great Lakes god in the illustrated map of General Sepi, and begins by describing: “This [Osirian] … who receives his bj3-metal’.” <10p394> Sherbiny writes of this “bj3-metal”, explaining that some Egyptologists “think that it is copper, e.g. M. Görg, in: Fs Kákosy, 215–221; Graefe, Wortfamilie bj3, 26–29; Nibbi, JARCE 14 (1977), 59–66; Lalouette, BIFAO 79 (1979), 333–353; Wilson, PL, 306f.” Sherbiny writes that some Egyptologists interpret the term as referencing “more specifically the golden color” of the metal <10p394> so the spell might employ a double entendre which means both “This [Osirian] … who illuminates the firmament (by night)” and “This [Osirian] … who receives his bj3-metal”. Re was associated with gold, but perhaps also copper and other metals possessing a “golden color”.
In his book Sailing to Paradise, Jim Bailey shows and describes “A [modern] map of Lake Superior showing Isle Royale and the Keweenaw Peninsula where the earliest pure copper was extracted in economic quantities from what seems to be around 6000 B.C. Much of it was in the form of boulders of pure copper. To the Greeks these were the golden apples of the Hesperides, the island in the remote west beyond the Atlantic: to the Welsh these would be the apples of Avalon.” <8p24plate4description> His theory is strengthened by this map, whose only reference to fruit is in its title for Canada: “The road to the towns of the Ones who live on the dates/fruits of Osiris.” And B1Bo, an unillustrated list of these spells which may predate the maps, only has West Coast spells for the three localities north of Mexico, perhaps due to an early focus on the regions around the Great Lakes. Its East Coast spell extend further south. Together with the solar disc atop Lake Superior and the spell beneath it, this strongly supports the possibility that copper nuggets or boulders were indeed the forbidden fruit of the Underworld, and suggests a major reason for these maps and for their secrecy, and the esoteric complexity of their symbolism. If the maps are partially for copper, it’s likely that other parts of the map indicate other valuable natural resources. For instance the feather atop a neighboring god may represent something of this nature, relating to the Feather of Maat, and other references to Maat on the map may also. Even feathers themselves may have been a prized export, since feathered headdresses and the like were very important for many ancient civilizations, including the Aztecs and Mayans but probably the Egyptians too. And since Maat is imbibed via inhalation, it may denote tobacco in this North American context.
The following text is on the location of Chesapeake Bay, whose East Shore is on the large sharp Delmarva Peninsula: “The Sharp one, the Guardian of the Lake. He is this guardian of this bend.” <10p193> Sherbiny: “This lends support to the view that the curve of the black serpentine band of the lower register belongs to a watercourse. Moreover, some of the late variants show the determinative [hieroglyphic rectangle] after the word q3b ‘bend’ as an indication of its watery nature.” <10p267> “[T]he Lake” which he guards is probably Chesapeake Bay, which is the largest estuary in the United States. Hudson Bay was similarly described as what was translated as a “Lake”. In retrospect it is ironic that the sharp side of Delmarva Peninsula was named Cape Charles, in honor of King Charles I, who was later famously beheaded, and its very tip, Wise Point, points toward the round Fisherman Island, which looks somewhat like a disembodied head.
It says “this guardian” because the text is right along the East Coast where the Chesapeake is. In the illustrated map of Sepi, it is the god depicted wielding a downward-pointing dagger, the only one of the nine knife-wielding Underworld-gods whose knife points down. The dagger is in the shape and position of the Chesapeake’s East Shore. This god has a feather atop his head, which may be the Feather of Maat and indicate something important about that locality, since only two out of the fifteen Underworld-gods have anything on their heads, the other being the Great Lakes whose solar crown is where copper was mined. The feather atop “The Sharp one” may represent something similar, a valuable resource, possibly even rare feathers, or tobacco.
This deity seems to also include the entire region from Delaware Bay in the north to northeastern North Carolina to the south, perhaps as far as Beaufort. It also seems to include a large inland area, which corresponds to the watersheds of the rivers which flow into the Atlantic along that stretch of coast. Delaware Bay’s pre-colonial name is Putaxat, meaning “near the waterfalls”. It contains the mouth of the Delaware River (Lenape Wihittuck), which begins in Upstate New York and crosses New Jersey and Pennsylvania and Delaware, passing through Trenton, Philadelphia, and Wilmington. Although the god’s body doesn’t seem to include that river, the navigational importance of the Delaware was probably known, and may have enhanced the importance of this god. Delaware Bay delineates the front of the god’s dagger, and Chesapeake Bay outlines the back of the dagger. Chesapeake Bay contains the mouth of the Susquehanna River, whose North Branch starts in Upstate New York and whose West Branch starts in western Pennsylvania. These two branches meet in central Pennsylvania, from whence the Susquehanna flows through Maryland and into Chesapeake Bay. Another river which flows into the Chesapeake Bay is the Patapsco, whose tidal portion forms Baltimore’s harbor. Another tributary of Chesapeake Bay is the Savern River, where the United States Naval Academy is strategically located. It is also the site of Maryland’s capital city, Annapolis. Another tributary of Chesapeake Bay is the Patuxent River, which is the largest and longest river that is entirely within Maryland, running between that state and the federal capital. Its watershed, the Patuxent River basin, is the largest watershed in Maryland. Another tributary of Chesapeake Bay is the Potomac River, whose watershed runs through West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and southern Pennsylvania. It is the fourth largest river along the East Coast of the United States, and was probably as important to ancient navigation as it has been for the United States, whose capital, Washington D.C., is alongside this river. Another river that flows into Chesapeake Bay is the Rappahannock, which rises in the Blue Ridge Mountains and flows through all of northern Virginia. Another is the York River, whose pre-colonial name is the Pamunkey River. Another is the James River, whose pre-colonial name is Powhatan River. It is Virginia’s longest river, and is the site of all three of Virginia’s successive capital cities: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Richmond. The body of “The Sharp one” seems to extend further south than Chesapeake Bay, to include Virginia Beach, Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound, Roanoake Sound, Croatan Sound, and Pamlico Sound. These have tributary rivers flowing into them from inland, all of which seem to be part of the body of “The Sharp one”. Altogether this stretch of coastline has one of the greatest concentrations of bays and sounds on the planet. The back legs and what may be the tail of this god seem to represent the fragmented coast including Buxton Landing, the furthest-east part of North Carolina’s northeastern coast, which extends dramatically eastward into the Atlantic and is the most distinctive natural feature on the East Coast of the United States, besides Florida. Chesapeake Bay nearby is the third most distinctive feature, so it’s logical that the two were combined into one god.
Below “The Sharp one” is a spell: “This [Osirian] is the one who repulses and who repels the Aggressors who wander about in order to capture. (He) is under his (i.e. Re’s) egg today, when he appears in the early morning. Beware of his dignity for this [Osirian] reached it. He will appear and this [Osirian] will see him. Delay is the abomination of this [Osirian] since this [Osirian] knows him. He will not live in the Akhet, he who will harm this [Osirian] and the young god.” <10p193> Bickel says that Re’s egg is the sun, <10p220> but it’s also possible it’s the Earth, with Re warming it like a bird, and being underneath it in the Akhet, in the Underworld, as it rises. But if it is the sun itself, it may relate to the image of Khepri in his boat with the solar disk above him. Sherbiny: “It is obvious that sunrise, i.e. the daily creation, has not yet happened.” Sherbiny: “We can gather from the last clause that the location of the events alluded to in the preceding clauses is the Akhet.” <10p268>
In General Sepi’s illustrated map, the Usumacinta and Grijalva rivers at the base of the Yucatán seem to be shown as a zoomorphic god and his knife. Southern Mexico is labeled: “The Protector of the two gods, this is his name. He is the keeper of this bend. He is the one who locks up the one who descends into it.” <10p193> Sherbiny: “Or: ‘He is the one who locks up and who descends into it’.” <10p222> Sherbiny: “The description ‘he is the one who locks up the one who descends into it (i.e. the bend)’ may indicate the wrong direction that should be avoided. In this case a downward movement. This reminds us of the textual element 20 in the upper register, which contained a warning against taking the wrong road.” <10p269> That may refer to the Yucatán Peninsula, or Cuba, or Florida helping to enclose the Gulf of Mexico. The two gods might be Cuba and Hispaniola, or Re and Osiris, or Re and Thoth. In favor of it being the Yucatán is the fact that the other guardians of the East Coast seem to be south of the bends they guard, just as the guardians of the West Coast are north of the roads they guard. The Chesapeake is more ambiguous, as is Baffin Island, but Newfoundland and the Falklands are clearly south of the bends they guard.
The Gulf of Mexico contains the text: “It is in order that this [Osirian] may announce Re at the gateways of the sky that this [Osirian] has come today from the boundaries of the Akhet. The gods will rejoice in meeting this [Osirian]. The god’s fragrance is attached to this [Osirian]. (Therefore) the Evil ones will not attack this [Osirian], and the gatekeepers will not harm him. This [Osirian] is the Hidden one inside the shrine, who is in charge of the hm-shrine of the q3ss-bondage. Such is the shrine which this [Osirian] has reached in the land of the Purification Places.” <10p193> The Akhet means the horizon, so this shows that the Underworld isn’t “underground” in the normal sense, but simply antipodal, with full access to the sun (Re), and the sky.
Cuba is shown in B1C as a zoomorphic god with a long body, and is labeled: “He whose face is hippopotamian, whose attack is furious, this is his name.” Next to it is the text: “This is his marshy-basin.” <10p193> The Caribbean has a lot of saltmarshes, classified as Tropical Western Atlantic-Caribbean Salt Marsh. <https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.885064/Spartina_alterniflora_-_Batis_maritima_-_Sesuvium_portulacastrum_Salt_Marsh_Macrogroup> Sherbiny writes that the marshy-basin “is filled with water”.
Sherbiny: “The earliest occurrence of the word goes back to the PT of Pepy I, if not even earlier, and not to the PT of Neit as was generally assumed. Moreover, fragments of the same PT spell in which the word s3sw appears (Utterance 625A) occurs in the pyramids of Merenre, Pepy II, and in a very fragmentary state in that of Aba as well. This word turns up also in CT II, 275a [151] in a clause that echoes the PT occurrence. *** In CT 151 and PT 625 it seems that this is an area by which the deceased passed on his way to assume his seat on the solar bark (cf. also CT 151 that bears strong similarity to PT Utterance 625A). *** One wonders if this can be somehow compared <10p226> with the purificatory basin or canal mentioned in the lists of the sacred lakes and water sources in some Greco-Roman Period temples under the name h3s(t)/h3st of Atum. *** This water basin/canal is connected with temples and the purification of the king. The purificatory and mythically creational role of the basin water resembles the primordial waters. This is a common theme, but connecting it to our four h3sw basins that are represented by the drawing in the Hermopolitan coffins was never attempted before. The fact that dangerous guardians protect these h3sw does not necessarily mean that the h3sw themselves are dangerous or automatically have negative connotations. Surprisingly all the surrounding texts here do not give us this impression. The utterances in CT 1060 and CT 1061 that introduce this area of the h3sw mention the approach of the text protagonist to certain gates (CT VII, 314a). We also learn that the ritualist here has a godly scent while approaching the gates (CT VII, 314a-c). We also hear about his arrival in the land of Purification Places or Chambers (CT VII, 316c-317a). He is also well equipped and hopes that he will not be barred at the gates by the gatekeepers (CT VII, 318d-319a). A textual element written inside the drawing of one of these h3sw in later coffins indicates that whoever arrives at this lake cannot die (CT VII, 320d). Moreover, Atum specifically features in a text that is also written inside one of these h3sw in almost all the sources (CT 1063). The text protagonist is identified with Atum. There is hardly any dangerous thing here. Therefore, the h3sw/h3sw/s3sw area here could well be an important region/place, possibly related to purification of some sort that the ritualist has to pass before proceeding on his way to perform further ritual activities. *** For all these reasons, one may conclude that h3sw/h3sw/s3sw as basins or earth recessions that are filled with natural water could be associated with positive or negative elements depending on the context they are used in.” <10p227>
Sherbiny says the four straight-sided compartments which extend from near the center to the periphery of the map are all marshy-basins, and indeed all are water, being the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Sherbiny: “Textual elements 46 and 52 indicate that these compartments represent marshy basins or marshy depressions in the earth.” <10p190> Textual element 46 is in one of the four previously mentioned compartments, but the compartment that textual element 52 is in is separate, being the South Atlantic. Atum is the setting sun, which fits the Caribbean and the Atlantic as being his waterways, being west of Egypt. His prominence in Underworld traditions brings to mind the Sumerian sun-god Utu, whose name may be connected to Atum, and of whom Sumerians said: “Utu, the great lord of the nether world, … turning the dark places to light”. <28>
Hispaniola is shown in B1C as a shorter, wider zoomorphic god compared to Cuba, and is labeled: “He whose face is doggy, whose shape is great, this is his name. What is in front of this [?] is the utterance for passing by him.” Since Egyptian hieroglyphs are read from right to left, this may refer to the text that is to the left, near the equator: “The sky is opened and the earth is opened. The eastern Akhet is opened and the western Akhet is opened. The northern chapel is opened and the southern chapel is opened. The doors are opened and the eastern gates are opened for Re that he may emerge from the Akhet. The two doors of the Night-bark are opened for him and the gates of the Day-bark are opened for him that he may breathe Shu, that he may create Tefnut. Whenever the Ones who are in the Suite follow him, they follow this [Osirian] like Re every day.” <10p193> This spell may relate to the equator and/or the Isthmus of Panama, which it is written below, and which has a black line through it from coast to coast in the oldest version. The opening of gates may refer to a path or paths cross America, such as the Isthmus of Panama, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico, and perhaps a river route from the Rio Grande to the Fuerte River. Sherbiny writes of the “opening” concept in ancient Egyptian texts: “‘opening’ liberates the deceased to overcome hindrances of the Hereafter in order to get access to the offerings. This meaning is common in the NK offering texts.” <10p275n>
In the Caribbean, off the coast of Honduras, there is the text, possibly indicating Puerto Rico: “It is the … of Messenger (?) of the marshy-basins.” <10p193> Sherbiny: “Another rendering of the name of this being based on the text of B4Bo is: “The ‘w’w of opening the h3sw-basins’.” <10p229>
Above Cuba is a spell: “This [Osirian] is a Great Name, so (aid) (pl.) him on the road of Maat! The abomination of this [Osirian] is the executioners. The protection of Horsemsu-Re is the protection of this [Osirian], and this [Osirian] is the one who belongs to his will. The leg of this [Osirian] will not be seized. This [Osirian] will not be opposed at the gates of the sky. This [Osirian] is the one whom Ruti and Heqet equipped, (as well as) the gods and the living. You (masc. sing.) should not harm this [Osirian]! This is the utterance for passing by him.” <10p193>
The fact the spell is addressed alternately to a plural audience and a masculine singular audience fits with it being addressed to Cuba, an island which contained inhabitants, which is also a zoomorphic male divinity. Actually its recipient is unclear, but the same logic applies regardless which Underworld guardian is addressed. It could be Cuba, or “Messenger (?) of the marshy-basins”, or “The Protector of the two gods” which may be the Yucatán.
Cuba and Haiti are each enclosed within straight-edged compartments. These interconnected shapes are formed by black lines which connect with the black lines which represent the eastern coastline of America. All of these lines may represent possible water routes, and the three lines which extend from the Caribbean to the eastern end of the map may represent routes between there and three Old World locations, perhaps the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, and southern Africa. Or they could be compartments for two other islands, or island groups like the Bahamas and Lesser Antilles. They also may represent the respective routes of three of the four boats which are painted in the panel which is to the east of the map. In B3C one of the four boats, the one which is closest to the Caribbean, which may be the Night-Bark, sits atop a similar black line running south-north, whose northern end connects to another black line going east-northeast, and whose southern end connects with another black line running east-southeast, and together these three lines look similar to the two outside lines from the Caribbean to the eastern periphery of the map, and the north-south line just east of Cuba and Haiti that they connect to, but all flipped north-to-south. This may indicate that is either the destination or origin of that boat. Or those three lines the boat sits atop may be the outline of West Africa. Either way they are the only such lines anywhere outside the eastern coast of America and the Caribbean, which may indicate a connection between that boat and all the black lines. This makes sense if it is the Night-Bark, which sails westward from Africa until Re is revived at midnight in America and rises in the Day-Bark.
Inside the three black lines which extend from Cuba and Haiti down to the eastern periphery of the map, is a spell: “An utterance for circulating by day because this [Osirian] knows. It is because this [Osirian] is the Lord-of-All that this [Osirian] has inherited the Akhet of Re. This [Osirian] is the one who surpasses what is said to him. This [Osirian] is the heir of the Akhet, who makes way for Re that he may halt! O …, this [Osirian] knows your (sing. fem.) name!” <10p193> The singular feminine name may be Amentet Neferet, the Beautiful West, which is America, often represented as a goddess. Or it could be Nut or Maat or Isis or Neith. Again, “Akhet” means the horizon, with the word “circulating” probably relating to both the sun “going around the planet” and the protagonist sailing around the planet. Sherbiny: “These events are to take place in the Akhet as well, with a hint to the pre-creational reality of the father who is situated in the primeval ocean Nun. All these events are in accordance with what we have hitherto learnt from the preceding textual elements of the lower register.” <10p276> Sherbiny writes of the area with the black lines from the east and the north-south lines they meet, which form “compartments” between them:
The nature of this area can be inferred from textual element 46, which informs us that the upper right compartment is the s3sw/h3sw-marshy basin of the demon 45. But can this description hold true also for the rest of the compartments? The design itself does not differentiate between the four compartments except for the size and shape. In textual element 52, which is written just next to the geometric design, there is mention of a group of marshy-basins. Moreover, the late variants write a label in the lower left compartment instead of the textual element 50 which was moved from there to the top of the geometric design and next to text 44.
The new label mentions that the ritualist has reached “this lake” (s pn). Of the four compartments, at least two thus seem to represent watery areas. It seems not unlikely that the same holds true for the area covered by 47–49.
Consequently, the upper right compartment represents the marshy-basin under the auspices of “He whose face is hippopotamian, whose attack is furious”, and the upper left compartment is the marshy-basin of “He whose face is doggy, whose shape is great”. It is possible that the lower left compartment containing utterance 50 is another marshy-basin under the protection of a female being (‘wnt).
This is not the only reference to these basins in the Coffin Texts. They appear once again in CT 151 which is attested on ten Middle Kingdom coffins, four of which are from Deir El Barsha. The precursor of this spell is the PT utterance 625A. In both spells (CT 151 and PT 625A), the s3sw-basins are coupled with the wrw-marsh. We learn that the protagonist <10p272> has gone forth from the wrw-marsh and has descended into the s3sw-marshy-basins. The former is determined with [hieroglyphic rectangle] or [other hieroglyph], while the latter shows the determinative [glyph] or [glyph].
We are told that these marshy basins represent an area the protagonist has to pass in his way to reach his seat in the solar bark.
In the version of CT 151, the h3sw-basins appear to be an area the officiant has to pass in order to reach his throne in the solar bark. The title of the spell indicates that it has to do with opening the tomb and the text mentions the caverns of those who are in the primeval ocean Nun. ***
***
One wonders if the four h3sw-marshy-basins can be linked to the basins of Heqet and Khepri that occur in some object friezes. B. Altenmüller thinks that these basins are ritual repetitions of the primeval waters Nun, from which both Heqet and Khepri appeared. It may not be coincidental that the geometric design of the lower register of the “map” section is divided into four compartments indicating four basins and that the basins of Heqet and Khepri are also four.
Willems’ analysis of the basins of Heqet and Khepri showed that one of the contexts in which these basins appear is the purification of the deceased in the Place of Embalming with “primordial water that stood under the patronage of Khepri and Heqet, both gods being related to the concept of solar resurrection”. In this case the libations with the liquids from these basins play a purificatory role.
Now text 43 mentions our ritualist’s arrival in the land of the Purification Places, while text 44 refers to the creator deities Heqet and Horsemsu-Re. <10p273>
Sherbiny writes of Faulkner that “he translated wrw correctly as the ‘Great Waters’ in Pyr. 2030a and Pyr. 1728a (again followed by J. Allen, AEPT, 195 who rendered the word as ‘great basins’). I do not think that wrw here is a plural word. None of the variants of this word in both PT and CT shows the plural determinative. Therefore, the final -w is likely to be part of the word and not a sign of plural. This latter remark holds true for s3sw/h3sw/h3sw as well, since -w represents the fourth radical of the singular word. This is ascertained by the singular s3sw in CT VII, 320b. This means that the plural of the word is s3sww/h3sww. Both CT 151 and PT 625A read ‘I have (or this N has) gone forth from the wrw-marsh, and I have (or this N has) descended into the h3sw-marshy-basins’.” <10p273n>
In the illustrated map of General Sepi, the Amazon River is shown with a ram’s head and a snake-like body. A baboon or other primate may represent the Río de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay, connected with the Parana and Uruguay rivers. Taking up about a quarter of the continent, the Río de la Plata Basin is the second largest drainage basin in South America, and among the largest globally.
The god’s shape may be related to that of the larger interconnected waterways, or it may be based on the shape of the Río de la Plata itself where it meets the sea, and has what could be likened to a curved tail, or both.
B2Bo and other early maps show what seems to be Tierra del Fuego jutting out much further east than it really does, which seems to have been an error by the Hermopolitan redactor of an earlier version which was based upon the Hierakonpolitan model, wherein Tierra del Fuego points just as dramatically westward as it points eastwardly in B2Bo.
Since the Hierakonpolis map is flipped around, with east and west reversed, as part of the antipodal Underworld tradition, it seems the Hermopolitan redactor didn’t realize it was flipped, so they incorporated that map into their depiction of America as though it was the actual bird’s-eye view. The confusion may have been exacerbated by the fact that Tierra del Fuego does veer eastward at its southern tip, even though overall southern South America points westward. The Hierakonpolitan cartographer may in fact have deliberately tilted at least South America at a northwest-southeast orientation, as a way to simplify it by lining up the two American continents more closely, and maybe for other reasons, but this could have exacerbated the confusion of later redactors. This fits with the way other lands are tilted different directions in that map: the southern sides of Africa and Asia are tilted in towards America, perhaps to show their proximity and orientation to Antarctica without making the latter many times its size as it is in many modern maps. Also the Gulf of Mexico is opened more in the Hierakonpolis map than it really is, a feature seen in the Books of Two Ways. The possibility of a confusion, by the Hermapolitan redactors, of the east and west of a map or maps on the Hierakonpolitan model, is perhaps increased by the fact that some late Books of Two Ways like B5C have east and west flipped back again to the old Hierakonpolitan way.
This confusion seems to have been the source of other errors on the America maps in the Books of Two Ways, which were corrected somewhat by subsequent exploration. The shape of the western coast of Central America in B2Bo seems to be roughly based upon the Yucatán on the Hierakonpolitan map, and northeast Canada in B2Bo seems to be based upon northwest Canada on the Hierakonpolitan map. The Hermopolitans seem to have known that the Hierakonpolitan model contained inaccuracies if treated as a bird’s-eye-view of America. They may have found the bit of Tierra del Fuego that points east, and decided that Brazil, which extends much further westward, be depicted as a similar but wider peninsula. A third similar peninsula is depicted in B2Bo for Honduras and Nicaragua, probably for the same reason as Brazil. The redactors treated the discrepancies between the Hierakonpolitan model and actual America as stylization, replicating the misplaced shape of Tierra del Fuego along the southeastern coast, and replicating the Yucatán along the west coast as rounded curves extending westward. The other rounded shapes represent West Mexico and the West Coast of the United States, both of which do have rounded shapes which extend westward. One of the two is probably very roughly based upon the position and longitude of Florida from the Hierakonpolitan model, but the other one is altogether new, as is Canada’s entire western coast, which does not replicate anything from the Hierakonpolis map. Between West Mexico and Central America, the indented shape of the coast of Oaxaca at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the shortest route across America besides the Panama / Costa Rica isthmus, was added by the maker of B2Bo or some earlier redactor. They also “added” the Yucatán where it actually is, and “added” Florida where it actually is. One of these two may have been loosely based upon Baja California from the Hierakonpolitan model, but the other one was a new addition to the unflipped coast. Other versions added new details and sometimes improved the B2Bo’s depictions, such as BC3's improvement of Florida’s shape.
Eastern South America contains the text: “He whose two faces are repelled in 3rwt; this is his name. He is the guardian of this bend.” <10p193> Sherbiny:
The meaning of the word [hieroglyphs] 3rwt is uncertain. Lesko translates “dung” (Lesko, Two Ways, 64, note c; similarly Faulkner, AECT III, 142, n. 1 [Spell 1066]; Barquet, Textes, 635) and proposes that it might be a spelling of j3rt “Ausfluss”. One should be cautious here since j3rt does not show the flesh-determinative of our early sources, but [hieroglyph] instead.
Along these lines, one may also suggest the following rendering: “The one with two repelling faces in the feces (?)”. <10p231>
This seems to refer to the Falkland Islands, which are shown as a zoomorphic deity. A two-headed snake and another snake alongside it lead from the coast, where that text is, to the Falklands. His “two faces” could be the two Falklands, being two islands which are almost like one island, because they are so close together and part of the same elevated plateau. The Seabourn boating company says: “The lonely lighthouse at Cape Pembroke welcomes arrivals to Stanley. It alerts ships to the treacherous rocks, reefs and shoals for which the Falkland Islands have long been known.” <https://www.seabourn.com/en_US/ports/stanley-falkland-is-islas-malvinas.html> Those shoals are part of the Falklands’ shared underwater plateau, and due to being partly composed of earth, and/or due to being bad for mariners, they and the plateau may have been symbolized as feces, or the word may mean something more specific; perhaps mud.
The coffin text continues: “This is the utterance for passing by him. This [Osirian] is the one who conveys the word of a god to (another) god. Oh Re, this [Osirian] has come that he may report the message to its owner! Be greeted Re! May you propitiate the face of Osiris for this [Osirian], that the Ones who are in the Jmht-region may worship you, that the Ones who are in the Dat may glorify you, and that they may give you praise, when you come in peace. May you give offerings to the Great ones and abundance to the Little ones. May you give offerings to this [Osirian], that he may attain providence like Re every day.” <10p194> Sherbiny: “B1Bo reads ‘Oh Atum’.” <10p231> This fits the Atlantic side of the map, since Atum is the setting sun which descends westward from Egypt across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Sherbiny: “B1Bo reads ‘May you let this N attain the providence as Re every day’.” <10p232>
A straight band runs through the middle of the Underworld, separating the dark eastern side from the bright western side. It contains the text: “[Lake of Fire. The Knife-wielder (?) is its name. There is no one who knows how to enter into the fire (for) he will be turned back there.] ‘He inherits the road’ is truly the lake.” <10p192> Sherbiny: “The color of the Lake of Fire is white in two early sources and red in the late ones.” <10p47table7remarks> Sherbiny writes that “it is possible that the name of this fiery watercourse indicates its destructive power. Therefore, the ‘knife-wielder’ is possibly a personification of the dangerous character of this lake which is almost impenetrable.” <10p218> The fact that a locality, a “Lake of Fire”, has a name “The Knife-wielder”, which is identical to other names of Underworld gods, is natural considering the fact that all of these gods are localities. “Fire” may be used to denote unchartered and/or dangerous areas, such as the two “gates” to the north of Canada which are labeled “fire” and were painted white in early versions and red in later version, and which extend to the edges of the map. Coptic Egyptians have a tradition about a “river of fire” which is an important feature of Hell, which they still call Amenti, meaning the West. The Egyptologist Wolfgang Waitkus hypothesizes that the Lake of Fire is the ecliptic. <10p265> The Lake of Fire is connected to the “Fire” area north of Alaska which in turn connects to the “Entourage/s of the Fire” rectangle with its solar description.
The probable role of the Lake of Fire as the location of the sunrise may be connected to its role as the ancient Prime Meridian, as shown in Ptolemy’s Geography. Ptolemy refers to “Sinai” which is usually interpreted as China: “Again, the eastern limit of the known world is bounded by the meridian drawn through the metropolis of the Sinai, which is 119 1/2° on the equator, or approximately 8 equinoctial hours, east of the meridian drawn through Alexandria. The western limit [is bounded by] the meridian drawn through the Islands of the Blest, which is 60 1/2°, or 4 equinoctial hours, from the meridian through Alexandria. [It is thus] 180° (i.e., a semicircle), or 12 equinoctial hours, from the most eastern meridian.” <23p110> Antipodal to China is America, meaning their respective longitudes are 180°, i.e. 12 equinoctial hours from each other. It therefore appears logistically untenable to interpret the Islands of the Blest as anything but America.
Due to the misidentification of the Islands of the Blest as the Canary Islands, multiple books have been written about Ptolemy’s supposed egregious errors in longitude. In The Error in Longitude in Ptolemy’s Geography Revisited, D.A. Shcheglov writes: “It is well known that all longitudes in Ptolemy’s Geography are cumulatively overestimated, so that his map is excessively stretched out from west to east by a factor of y1.4 in comparison with the modern map.”
As William Smith wrote in A classical dictionary of biography: “The latitudes of Ptolemy are tolerably correct; but his longitudes are very wide of the truth, his length of the known world, from east to west, being much too great.” <p628>
Ptolemy’s Geography says: “The foregoing should have made it clear how far it would make sense to extend the latitudinal dimension of the oikoumenē. Marinos makes its longitudinal dimension bounded within two meridians that cut off fifteen hour-intervals. We think that he has also extended the eastern part of this dimension more than necessary, and that when a reasonable reduction has been applied here, too, the whole longitudinal extent does not amount quite to twelve hour-intervals, where we (like [Marinos]) set the Islands of the Blest at the westernmost limit, and the farthest parts, [namely] Sēra, Sinai, and Kattigara, at the eastern [limit]. For in the first place one should follow the numbers of stades, from place to place, set down by [Marinos] for the distance from the Islands of the Blest to the crossing of the Euphrates at Hierapolis (as if [the journey] were made along the parallel through Rhodes). [This is] both because it is continually being checked and because [Marinos] has manifestly taken into account the amount by which the greater distances ought to be corrected on account of diversions and variations in the itineraries.”
The sun rising in America seems to represent the start of the planetary day, the first place each day begins, the same way that, according to the modern International Date Line, Samoa is among the first places where each new calendar-day begins. The “Islands of the Blest” remained the Prime Meridian into the sixteenth century, but the confusion about the identity and location of those islands must have decreased their popularity as a meridian, and eventually the role was taken by Greenwich, England.
Modern geographers have usually considered the Islands of the Blest to be the Canary Islands, but that doesn’t fit Ptolemy’s longitude, so some push it further west to the Cape Verde Islands. The Wikipedia page for Fortunate Islands says: “Madeira, the Canary Islands, the Azores, Cape Verde, Bermuda, and the Lesser Antilles have sometimes been cited as possible matches.” Bermuda and the Lesser Antilles share longitudes with South America, North America, and Greenland. It’s unlikely Ptolemy would reference the Caribbean but not the American mainland which surrounds it, so if his longitude for the Islands of the Blest is that far west, as some have concluded, the islands in question were presumably the Americas altogether. Scholars of past and present have used the terms “the Islands of the Blest” and “the Island of the Blest” interchangeably, which fits America, which can be seen as a unit or as two continents. The Wikipedia page for “longitude” says: “While Ptolemy’s system was sound, the data he used were often poor, leading to a gross over-estimate (by about 70%) of the length of the Mediterranean.” This claim is probably due to the error of thinking the Islands of the Blest are the Canary Islands, making people wonder why Ptolemy placed the Levant so far from the Canaries. Lucius, in his True Story, described a journey to “the Isle of the Blest”, which is inhabited by dead Europeans and Africans and Asians enjoying a blessed afterlife. The story clearly is a variation of Underworld mythology. It describes the route to this island: “In a little while many islands came in sight. Near us, to port, was Cork, where the men were going, a city built on a great round cork. At a distance and more to starboard were five islands, very large and high, from which much fire was blazing up. Dead ahead was one that was flat and low-lying, not less than five hundred furlongs off.” This “flat and low-lying” island turns out to be the Isle of the Blest. The truth of this portion of his True Story may be the route to the Isle of the Blest. Cork, whose motto is Statio Bene Fida Carinis (A safe harbour for ships), is in southern Ireland, and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbors on the planet, is on the port (left) side of boats sailing north between Ireland and Britain. The five islands that are “At a distance and more to starboard” could be Britain, the Isle of Mann, the Hebrides, and Orkney. The Isle of the Blest which is “dead ahead” and “not less than five hundred furlongs off” is never specified as being the first island in that direction, and also “not less than” does not mean “not more than five hundred furlongs off”. A route to the Underworld that Plutarch described was northwest from the British Isles. If that sort of tricky literalism is in fact at play here, it is sly, and fits the book’s reputation as satirical science-fiction. And if that was the intention and result, it imparted sacred wisdom to the wary, not unlike modern sci-fi movies. Those who read between the lines see that sci-fi provides commentary about reality, as did most classical mythology, which is to say ancient religion, was an interconnected universe of parables and allegories about astronomy and geography and other sciences. True Story, which also contains celestial stories, appears to be no exception to that rule. It continues:
When at length we were near it, a wonderful breeze blew about us, sweet and fragrant, like the one that, on the word of the historian Herodotus, breathes perfume from Araby the blest. The sweetness that met us was as if it came from roses and narcissi and hyacinths and lilies and violets, from myrrh and laurel and vines in bloom. Delighted with the fragrance and cherishing high hopes after our long toils, we gradually drew near to the island at last. Then we saw many harbours all about it, large and unfretted by beating waves; transparent rivers emptying softly into the sea; meads, too, and woods and songbirds, some of them singing on the shore and many in the branches. A rare, pure atmosphere enfolded the place, and sweet breezes with their <24p309> blowing stirred the woods gently, so that from the moving branches came a whisper of delightful, unbroken music, like the fluting of Pandean pipes in desert places. Moreover, a confused sound could be heard incessantly, which was not noisy but resembled that made at a drinking-party, when some are playing, others singing and others beating time to the flute or the lyre. Enchanted with all this, we put in, anchored our boat and landed, leaving Scintharus and two of my comrades on board. Advancing through a flowery mead, we came upon the guards and sentinels, who bound us with rosy wreaths — the strongest fetter that they have — and led us inland to their ruler. They told us on the way that the island was the one that is called the Isle of the Blest, and that the ruler was the Cretan Rhadamanthus. On being brought before him, we were given fourth place among the people awaiting trial. The first case was that of Ajax, son of Telamon, to decide whether he should be allowed to associate with the heroes or not: he was accused of having gone mad and killed himself. At last, when much had been said, Rhadamanthus gave judgment that for the present he should be given in charge of Hippocrates, the Coan physician, to take the hellebore treatment, and that later on, when he had recovered his wits, he should have a place at the table of the heroes. The second case was a love-affair — Theseus and Menelaus at law over Helen, to determine which of the two she should live with. Rhadamanthus pronounced that she should live with Menelaus, because he had undergone so much toil and danger on account of his marriage: then too, <24p311> Theseus had other wives, the Amazon and the daughters of Minos. The third judgment was given in a matter of precedence between Alexander, son of Philip, and Hannibal of Carthage, and the decision was that Alexander outranked Hannibal, so his chair was placed next the elder Cyrus of Persia. We were brought up fourth; and he asked us how it was that we trod on holy ground while still alive, and we told him the whole story. Then he had us removed, pondered for a long time, and consulted with his associates about us. Among many other associates he had Aristides the Just, of Athens. When he bad come to a conclusion, sentence was given that for being inquisitive and not staying at home we should be tried after death, but that for the present we might stop a definite time in the island and share the life of the heroes, and then we must be off. They set the length of our stay at not more than seven months.
Thereupon our garlands fell away of themselves, and we were set free and taken into the city and to the table of the blessed. The city itself is all of gold and the wall around it of emerald. It has seven gates, all of single planks of cinnamon. The foundations of the city and the ground within its walls are ivory. There are temples of all the gods, built of beryl, and in them great monolithic altars of amethyst, on which they snake their great <24p313> burnt-offerings. Around the city runs a river of the finest myrrh, a hundred royal cubits wide and five deep, so that one can swim in it comfortably. For baths they have large houses of glass, warmed by burning cinnamon; instead of water there is hot dew in the tubs. For clothing they use delicate purple spider-webs. As for themselves, they have no bodies, but are intangible and fleshless, with only shape and figure. Incorporeal as they are, they nevertheless live and move and think and talk. In a word, it would appear that their naked souls go about in the semblance of their bodies. Really, if one did not touch them, he could not tell that what he saw was not a body, for they are like upright shadows, only not black. Nobody grows old, but stays the same age as on coming there. Again, it is neither night among them nor yet very bright day, but the light which is on the country is like the gray morning toward dawn, when the sun has not yet risen. Moreover, they are acquainted with only one season of the year, for it is always spring there and the only wind that blows there is Zephyr. The country abounds in flowers and plants of all kinds, cultivated and otherwise. The grape-vines yield twelve vintages a year, bearing every month; the pomegranates, apples and other fruit-trees were said to bear thirteen times a year, for in one month, their Minoan, they bear twice. Instead of wheat-ears, loaves of bread all baked grow on the tops of the <24p315> balms, so that they look like mushrooms. In the neighbourhood of the city there are three hunted and sixty-five springs of water, as many of honey, five hundred of myrrh — much smaller, however — seven rivers of milk and eight of wine.
Their table is spread outside the city in the Elysian Fields, a very beautiful mead with thick woods of all sorts round about it, overshadowing the feasters. The couches they lie on are made of flowers, and they are attended and served by the winds, who, however, do not pour out their wine, for they do not need anyone to do this. There are great trees of the clearest glass around the table, and instead of fruit they bear cups of all shapes and sizes. When anyone comes to table he picks one or two of the cups and puts them at his place. These fill with wine at once, and that is the way they get their drink. Instead of garlands, the nightingales and the other song-birds gather flowers in their bills from the fields hard by and drop them down like snow, flying overhead and singing. Furthermore, the way they are scented is that thick clouds draw up myrrh from the springs and the river, stand over the table and under the gentle manipulation of the winds rain down a delicate dew. At the board they pass their time with poetry and song. For the most part they sing the epics of Homer, who is there himself and shares the revelry, lying at table in the place above Odysseus. <24p317>
Sherbiny:
A reference to a “Lake of Fire” turns up again in CT 335, where we learn that a dangerous being with a dog’s face and a human body, i.e. a composite form, functions as “the guardian of this bend of the Lake of Fire”. In two sources of the glossed variants of the same text, we get to know that this supernatural is “the gatekeeper of (/in) the West” [Sherbiny: “cf. the several readings of the late parallel of this text in BD such as: ‘the guardian of that bend of the West’”], and that he is a knife-wielder. In CT 336, we are informed that he is “the gatekeeper of the Lake of Fire”. Here this supernatural being appears to be the guardian of the first portal in a series of three. It is not impossible, though not certain, that this “Lake of Fire” mentioned in CT 335 and CT 336 is the Lake referred to in 35 in our composition. In segment L in the lower register of the “map” section, we will come across a demon who has a dog’s face as well. ***
What stands out clearly from the above remarks is that the Lake referred to here does not seem to be a straight watercourse but one that contains bends and curves. It is interesting that the curves of the black serpentine band of the lower register of the “map” section are called bends as well. Moreover, they are protected by some dangerous guards as we will see below. [Four late sources (B1C, B1–3L) write CT 1069 instead of CT 1068 and here three additional references to the bends of the lake are mentioned. Such windings of watercourses and routes are thought to represent the symbolism behind the oval forms of such areas in the visualization of the Hereafter by Hornung.” <10p264n>]
*** We will come to notice that several elements in the lower register are connected with an aquatic environment. This will stand at odds with the wide-held view that the black serpentine band of the lower register represents a land road.
In fact, there is no conclusive evidence to state that the serpentine band is a depiction of a road. We have argued above on the basis of both the early and the late surviving sources that the blue serpentine band does not necessarily represent one continuous watercourse. *** <10p264>
In addition, … no certain basis remains to interpret the opposition blue-black as water-land. The black lines may, for instance, also be regarded as “dark” areas. The use of black for night skies will, moreover, be rather explicit in a drawing accompanied by CT 1071 as we will see later.
The interrelationship between the fiery and dark aspects of the lower register can be gleaned from the position of the iconographic and textual elements of segment A which apparently depicts the access to the two registers of the “map” section. It is noteworthy that the lower register is immediately preceded by two stylized representations of gateways one of which is black representing darkness, and the other is white denoting flame.
This state of affairs supports the proposed relation between the Lake of Fire and the lower register referred to above. Moreover, as Mueller noticed earlier, there is little room for doubt that the black serpentine band in the lower register denotes darkness. <10p265>
The western coast of Canada is labeled: “This is the road to the towns of the Ones who live on dates. He whose voice is sad, he is its guard.” <10p191> This road’s guard is clearly the Alaskan Peninsula, manifested as a human-headed Underworld god. The peninsula may have acquired its title because it trails off at the end into a series of islands, like a shaky, broken, sad voice. Or it may be portraying the peninsula as a nose with what looks somewhat like a frowning mouth at its base, and Kodiak Island which might be seen as emerging from the mouth like a voice. Sherbiny: “I wonder if our bnt is a designation of ‘dates’ or sweet things (thus Barguet, Textes, 632).” <10p198> Sherbiny: “The late variants read ‘Those who live on the dates (?) of Osiris are there’, thus dropping a reference to the towns.” <10p237> The dates or fruits of Osiris may be copper boulders or nuggets from the Great Lakes. The green paint used for Osiris’s flesh was created with copper, and since he is a land-god, precious metals were probably called the fruits of Osiris, just as nowadays they’re called the fruits of the “Earth”, who is likely a Germanic goddess. And in Mesopotamian tradition there were fruits in the Underworld which were precious minerals. The coffin text continues: “What is under him is the utterance for passing by him.”
Below the Alaskan Peninsula is the spell: “This [Osirian] is the one who was born in Rosetau {Pe}. The akh-power has been given to this [Osirian] by his lord, Re-Horakhti. The s’h-dignity of this [Osirian] is in Pe, when he purified Osiris. It was while guiding the gods on their mounds that this [Osirian] received respect in Rosetau, and this [Osirian] is one of their leaders.” <10p191> Sherbiny writes that “the protagonist is explicitly said to be the ‘guide’ (ssm) of the gods in utterance 13.” <10p252n> Sherbiny writes that the spell refers to places in Egypt: “Rosetau is in Memphis and Pe is in Buto in the Delta.” <10p199> Sherbiny writes that this spell and other parts of the Book of Two Ways probably derive from the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom: “Again, it seems here that CT 1040 was actually a certain ‘PT’ spell that was not included in the surviving PT from the OK, rather than a purely MK invention. This most probably goes also for a considerable number of the textual material employed in several parts in our Hermopolitan compilatory composition.” <10p201> Canada is labeled: “The ones who are in it are: He who leaps (?), He who burns, The knife-wielder (?), He who robs, He who despises, …. What is in front is the utterance for passing by it.” <10p191> These Underworld gods may include the Great Lakes god shown in General Sepi’s map. Sherbiny writes that two of the six “beings” are found in the Book of the Dead, of the New Kingdom: “The second and the fifth recur also in the BD 144 as the reporters of the second and third gates. This locality is guarded by 3hj-hrw who is mentioned in the BD 144 as the reporter of the first gate. *** The late parallels indicate that we have here the names of the akhs (3hw) who function as protectors of ‘these ways’. This may be a reference to roads leading to the locality in which these <10p238> beings reside or to the role of these beings as guards of some of the other roads in this register. The plural ‘ways’ in any case confirms that we do not have here one dominant road (as it has frequently been inferred from the serpentine band), but a group of roads. It is not unlikely that each of the supernatural beings is protecting a single road. Moreover, it seems possible that these roads are located inside locality 10, since the beings are written on it. In BD 144 they are mentioned in relation to the gates and are probably connected with the abode of Osiris. The text protagonist emphasizes that he knows their names. In a number of the late sources of our composition, the divine determinative of these beings is followed by [symbol] (B1–2L, B1C, B2P). It is not quite clear what this sign represents, but it seems to be a pole, standard, or scepter with an animal head. If this is not a fancy and simplified representation of the beings in question, it may indicate a type of scepter they carry.” <10p239> These six tall forms may be Was-scepters. They project straight westward from the coastline, as Sherbiny shows with an enlarged photo: “It is a photo showing the drawing of the six stylized figures below the god determinatives of the denizens of locality 10 as evidenced on B1C. It is interesting to notice their large size in comparison with the names of the six beings they stand for.” <10p239> The stems of these images appear wavy, which could imply that they represent waterways. Their form brings to mind the part of “Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World” which says:
When Inanna ascends from the nether world,
Verily the dead hasten ahead of her.
Inanna ascends from the nether world,
The small demons like . . . reeds,
The large demons like tablet styluses,
Walked at her side.
<7p95>
“Roads” are each referred to with the third person singular feminine suffix pronoun, <10p198> while their “guards” and the localities along the roads are each referred to as singular masculine. <10p191> The fact that roads/byways are referred to as female should give anyone pause in assuming the male gods within her are true male creatures, and should suggest the possibility that the map contains more deification of localities.
The West Coast of the United States has text next to it: “He whose face is invective, he is its guard.” <10p191> Sherbiny: “Or: ‘He whose face is despised’. Lesko renders ‘Cursed-face’.” <10p201> “He who despises” (W’3), <10p198> listed among the regions along Canada’s western coast, has an almost identical name to the guard “He whose face is invective” (W’3-hr), <10p201> perhaps indicating that the former is the large island to the north of Vancouver, Haida Gwaii. It may relate to both islands seeming to have broken off from the coastline, or both having a threatening appearance, with Haida Gwaii being sharp at one end, and Vancouver Island seeming to have punctured the coast of northern Washington.
On the location of Vancouver Island is the text: “What is in front is the utterance for passing by it.” South of Vancouver, on the West Coast of the United States, is the text: “An utterance for passing by the towns of the Knife-wielders, whose voice(s) are bellowing. This [Osirian] is an akh, a lord of akhs. The akh who this [Osirian] makes, he is existent. The akh whom this [Osirian] denounces, he is not existent. This [Osirian] is one who goes around his lake in fire, the Lord of Light. This [Osirian] circulates, the Eye of Horus being at the hand of this [Osirian], while Thoth crosses the sky in presence of this [Osirian], and this [Osirian] passes safely.” <10p191> Sherbiny writes that the Eye of Horus can describe the phases of the moon, expressed as “the filling of the eye, i.e. healing the eye, and the waxing of the moon.” <10p300> Thoth is associated with the moon, but he might be Mercury. The United States is labeled: “Those who are in it are: He whose face is hot, He whose voice is loud, He who oppresses, He who brays, He who belongs to trembling (?), the Hot one.” <10p191> The bellowing voices may describe Puget Sound and the San Francisco Bay. The two “hot” Akhs may be hot springs, which the U.S. has a lot of. Sherbiny writes about the Vancouver-U.S. section:
The second region shares more or less the same characteristics with the one containing the towns of “Those who live on dates (?)”. The illustrated sources show a stylized depiction of a locality colored white. The area is occupied by a group of six supernatural beings in B2Bo and B6C. Its guardian is w’3-hr “He whose face is invective”. We are informed by label 16 that this segment contains a representation of the towns of the Knife-wielders or the Violent ones. The utterance for passing by this region is located behind locality 10. Text 17 occurs only in B4Bo and replaces text 16 of the illustrated sources.
The Knife-wielders appear again in CT 50. This is a glorification spell attested only on sources from Deir El Barsha dating back to the second half of the Twelfth Dynasty. It states that “Those who are in the Field of Offerings” will give acclamation to the deceased. The following clause in CT 50 finds a parallel in both 16 and 20 in our text. The text reads “Do not go on the roads of the Knife-wielders whose voices are bellowing, who cause harm”. [Sherbiny: “Van der Molen’s rendering of sdbw ‘hindrances’ is rather an ad-hoc solution. Assmann renders ‘Geschrei’, which is even less convincing. Perhaps one may translate it as ‘damage’, or more generally ‘harm’, or ‘wreak havoc’.” <10p242n>] It is clear that the Knife-wielders must be dangerous beings who may cause harm to any passer-by of the ways they are guarding. The protagonist of our text is therefore asked to avoid these roads.
Our composition provides more information about this group of supernatural beings. Two important pieces of information stand out clearly:
<10p242>
1) They inhabit or control a region that has towns.
2) There is another road leading to these towns
The road(s) leading to this locality is (/are) dangerous, and both texts 20 and CT 50 warn the ritualist against going on these roads.
As said above, the stylized depiction of the region containing the towns, is occupied by six supernatural beings. These are most probably the Knife-wielders. [Sherbiny: “Two of these beings recur in the BD 144 as guards of the sixth and seventh gate, but the grouping of the supernatural beings in the BD documents is much different to the one in our composition. *** The BD uses several names of demons that turn up also in the “map” section and the gates section.” <10p243n>] Although it is not clear from most of the sources whether or not the guard of this locality W’3-hr belongs to this group of beings, B4Bo indicates that this is probably the case. This can be deduced from the fact that 18 is, according to B2Bo, B6C, and B4C a spell “destined for passing by the towns of the Knife-wielders, whose voices are bellowing”, thus clearly a group of guards. B4Bo, which drops the list of guards, but which does mention W’3-hr, conversely states that text 18 is “an utterance for passing by him”. The singular here can only designate W’3-hr. This indicates that this being is in all probability one of the Knife-wielders or even one of higher hierarchal status among them. After all, he is the guard of the locality that contains the towns of the Knife-wielders.
CT 50 only contains a warning for the officiant from going on the roads of Knife-wielders. Our present composition, however, provides the officiant with an utterance which enables him to pass by the towns of these dangerous beings.
In utterance 18 we learn that the ritualist is an akh, and also Lord of the Akhs. In the preceding utterance in the same register we already gathered that he was given the akh-status/power by Re-Horakhti. ***
*** Although we already know that the text protagonist is an akh, he is not an ordinary one. There are lots of other akhs around, and we know from the late parallels of our composition that the designation “akhs” is also applied to (some of) the supernatural beings occupying the localities in the upper register of the “map” section. The text we are currently discussing emphasizes the sovereignty of the ritualist over the rest of the akhs. This is stated even more clearly in the sequel, where the power of the officiant over the akhs is detailed. He is portrayed in complete control of the akhs’ existence. A similar passage turns up once again in CT 277 which is attested on three coffins, namely B1Bo, B2Be and BH2C. In B1Bo, CT 277 starts the texts on the Back of the coffin. Its title indicates that it is a transformation spell into Thoth. This is interesting information since Thoth is also mentioned in our text. CT 277 shows also a textual similarity to CT 1071. This point will be pursued further in our comment on that spell.
In CT 277 the ritualist addresses a group of supernatural beings, about whose identity we are not informed. They are told about his being an akh and his sovereignty over the akhs and their existence. This is what is stated in 18, but the opening clauses of CT 277 portray the ritualist in the role of a judge. In a similar vein, CT 1071 states: “This N … is one <10p243> who judges the gods as the companion of Thoth”. The text is written in the illustrated sources below a compartment containing several supernatural beings, namely H3zf-jrw, h3f-hr, and Nbw-n3ww. It is not improbable that the text is addressed to this latter group (i.e. Nbw-n3ww). If the supernatural beings occupying locality 15 are identified with akhs, the text protagonist is by implication in power over them. As stated above, the late parallels of our composition (B1P, B1Be, B4L and B5C), write the label “the names of the akhs who protect these roads” over the segment that contains the parallel locality of 10 and CT 1151. ***
***
Therefore, it is possible that the designation “akhs” applies to all the demons in this segment of the register.
***
We learn that the ritualist crosses his lake in fire and is Lord of Light. He also circulates and the Eye of Horus is at his hand. Wallin notices that the verb dbn is commonly used in describing the movement of celestial bodies such as the sun and the stars. *** Our text goes further and reads “Thoth crosses the sky in the presence of this N”. The lunar connotation of the text is amplified in the late variants which mention lunar festivals. Here the officiant says “I am the one who celebrates the First Crescent festival and the Full Moon festival”. <10p244>
Sherbiny: “One is reminded of the fact that, in the later BD chapters 144/147, a considerable number of these beings are connected with gates.” <10p245> The line: “This [Osirian] is one who goes around his lake in fire, the Lord of Light” seems to portray the protagonist as Re or another celestial body, and strengthens the case for the Lake of Fire being or relating to the ecliptic or otherwise being related to the path of Re. It may be that the Lake of Fire is one quarter of the “Entourage/s of the Fire” rectangle.
In the area of Baja California is the text: “He whose face is turtle-like, he is its guard.” <10p191> Sherbiny:
Stw-hr. Lesko proposes to read “Adorned-of-face” or “Equipped-of-face”. Faulkner takes another position and reads st “cover” on the basis of his understanding of CT IV, 66a, 67a. Both proposals of Lesko and Faulkner are probably incorrect, since some late variants of our text feature stw with the turtle determinative [turtle glyph].
*** Fischer suggests that the rendering of the name of this supernatural being can be refined to be “carapaced of face”. <10p205>
They may all be correct. “Carapaced of face”, meaning possessed of a top-shell on its surface, probably refers to the sand bars and sandy barrier islands that run alongside parts of Baja’s western coast, like Barra Flor de Malva, Isla Creciente, Isla Santa Margarita, Isla Magdalena, Isla Santo Domingo, and Isla Ana. West is “up” in Egyptian maps of the Underworld, perhaps to be seen from the same perspective as the sun-god Re in his solar bark, sailing west. Therefore Baja California’s top-shell is naturally on its western coast, and it is on the top of Baja as it is represented as a horned god.
Baja is depicted in B1C as a horned zoomorphic god whose body is shaped roughly like the peninsula, and occupies its position on the coastline. Unlike most of the other illustrated Underworld gods in B1C, the horned version of Stw-hr is white instead of the standard reddish color, which may indicate Baja’s sandy beaches and deserts. Sherbiny: “The guardian of locality 21 is ‘He whose face is turtle-like’ (Stw-hr). *** <10p246> The late source B5C shows a depiction of this supernatural being as a serpent above the head of which there is a turtle.” <10p247> It may be significant that the turtle has an extremely long tail and that the serpent’s body has three curves like those of Baja’s western coast.
The Gulf of California is labeled: “This is its road. You should not pass by it.” <10p191> Sherbiny: “Textual element 20 draws attention to a road which appears to be dangerous to pass.” <10p247> The injunction to avoid this byway could be due to sailing hazards in the Gulf of California. That could relate to the fact the Colorado and other rivers empty into the Pacific here, causing currents which make it difficult to sail within the Gulf, especially in a northerly direction.
Sherbiny writes:
[T]he late variants B1C, B1L, and B3L have the statement “this is its lower road” [Sherbiny: “Literally: ‘this is its road at the underside’.” <10p248n>] written inside the serpentine band. The following figure shows the serpentine band running downwards until reaching below the locality 21, where the Fiery ones are located. This makes clear that textual element 20 belongs to something drawn above it, and this can only be locality 21, not locality 15 where the Knife-wielders are.
It is possible that both localities have dangerous roads against which the text protagonist is warned. CT 50 warns him against dangerous roads (or byways) leading and/or belonging to locality 15 of the Knife-wielders, while 20 is about a dangerous lower road (or byway) belonging and/or leading to the locality 21 of the Fiery ones.
Textual element 20 has drawn the attention of some scholars in the past who thought of it as a label instructing the traveler to avoid passing on the part of the blue band in which it is written in the late sources. This is not incorrect, but it does not explain the absence of such warnings or instructions in the rest of the composition in both the early and the late sources. Hermsen notices that the depicted (by)way leads to the Lake of Fire. However, only B6C and B3C in the early sources show a connection between the serpentine band and the segment H representing the “Lake of Fire”. <10p248>
In B2Bo and B4C the blue serpentine band does not link to the “Lake of Fire”. <10p249>
The last two sentences are incorrect, since B2Bo, the oldest of the maps, does in fact have a line connecting the Gulf of California with the Lake of Fire, as in later versions. Regarding B4C I cannot say, since I have only seen the drawing of it in Figure 113.
The reconstructions of B2Bo and B4C do indeed lack such connecting lines, but photographs of B2Bo itself show the line, which may be the case with B4C also. It may represent a way to cross Mexico from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of California. If so, it may be the Fuerte River. It empties into the Gulf of California in the area where the line is, and one of its tributaries in the Sierras, the Verde River, almost touches the Balleza River, a tributary of the Conchos River, and the Conchos is a tributary of the Rio Grande, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It may relate to the reference to Apopis in the spell to pass this way. In some versions this is the only line that connects to the Lake of Fire. Maybe this relates to the gods of this coastline being “the Fiery ones”.
Sherbiny: “It should be noted that the late parallels (= the so-called short version of the ‘Book of Two Ways’) mention that the road which should be avoided is located in the ‘Mansion of Natron’ (hwt-hzmn).” Sherbiny writes that the “so-called short version” was “the second coffin-bottom composition of the Hermopolitan coffins”. <10p248n>
Along the eastern shore of the Gulf of California is a spell: “An utterance for passing by the road of the Fiery ones. I am the Eye of Horus which is effective in the night, which makes fire with its beauty. I am the Lord of Akhet, and the fire of every day is the one that licks me (?). [As for] the one who passes [by the road, he overthrows] its enemy, and he is actually the one who dispels [Apo]pis.” <10p192> Sherbiny:
The late variants have a different text. Here we learn that, when Khepri shines, he “licks” the ritualist. This also situates the clause in a solar context rather than a lunar one. The mention of Khepri here opens up two possible avenues of interpretation. This shining of the sun god can be an allusion either to the sunrise at dawn or the appearance of the sun in his Night-bark by night. We will first consider the first possibility.
Comparing this new information with the preceding clause reveals that we have now two time references; night and dawn, both are taking place in the sky. The common denominator of these two events is the luminosity of a celestial body. The act of the solar “licking” can then be understood as the rays of the early sun touching the body of the ritualist. <10p251>
Sherbiny: “One recalls here the text at the end of the Book of Night from the NK, where the sun is described to be coming forth from the Duat to board the Day-bark. The ferry crossing of primeval waters (Nun) is also mentioned at the last hour of the night. This is followed by the transformation into Khepri and the ascension to the Akhet, apparently after passing through the body of the sky goddess. Here we hear about the sun’s shining from the Akhet in the first hour of the day.” <10p251n> Sherbiny:
The “Eye of Horus” by night may indicate a relation with the group of texts related to torches. These texts are used in several ritual contexts, and found their interesting expression, among many other things, in the daily cult for the divine images in sacred spaces and temples and in the BD 137A. Certain phraseological similarities appear between some elements in text 22 and BD 137A. Accordingly, it could be suggested that the “Eye of Horus” with which the ritualist is identified alludes to the torch that is lit in the beginning of nightly ritual. The reference to the light of the eye is also found in text 22. Dispelling the enemies is one of the significant outcomes of lighting the torch in the ritual. Although most of the extant texts outside our composition mention an unidentified group of enemies and/or Seth, text 22 explicitly refers to Apopis. This suggests the same ritual act and texts were also performed in the solar cult. At any rate, the “Eye of Horus” in the torch texts usually turns up in contexts that have to do with offerings. This in fact is the dominant theme in neighboring textual elements in the segments F and G. Fertile land that produces offerings to the cult of Osiris and the consumption of the offerings is explicitly stated in texts 30, 31, and 33. If the hypothesis forwarded here is correct, the relation between the Eye of Horus, the offerings, and protection against the inimical forces are intertwined themes that turn up also in the contexts where we find the torch spells such as BD 137A. Furthermore, a group of beings appear in BD 137A, where we learn that they are the four sons of Horus. *** Only one important element is still missing in this comparison, namely the gates and their guardians. The rubric of BD 137A relates reciting the spell to the gates (‘rrwt) of Osiris. Interestingly BD 137A occurs several times before BD 144 on the walls of some later monuments. This is exactly what we have here as well. The following text is about reaching certain gates protected by certain guardians. Moreover, most of the texts that were compiled later as BD 144 have their precursors in the “map” section. Thus, the basic elements that appear in BD 137A and the related spells of torches are also present and can be gathered here as keywords: Eye of Horus, fire, light, night, overthrowing enemy, offerings, gates, and gatekeepers.
As a result, a good number of the textual units here seem to have roots in ritual texts that were similar to the material that survived later in the cultic practices in several contexts. Perhaps the ancientry of these rites related to lighting the torches is justified not only by the rubric of BD137A with its famous note of origin that goes back at least to the early Old Kingdom. Apart from this ancientry note, the previous remarks point to a ritual background of the textual material that was used in Part 2. This also indicates that much of the material used by the Hermopolitan theologians for our composition had even much longer history. Unfortunately this material mostly disappeared and only the Hermopolitan redaction of this material survived to us as the hitherto oldest extant record. <10p253>
Sherbiny writes that the hieroglyphics for “flame” have also been translated as “destroyers”: “Therefore, it is highly possible that the relation between ‘flame’ and ‘destruction’ was rather somehow blurred. This eventually could have given rise to the emergence of two different sdt words.” <10p206> Sherbiny: “The last part of text 22 comes as a comment or a ‘rubric’ of the utterance. It indicates that whoever passes by the (depicted) road, i.e. the ‘road of the Fiery ones’ mentioned in the beginning of 22, will have the power to defeat Apopis, the enemy of the sun god.” <10p253>
Sherbiny: “For gaining an understanding of this part, it is vital to know the relationship between the Fiery ones referred to in textual element 22 and the demons occupying locality 21. A close scrutiny provides us with the key. The majority of the late variants of 21 write [flame glyph] after each name of its six demons. It is important to note that this is the only group of demonic entities in the ‘map’ section whose names are determined with the sign of the flame. Although this part is mainly lost in B9C, a row of six [flame glyph] is still visible. This indicates the relation of these beings with fire. Therefore there is little room for doubt that these supernatural beings are the Fiery ones referred to in 22.” <10p247> The locales within this northwestern district of Mexico are listed: “The Swallower (?), He whose heart is vigilant, He whose face is vigilant, He whose face is sharp, the Noisy one, The Hearer.” <10p192> Sherbiny:
The names of the beings encountered here are widely attested in the texts, in contradistinction to their counterparts in the segments B and C, but this circumstance is less helpful than might be hoped. In BD chapter 144/147 we merely gather they are the ‘protectors’ z3ww of the gates they are associated with.
***
In the glorification spell CT 44 we encounter a group of dangerous beings named sdtjw who are in the ‘ftt. Some scholars render their name as “the Breakers”. Although this can be correct, it is not necessarily the case.
It is tempting to think that these sdtjw are identical to the “Fiery ones” referred to in textual element 22.
In the glorification spell CT 47, which forms part of the same liturgy to which CT 44 belongs, there is also mention of dangerous beings that form a potential threat to the addressee of the text on the roads of the ‘ftt. We learn that these beings can include gods, akhs, and dead. In the same spell we hear about the dangerous “guardians (jrjw) of the roads”, who also can cause harm to the addressee by taking away his heart from him.
Although it is not clear to which extent the roads of these guardians (jrjw) may or may not be related to the roads of ‘ftt mentioned earlier in the same spell and in CT 44, one point becomes clear. All these roads are full of dangerous beings that bar the passage. This also holds true for the roads mentioned in the segments B, C, and D. <10p246>
Sherbiny: “In CT 44 we have a passive voice formation ‘you will not be barred’, while in CT 47 Thoth is asked to protect the deceased on the roads of the ‘ftt.” <10p246n>
The Rio Grande (river), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte, seems to be the Underworld god which is labeled: “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?).” The Falcon International Reservoir seems to have expanded an already wide part of the Rio Grande which manifests as the body of this god, including his ears, which can still be seen in the deep parts of the reservoir which were probably already part of the Rio Grande before the dam’s construction. Either the Alamo River or the San Juan River may be the snake he holds. Both rivers flow into the Rio Grande south of the Falcon International Reservoir, meeting the Rio Grande on its western side and extending far to the west, like the pictured snake. The snake held by “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)” seems to be labeled: “The Flesh of the enemy (?).”<10p192>
The Santiago River (Río Grande de Santiago) is labeled: “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?).” <10p192> Sherbiny: “B3C and B4C read ‘nh-m-t3-s ‘He who lives on the Fledgling of the lake’.” <10p209>
‘Nh-m-t3-s is depicted as a cobra. The teardrop-shaped Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake, home to herons and other birds, is depicted as the greyish-green teardrop-shaped body of a heron or similar bird, whose reddish-colored neck and head are the beginning of the Santiago River. The side where the river emerges has a sliver of white paint, where the lake is shallow.
‘Nh-m-t3-s’s body is not at all like a cobra’s body. It is wider towards the tail-end, the opposite of an actual cobra. And very unlike any cobra, his tail splits apart before abruptly ending at the blue “byway” which is universally considered to represent a waterway. No snake’s tail does this, but the Santiago River does, splitting apart before terminating at the coastline. Also his sides are wavy in a way that resemble a river, and could not exist on a cobra. The fact that Chapala is openly referenced as a lake, and the fact that ‘Nh-m-t3-s’s body so strongly resembles a river instead of a snake, and runs from the lake into another body of water which is painted blue, are strong indications that the Underworld gods depicted and labeled on the map are features of the natural world, manifested in divine form. In the earliest version, B2Bo, these gods aren’t depicted, but “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)” is labeled with a line of text exactly where he was painted in the later version, B1C. Just to the right (north) of that is the label for “The Flesh of the enemy (?)”, which also runs in a straight line, parallel to “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”, which suggests the San Pedro River, which empties into the Pacific just north of where the Santiago River does. It may have been seen as a hazard for those navigating the Santiago, by affecting the currents near the mouth of the Santiago, or by being confused for the Santiago and sending travelers on an unwelcome detour. But later versions have the label for “The Flesh of the enemy (?)” right above (west of) the label for “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)”, putting it much further east than in early maps B2Bo and B6C. Those early maps don’t have “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)” at all, so it’s possible that the name “The Flesh of the enemy (?)” was given to a new river by the later Hermopolitan cartographers, either by mistake or for some unknown reason, perhaps relating to the Apopis tradition.
The Lerma River may be indicated by the label, part of which has not been translated: “He … in beauty.” <10p192> The text is in a straight line, fully southeast of the label for “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”. The Lerma is Mexico’s longest interior river, beginning (50 km?) west of Mexico City and ending in Lake Chapala. The Lerma’s Aztec/Nahuatl name is Chicnahuapan, “Nine Rivers”. The Lerma River–Lake Chapala basin is considered to be the most important watershed in the country by the Mexican government, and with its major tributaries, the Laja, Apaseo, and Turbio, it is Mexico’s largest river system. The Lerma is southeast of the Santiago River, just as the label for “He … in beauty” is southeast of the one for “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”. The early maps B2Bo and B6C have longer text for the label of “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”, and it may be that originally the latter included the Lerma River as well as the Santiago River. The Santiago is considered part of the Lerma by some Mexicans, and is considered a separate river by others, which may have been true of the early and late Hermopolitan mapmakers as well. Sherbiny writes the original Egyptian for “He … in beauty”: “3dmw-m-nfrw. B4Bo writes 3mdw-m-nfrw. Barquet suggests that 3dmw is a derivative of jdmj ‘red cloth’ and renders ‘rougeoyant (?)’. O’Connell proposed a derivation from 3d ‘to be furious’. Nevertheless, the relation of 3dmw with the words suggested cannot be securely established.” <10p209> Sherbiny:
The name 3dmw-m-nfrw of being 26 includes the word nfrw which is mentioned in the text 22 in relation to the lunar Eye of Horus. A supernatural being called 3dmw appears in PT Utterance 689 which concerns the Eye of Horus and alludes to celestial matters. In CT 674, which is only attested on the Back of B1Bo, the officiant is assigned to the supernatural being 3dw. Food offerings play an important role in the text. There is also mention of the Sixth-Day and Seventh-Day festivals celebrated in Heliopolis. These two festivals are lunar and celebrate the First Quarter of the moon. Kaper notices that the increasing brightness of the moon becomes obvious on these two days.
The text that runs over this area concerns the Eye of Horus which can be a mythical rendering of the Moon and/or the lighted torch. The “Eye of Horus” as a common term for offerings is a very ancient idea and well known. Moreover, the following segments in the upper register have the food-provisions as a central theme.
In the course of the transformation spell CT 148, which was favored in Assiut, the deceased (assuming the role of the original ritualist) appears as Horus who defeats Seth, the enemy of his father Osiris. In this context we hear that Seth is defeated and put under the sandals of the deceased in his identity of 3dmw. Clearly 3dmw possessed powerful qualities which may have motivated the ritualist to identify himself with him. Therefore, it might not be surprising that the name of 3dmw in the late variant B3L is determined with a knife-sign according to de Buck’s suggestion of the short lacuna here.
3dmw recurs also in CT 1019 in pGardiner II, in a context that is not easy to establish. The officiant addresses Anubis, informing him among other things that he is already able (3h) and pure. The short spell is ended by a remark to the effect that his power exceeds that of the gods for he is identified with 3dmw. ***
*** <10p255>
Despite this wealth of references to 3dmw, it remains difficult to assess the nature of our 3dmw-m-nfrw. <10p256>
The name of “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”, along with the form and position of the illustrations of him and “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)” and perhaps “The Flesh of the enemy (?)” in the B1C map of General Sepi, along with the shape of the text in unillustrated versions, give very strong indications that these gods are water. The name “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)” is illuminated by Sepi’s illustration, showing the cobra biting the head of a bird. The fact the cobra’s tail ends in a waterway, and the fact his head is biting “the fledgling of the lake”, together with the fact his body resembles a river while being very different from an actual cobra, strongly suggest that he is a river, which strongly suggests that the teardrop shaped body of the Fledgling of the lake is a lake. It is a markedly different color from the rest of the Fledgling, and there is a similar section of the body of “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)” which has the same color. It is bordered by his shoulders and arms on one side and his tail on the other. His tail is very long, and he has no legs. Since “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)” is actually shaped like a river, it makes sense to see the wavy snake held by “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)”, which may be “The Flesh of the enemy (?)”, as another possible river. It runs parallel to “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)”, and both are very wavy. Furthermore, “the enemy” probably means Apopis, who is mentioned in the neighboring section of the map. He is the enemy of Re, the sun, and seems to represent water, being often depicted as a long wavy blue snake which boats sail upon. The very fact Egyptians painted boats sailing on a blue wavy snake should alert everyone to this tradition of rendering waterways as serpents, a tradition that was global, including the Celtic Lasconius and the Nordic Midgard Serpent and the Greek Okeanos, who is still the name for the ocean, and is deified as a serpent. Then it is logical to notice the long tail and lack of feet on “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)”, and realize this gives his body the shape of a river. At that point, realizing both snakes and the other zoomorphic god all resemble rivers, it makes sense to suspect that “the fledgling of the lake (?)” is also water, especially since two of the three river-gods are attached to each other while the other is attached to “the fledgling”. And if one end of a river ends in another waterway painted blue, and the other end is attached to something, it is likely attached to more water. His name strongly suggests the reason he is the only one of these four gods who is not river-like in appearance. Since he clearly isn’t another river, his size and shape suggest that “the fledgling” is or contains “the lake”. The color of his body, identical to an even more oddly separated section of the body of “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)”, reinforces the impression that “the fledgling of the lake (?)” is water, since “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?)” is river-like in his shape, so if their bodies are the same color, inside strangely deliberately separated compartments, it greatly increases the likelihood that they are composed of the same thing, and that it is water. “The fledgling of the lake (?)” is not river-like, but his separated teardrop-shaped body with the color mentioned above is certainly a reasonable shape for a lake, and a lake is a very normal thing to be connected to one end of a river. So from these steps alone can be gleaned the understanding that these four Underworld gods are probably three rivers and a lake, which makes it likely all of the Underworld gods are natural phenomena, even if we didn’t have all the other evidence proving it. And as in the film “Panda vs. Aliens”, when a villain says: “I’ll wipe you off the map!” the protagonist panda replies: “You can’t wipe me off the map. Maps are for places! I’m a person.” Zoomorphic depictions of topography are a well-known part of cartographic tradition, including in Egypt with its nome-gods and Nile gods and Upper and Lower Egypt represented by gods wearing their respective crowns. It should not be surprising but expected that Egyptians would use similar zoomorphic and anthropomorphic theism to depict other lands. It is the same as their celestial gods like Re and Nut, and it is like the zodiacal constellations of every land. Sherbiny writes of the section containing the four gods in the B3C map:
This representation looks like two halves of a semi-circle or semi-oval split into two halves by a text column. Both the two halves and the text column are attached to the upward curve of the blue serpentine band. The drawing is too stylized to allow identifying its nature. This area is guarded by four supernatural beings. What complicates the matter is that these beings are not attested elsewhere in the ancient Egyptian texts.
The name “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)” is written between the two halves/sides just referred to. Both his name and position indicate that he lives in the vicinity of a watercourse. B3C and B4C offer the slightly different reading “He who lives on the fledgling of the lake”. One wonders if this more hostile description is reflected in the vignette in the late source B1C. <10p254>
Here a serpent’s body attached to the serpentine blue band descends towards a bird. Leitz suggested that this is a goose. The snake is pictured biting the crown of the head of the bird, which is in turn holding a knife against the snake.
The name “Flesh of the enemy” may indicate the hostile nature of this snake. The part of 22 which runs above this very area, mentions repelling Apopis. However, the rendering of this name is not certain to draw safe conclusions in this respect. <10p255>
***
Some late variants add a label at the leftmost part of the vignette referring to a way leading to an area of offerings and/or river-banks. <10p256>
Sherbiny writes: “[F]or different renderings, see Faulkner, AECT III, 135, n. 4 who argues for ‘river bank’ and does not accept ‘reversion-offerings’ proposed by Lesko and Piankoff.” <10p256n> Sherbiny showed us the key to understanding this area of the map when he said: “Here a serpent’s body attached to the serpentine blue band descends towards a bird.” If waterways can be “serpentine”, as he and other Egyptologists call the blue “byway” which Egyptologists say is water, then conversely, “serpents” might be waterways, and birds might also be watercourses, if they are among zoomorphic waterways. Depicting rivers as serpents is the pictorial version of calling them “serpentine”. The snake-gods are more wavy than a snake would need to be depicted, and in ways that are very distinct from the form of actual snakes. Their waviness seems very stylized, as opposed to a realistic portrayal of a snake or even a river, in the sense that it is wavy by default in a continuous, symmetrical way. It seems like they are wavy by default unless some specific feature is being shown, such as where the body of “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?)” bends dramatically where the Santiago River turns abruptly.
Sherbiny: “The area we will discuss next appears to be a fertile area where offerings are found.” <10p256> Central America’s northwestern coast is labeled: “The one who grants the 3h-power, the Lord of the dbw-land, is in it among the followers of Osiris. The followers who are in it; they are Akhs who dwell in it after they have protected their lords there.” And: “The house of […]. That which protects. This is its name. […] The place of sand. The place of […]. Six lakes.” <10p192> Sherbiny: “These six lakes [hieroglyphs] are arranged in two rows of three lakes each.” Sherbiny writes of the undeciphered text represented by the second ellipsis: “It is not improbable that the lacuna in B2Bo fits the reading st smw st 3hwt ‘The place of vegetation. The place of fields’, which appears in the late variants.” <10p210>
Sherbiny:
This segment shows locality 28 resting on the separating band between the two registers of the “map” section. Text 27 is written next to the representation of locality 28 and provides information about it. Only two sources in <10p256> our group show textual elements written inside the drawing of the locality. This latter is colored white as is the case with the rest of the localities of the upper register of the “map” section. The blue serpentine band runs over this locality containing the continuation of utterance 22.
***
[Name with rare characters] suggests that locality 28 differs in the way it was depicted from the previous localities in the upper register, and she thinks it is “Tumulus — bzw. Pyramidenartig”. This should be taken with a grain of salt, for the localities shown in the iconographic sources are stylized depictions that do not render the reality of what they represent. Therefore we have opted for designating these representations conventionally as “localities”.
*** <10p257>
Locality 28 contains short labels designating geographical areas. The text is partly damaged in B2Bo and illegible in B6C save a few easily identifiable chisel marks. Neither B3C nor B4C has text written in the drawing. Luckily, the two late sources B1L and B2L preserve a fairly legible text, enabling us to reconstruct the damaged and illegible parts in both B2Bo and B6C.
The first label indicates that the locality is a house, and we are informed also about its name. In terms of grammar, the name is feminine Jhwyt “That which protects”. This perhaps denotes a certain area/structure in this locality or even a reference to the entire locality. The rest of the label reveals a region of varied landscape. Four details can be discerned in the late variants: 1) the place of vegetation, 2) the place of fields, 3) the place of sand, and 4) the place of stones. This suggests that locality 28 includes both arid and fertile areas. One recalls here the Nile valley and its contact with the desert fringes where chains of mountains (the source of stones) are found. In such regions, the distance between the cultivation with its fields and vegetation and the mountains is occasionally not far. In between the cultivated area and the mountains lies the sandy area.
In addition to these elements, B6C (not published by de Buck) indicates the existence of six basins or lakes (or gardens). In all the surviving sources, these lakes are separated from the other elements. <10p258>
As shown in the above topographic map, Central America is indeed “a region of varied landscape. Four details can be discerned in the late variants: 1) the place of vegetation, 2) the place of fields, 3) the place of sand, and 4) the place of stones. This suggests that locality 28 includes both arid and fertile areas. One recalls here the Nile valley and its contact with the desert fringes where chains of mountains (the source of stones) are found. In such regions, the distance between the cultivation with its fields and vegetation and the mountains is occasionally not far. In between the cultivated area and the mountains lies the sandy area.” All of this is evident in Central America, whose landscape is unusually varied for its size, in precisely the ways enumerated.
Lake Nicaragua, one of the biggest lakes in America south of the Great Lakes, must be among the lakes referenced in Central America, along with Lake Managua, to which it is connected by the Tipitapa River. Both are visible in the above topography, and are correctly positioned in the Book of Two Ways, , right where the continent dramatically widens northward, just north of the narrow isthmus.
Panama and perhaps surrounding regions are labeled: “The Mistress of Offerings. The hnmt-bread is in it for its Lord. It is from it that the hnmt-bread goes forth for Osiris every day.” <10p192> This supports Osiris being Afro-Eurasia, since it is from Panama that the hnmt-bread (which may be an export like coca or gold and/or something cosmological like Venus) “goes forth for Osiris”. Osiris is not among the labels on the Underworld map, and he is labeled in multiple parts of Afro-Eurasia in another part of the coffin. In the oldest of the maps, B2Bo, there is a wide black line across Panama from coast the coast, which may indicate a place to cross. It is the only line in that version that touches the Lake of Fire except the line in the Gulf of California, and the Panama line is the only one which goes all the way across the Lake of Fire. Sherbiny: “Some late variants write ‘the Field of Offerings’ or ‘the field that produces offerings’ instead.” <10p214> The text continues, starting around Panama and continuing into South America: “An utterance for reaching these Kneeling ones, the guardians of the gates. There is field of an aurora in offerings (on) the day of the straw among the Ones who prepare the hnmt-bread for Osiris. This [Osirian] is the assistant of Thoth. This [Osirian] is the one who cooks the hnmt-bread for Osiris among the Ones who prepare offerings. There is a field of an aroura in offerings (on) the day of straw.” <10p192>
Sherbiny: “The rendering of m3sw can be either the ‘Kneeling ones’ or the ‘Squatting ones’.” <10p213> Most of the gods labeled in the Book of Two Ways may be “Kneeling/Squatting ones”. There is a wooden statue from ancient Egypt which is a squatting figure with a turtle as his head. He may be “He whose face is turtle-like (?)”, Baja California. Sherbiny’s Figure 161 shows a model of a mummification bed, with six squatting figures on each side, all wielding knives of the kind wielded by the Underworld gods <10p341>, while his Figure 163 shows another mummification bed model with seven of these squatting figures on each side. These are similar in number to the Guards/Guardians who are addressed by spells along each of the two coastlines of America. In the second mummification bed model, Isis of the East is kneeling atop one end and Nephthys of the West kneels atop the other, strengthening the argument for cosmological interpretation. <10p342>
Sherbiny: “In the late sources, the variant of 30, the ritualist presents himself as follows: ‘I am the scribe of the fields, the assistant of Thoth’.” <10p262> Sherbiny: “I believe that the original reading was ‘there are two arourae of land in offerings’. *** In fact, the two arourae is a standardized average parcel of land in administrative documents in the Old Kingdom. This writing of aroura with the Anubis sign became obsolete after the OK. This clearly indicates that this spell had an origin in the Old Kingdom using archaic written forms of the hieratic signs that were not understandable for later generations.” Sherbiny writes that Derchain considered the day of straw to be the anniversary of the resurrection of Osiris. <10p213> Sherbiny: “The text is of very old origin that definitely goes back to the Old Kingdom as we discussed in the philological commentary. The text describes a fertile plot of lands consisting of two arourae. This is a standard parcel of land in the administrative documents of the Old Kingdom. It is also used as endowment for priests to maintain both divine and funerary cult. There is also mention of a group of persons referred to as the ‘Ones who prepare the hnmt-bread for Osiris. These are clearly associated with the offerings which are being emphasized in this segment.” <10p261>
Near South America’s western coast is the spell which Sherbiny translates as: “An utterance for being a god; {twice} a companion of Osiris without dying forever. The one who sees Osiris (illegitimately) is dead.” <10p192> Sherbiny: “Scholars have advanced two interpretations. According to one, [hieroglyphs] refers to Osiris. Whoever sees him dead, will not die himself (thus Faulkner’s rendering ‘he who sees the dead Osiris will never die’, Faulkner AECT III, 137; Carrier, Textes III, 2217). Lesko, otherwise, rendered ‘the one who sees Osiris cannot suffer death’ …. *** <10p215> It is probably a declaration of the death penalty for any unauthorized access to the Osirian precinct. This is expressed by means of a very compact threat as SUBJECT-stative clause, where the subject is a substantivized active participle (B2Bo, and the late sources B12–13C, and B4L) or prospective participle after emendation (B4Bo and B3C).” <10p216> Sherbiny: “That approaching this area of Osiris is highly restricted is made clear from a dense but very strong threat included in the text, The unauthorized access to the abode of Osiris means a capital punishment for the intruder.” <10p263> Sherbiny: “One may recall here the interesting remark found in the late ‘Book of Temple’, where approaching the sacred lake and mound of the god would expose a person not only to death. Burning on the altar of the god is the awaiting destiny for the trespasser.” <10p263>
If Osiris is Afro-Eurasia, this could make sense, and might explain why Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact didn’t make a more pervasive impact on the archaeological record. Or it may be what the gods said to Americans: that Afro-Eurasia is the Land of the Dead, which no mortal can reach during life. The literature of Mesopotamia described America in identical terms. “Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World” says:
Neti, the chief gatekeeper of the nether world,
Answers the pure Inanna:
“Who pray art thou?”
“I am the queen of heaven, the place where the sun rises.”
“If thou art the queen of heaven, the place where the sun rises,
Why pray hast thou come to the land of no return?
On the road whose traveller returns not how has thy heart led thee?” <7p90>
In The Road to Hel, Hilda Roderick Ellis writes: “In the two poems which have to do with the adventures of Svipdagr, Grógaldr and Fjölsvinnsmál, we have first an account of his visit to his mother’s grave, and of the spells which she teaches liana, and secondly a description of his arrival outside the hall of Menglöð, and of the successful end of his wooing. Svipdagr seeks out his mother for one particular purpose; he needs her help because, as he tells her in verse 3, he has been sent to travel the way ‘that none may go’, to seek out the maiden Menglöð. In verse 5 he begs her to chant spells for him, since he fears he will otherwise perish on the way, and <6p175> deems himself all too young for the quest. The nine spells which are chanted by Gróa in reply to this appeal, then, are presumably for one particular purpose — to assist him in making this journey — and so a study of them may be expected to assist us in gaining knowledge of the way by which Svipdagr is to travel.” <6p176>
In both the Sumerian story and the Nordic story, the Underworld isn’t accessible except by following very strict protocol. In Inanna’s case, she is a goddess, and the planet Venus, but even she is told by “Neti, the chief gatekeeper of the nether world”: “Extraordinarily, O Inanna, have the decrees of the nether world been perfected, O Inanna, do not question the rites of the nether world.” <7p91> In the True Story of Lucius, he wrote that the ruler of the Island of the Blessed “asked us how it was that we trod on holy ground while still alive”. <24p313> The Hermopolitan “utterance for being a god” may have been meant to deter Americans from venturing out, or to establish the protagonist’s identity as a god, arriving from a land that no living mortal has seen. This could be why it is “An utterance for being a god”, if it was a reminder that only the immortal gods like Inanna and Re could come across the sea from Osiris, the Underworld.
In the same area is another spell: “An utterance for being in the Field of Offerings among the gods who are in the suite of Osiris every day, they will eat bread among the living forever. As for anyone whose fields are there, he is (then) with Thoth, and he cannot be repelled by any Evil One.” <10p192> Sherbiny: “The word nbd does not simply mean ‘evil’ or ‘bad’ in general … but it also carries the connotation of violent and harmful act”. <10p217> If Osiris is Afro-Eurasia, “the gods who are in the suite of Osiris every day” may refer to sky gods who go around the planet daily, from Osiris to America and back.
At what seems to be the area of South America’s northwestern coast where Puná Island is situated, a line of text begins: “The guardian of the gateway, who gains through robbery.” <10p192>
This designation of Puná Island as “guardian” of South America’s western coast makes sense, because it is the main island that directly blocks, i.e. “guards” that coast against southward sailors. The other guardians of the western coast of America are all north of the coastlines they guard, so Chiloé Island is unlikely, being to the south of the coastline in question, and other large islands like Rapa Nui and Galapagos are too distant from the coast to really guard it.
In versions B1C, B1L, and B2L, there is text south of South America which says: “The Snakes of ‘ftt, the keepers of the gates (jrjw ‘rrwt).” <10p172> Since the label of the only other “snakes of ‘ftt” is just south of the wsrt-pole north of Canada, and these “snakes of ‘ftt” are just north of the wsrt-pole which is south of South America, it may represent ice or aurora australis, the Southern Lights, being in the vicinity of the South Pole, which may have been called a wsrt-pole. Or they could be islands, or the sea.
At the top of Sherbiny’s list of theories held by Egyptologists about the two halves or “registers” of the map, other than the theory he debunks about a land road versus a water road, is the theory that the lower register involves the “Night journey of the sun god”, and that the upper register is part of the “Day journey of the sun god”. <10p278n> The Egyptologists are correct, since Re is wounded and unable to shine until he reaches the center of the Underworld, whereupon he rises for Egypt’s next day. Sherbiny: “And recently Rößler-Köhler added another proposal influenced by the NK Netherworld Books. In her view the lower register represents <10p278n> the West, while the upper is about the eastern Akhet.” <10p279n> From Egypt’s position, that’s accurate, since America’s eastern coast faces Egypt’s western side, and America’s western coast faces Egypt’s eastern side. Sherbiny writes that Egyptologists have applied to the map “the belief that the destination of the deceased’s journey in the Hereafter is the Paradise and Elysian Fields or Field of Offerings.” He also describes Egyptologists “comparing the sequence of the demons’ names with some of their counterparts in the later BD 144 attested in a single papyrus (pNu in this case), and presuming that the latter represents the ‘original’ sequence. *** A quick glance at the order of the protective beings of the seven gate-halls in BD 144 as attested in pBrocklehurst shows discrepancies between the sequence of the beings here (pBrocklehurst) and in BD 144 in its contemporary pNu.” Sherbiny: “Lesko suggested that the upper register represents the diurnal journey of the sun god, while the lower register represents the nocturnal one.” <10p279n> He and Rößler-Köhler are correct, in that Re is reborn each night at midnight in the center of the Underworld, hence the Lake of Fire dividing the dark eastern coast from the bright western coast. B2Bo was painted on the back of the coffin, which accomplishes the same effect. Based upon the map, the sun seems to set in Greenland, and after being reborn at midnight on its Lake of Fire in the center of America, or creating the Lake of Fire with its rays after being resurrected, it seems to rise in Siberia for the Eastern Hemisphere. This rebirth of the sun in the Underworld was depicted as the sun-god reviving atop Aker, the two-headed sphinx who represents the Underworld and particularly the center of the Underworld at midnight. It’s attested in many Egyptian mortuary compositions, including inside the tomb of Rameses V and VI. This scene was also featured in Aztec and Mayan funerary texts, relating to their Underworld, which is Afro-Eurasia. Sherbiny:
Contrary to the widely-held view that the lower register with its black serpentine band represents an arid area, the descriptive labels accompanying the drawing clearly indicate that the curves of the black serpentine band are bends of a lake. This is clear from the early and the late sources alike. Moreover, the upper register has also some references to lakes as well.
Another intriguing mention of two lakes appears in the column preceding the “map” section in Type II sources. Here the “map” section is introduced by one or two text columns accommodating CT 1147. The text clearly refers to passing by two lakes. This passage is attested in all the surviving variants and is the only part in the entire text that is written in red. It is not clear, however, how the term “two lakes” is related to Shu whose name is just mentioned after it. Two interpretations here are possible. First, this is a direct genitive. In this case the text reads “the two lakes of Shu”. Still it is ambiguous why the word “Shu” was not written in red in all the sources if it really constitutes part of the term. Second, the word “Shu” starts a new sentence, probably as a vocative. This latter interpretation may be enhanced by the parallel CT 451 where Shu is clearly addressed and apparently functions as a gatekeeper.
Be this as it may, the “two lakes of Shu” are not yet attested in any other Egyptian text, while “lakes of Shu” (in plural) are found in both the “PT” and the “CT”. These lakes usually turn up in contexts that have to do with purification and could be located somewhere in the eastern Akhet or very close to it. *** <10p283> Although some scholars rendered “the Two Lakes of Shu”, this intriguing information has hitherto escaped the notice of scholars who studied this composition. As stated above, this passage immediately precedes the “map” section. Perhaps the Hermopolitan redactors here referred to the two registers that follow? Each of these registers may then represent a kind of an area that has a certain watercourse. The two serpentine bands per se do not necessarily need to be identical with these two lakes.
***
Therefore, it is likely that the entire “map” section represents one single whole with two complimentary characteristics, not two entirely different and opposing worlds combined in one drawing as has been previously assumed. In other words, the duality of registers appears to be a visual rendering of one geographical unit with all its multiple architectonic features and different varied landscape. <10p284>
The America map seems to only be a quarter of the overall map of Earth, and in some versions the other continents are illustrated in similar style, but in a way that isn’t immediately fathomable. In the coffin of the Steward Sen, the other three quarters of the map are illustrated with the same style as America is, and even include Lakes of Fire.
This coffin uses Lakes of Fire, identical to the Underworld one, to divide the geography and perhaps the time zones of the other three quarters of the coffin bottom. All four Lakes of Fire might be represented by the red rectangle of the “Entourage/s of the Fire”. In this coffin, the eastern and western coasts of America have opposite north-south orientation, so Alaska seems to border Argentina, and Chile seems to border Hudson Bay. All four quarters of the coffin bottom may be arranged in that same confusing way, with the blue western sides following the opposite north-south orientation to that of the black eastern sides. If the text is reversed for the blue half of each quarter, that would confirm it, but I don’t know the textual layout of this coffin.
The illustration of the other three quarters of the coffin bottom confirms that the Book of Two Ways is a global geography like Ptolemy’s, since it shows that the text outside America relating to geography outside America corresponds to a coherent map of it. Ptolemy’s Geography seems to have been based on the ancient traditions seen in the Book of Two Ways. For instance both can be and have been rendered with only text and with cartographic illustration. And what Ptolemy calls “the meridian drawn through the Islands of the Blest” serves as an important meridian in the Book of Two Ways and in Ptolemy’s Geography. We know that the black and blue lines separated by red lines probably signify black eastern and blue western sides of composite regions. The placement of the text in the map may tell us a lot.
It seems that in most Books of Two Ways, Egypt is described in a section multiple divisions “south of” America. In Ptolemy’s Geography, the Prime Meridian runs through the Islands of the Blest, i.e. the Americas, and an “eastern” meridian is at the metropolis of the Sinai. That “eastern” meridian is probably the Lake of Fire which is south of Argentina and north of Alaska on Sen’s map, and which vicinity likely has the labels relating to Egypt which are found in that part of other versions. Egypt is near the longitudinal antipode of America, the opposite side of the planet, which may be why they are aligned with each other in the map. If the black eastern side of that realm has the same south-north orientation as eastern America, it suggests the rounded end, towards America, is the Eastern Mediterranean, and the black square north of that may be the Black Sea. The diagonal northwest to southeast stretch of the black line may be the Red Sea, and south of that the line may represent Africa’s southeastern coast. It’s blurry in these photos, but there seems to be another shape to the east of the southernmost part of the black line, which may relate to Madagascar. The blue western line of that realm probably includes the Nile.
One of the other two quarters of the coffin bottom might be western Africa and western Europe, and the other might be eastern Asia and Oceania. If so, the black line that is directly “west of” America is likely the division between western and eastern Africa, because the other black eastern line which it connects with has what are probably large islands, inside the shapes with for straight edges, which fits East Asia and Oceania. Therefore the blue line directly “west of” America is likely the coast of West Africa and Western Europe, adjoined to another blue line which may be the Yangtze River in China. Or perhaps all the black lines of that half of the coffin bottom belong to East Asia and Oceania, with all the blue lines being western Africa and Europe.
The area south of South America is divided into three sections. I will describe the position of each section in the oldest version that contains an America map, B2Bo. As shown below in B1C, later versions often showed the sections differently, arranging them seemingly from west to east, but that may be a stylized way of depicting the same thing. In B2Bo the text in the northern section, closest to America, says: “What is under them is the utterance for passing by it. He whose winds are boisterous, this is his name. The Lord of Rage, this is his name. The Waking ones.” Below is the spell to pass by: “This [Osirian] is the one whose voice is loud in the Akhet like your Great one. On your face(s), oh Waking ones! Make way for your lord, (for) this [Osirian] is it (i.e. your lord)!” <10p293>
Sherbiny: “This group of beings is addressed by asking them to fall on their faces before the ritualist. This situation reminds us of the group of serpents addressed in CT 1034. These snakes appear to be playing the roles of gatekeepers to be passed by the ritualist. It is therefore likely that the Waking ones here play a similar role.” <10p299> He is referring to The Snakes of ‘ftt, who are north of Canada and south of Chile, and may include the gods in question. Sherbiny: “We can infer from the text that the events are taking place in the Akhet or in its close vicinity. This is supported by the first words uttered by the ritualist in utterance 5 declaring that he is the one whose voice is loud in the Akhet.” <10p299> This spell seems to reflect the nature of the beings addressed, just as the Entourage of the Fire was informed by the spell on behalf of the protagonist about his own fiery capabilities, implying that indeed the beings addressed are in the Akhet. The protagonist may “become” each god in order to pass it, and in a ritual context a mask and/or other costume of a god might be donned by the ritualist while addressing that deity.
The text located south of that says: “He who blazes, this is his name. He whose faces are fiery [or possibly: “He whose two faces are broken (or “slaughtered” or “cut”)” or “He who breaks (or “slaughters” or “cuts”) the two faces” <10p295>] this is his name. The Lords of the wsrt-poles. What is under it is the utterance for passing by it.” Below is the spell: “The face of this [Osirian] is (that of) the Great one, and the hinder-parts of this [Osirian] are (those of) the wrrt-crown, (for) this [Osirian] is the Lord of Those of the wsrt-poles.” <10p293>
If the wsrt-poles represent the North and South Poles, the wrrt-crown may be Antarctica, since it seems etymologically connected to the wsrt-poles but is not mentioned near the North Pole. The statement that “The face of this [Osirian] is (that of) the Great one, and the hinder-parts of this [Osirian] are (those of) the wrrt-crown, (for) this [Osirian] is the Lord of Those of the wsrt-poles” may mean the stern of the boat should face Antarctica while the prow faces toward Osiris, which may mean toward Afro-Eurasia. This may be supported by a later spell which says: “This [Osirian] is the one who wraps his standard, who departs from the wrrt-crown.” <10p324>
The text which is south of that says: “He whose shape is morbid (?), this is his name. He whose face is humble (?), this is his name. The Lords of the Flame [or possibly: Breeze <10p296>], this is their name. What is under them is the utterance for passing by it.” Below is the spell: “This [Osirian] is the one who sits (in judgment) because of the Eye of Horus in the First-of-the-three Festival, and who judges the gods as the companion of Thoth. The protection of this [Osirian] is the protection of Thoth against you (plural).” <10p293>
Sherbiny writes of “He whose faces are fiery” whose name may actually be “He who breaks/cuts/slaughters the two faces”: “One wonders if this can be linked to the representation of this supernatural being in one of the late sources, where he holds the biggest knife (chopper?) in the whole scene. Note also the supernatural being [hieroglyphs]. It has been suggested that the meaning of the name may imply the cutting flame of snakes. Since the other variants of our text link this supernatural being with fire too, it seems not improbable that dangerous fiery and slaughtering/cutting activities can be ascribed to our supernatural being. One also recalls the representation of the rest of the supernatural beings of this compartment in the later source B1C, where the ‘Lords of wsrt-poles’ were drawn with ‘canine’ heads and curvy lines that drop from these heads down to the base of the compartment. These lines were drawn pierced with two knives each. Waitkus has suggested that these curvy lines may well represent bodies of serpents. Striking evidence is offered by the latest source of our composition, namely B5C. The supernatural being sd-hrwj is represented there as a human-shaped being with two serpent heads who holds in his hand a long weapon with a top that looks like a knife. This later evidence suggests that the mention of ‘two faces’ in this supernatural being’s name in B2Bo is meaningful.” <10p295>
“He whose winds are boisterous” may refer to the notoriously dangerous sailing conditions off Cape Horn. “The Lord of Rage” may also relate to that, and perhaps “The Waking ones” do also. If the name sdt-hrw means “He who breaks/cuts/slaughters the two faces”, it may be related to the Falkland Islands, which are named “He whose two faces are repelled in 3rwt”. “He who breaks/cuts/slaughters the two faces” could represent the water around the Falklands, or an island that was seen as having cut the Falklands apart, like for instance South Georgia or Staten Island (Isla de los Estados). Again “The Lords of the wsrt-poles” may refer to the planetary poles, since it is written here in the region of the South Pole, and was also identified in the region of the North Pole. Some of the references to fire in these names could relate to the aurora australis, and the Snakes of ‘ftt which may denote the same. Or the snakes of ftt could represent water, islands, or seamounts. In favor of them being auroras or ice is the fact both they and auroras are only found in the polar regions. Another possibility is that they refer to the many small islands to the north and south of America.
Sherbiny: “These three localities seem to be situated in darkness. This can be inferred from the vertical representations of a black sky-sign that usually border the left and right edges of each compartment in the late variants, as can be seen from the image above.” He is referring to the image above, from B1L. <10p298> Darkness fits the region of the South Pole, since for most of the year the poles receive much less light than the rest of the planet. Also the voyages may have been undertaken in summer of the Northern Hemisphere, the winter of the Southern Hemisphere. It may be that the concepts of Anubis and Cerberus in the Underworld relate to the “dog days of summer” following the heliacal rising of the Canis constellations.
Sherbiny writes that “CT 332 features Hathor as the mistress of ‘Those of the wsrt-poles’, and earlier in the same spell she is said to be the guide of the Great ones who are tired on the roads of the Waking ones.” <10p300> Sherbiny describes the America map:
The ritualist here, whose role is ascribed to the deceased by an anonymous speaker in our early sources, is heading for the abode of the deity (or the cult image). This is probably Osiris as we learn from the textual elements 1 and 3. This place is guarded by several dangerous beings by whom the ritualist is hoped to pass. This passage is not easy, and certain qualifications are required to achieve this goal.
***
The ritualist is hoped to be among those who prepare the provisions for Osiris. This act will have its beneficial effect on him. Reaching the abode of the god and performing the priestly services for him, will be beneficial for the ritualist as well. The funerary adaption of this situation to the cult of the dead probably grants the deceased an immortal life and constant access to food supplies in the Hereafter on the one hand, and the durability of the efficaciousness of spoken words and the ritual acts that once accompanied them on the other.
A passage is a form of transition and a spatial displacement. This theme is at stake in the “map” section. In addition to passing by several dangerous guards, these guards seem to be relatively distanced from each other. The ritualist has to pass by them and the places they guard. A number of localities and places are mentioned in the ‘map’ section. This testifies to the variety of the landscape in this section. There are references to watercourses and terrestrial areas. Among the latter there are some arid areas and fertile ones. The terrestrial and watery nature of places in the ‘map’ section holds true for both registers. <10p277>
Indeed, Mr. Sherbiny is absolutely correct, it is a map of an entire land, despite its central division by the Lake of Fire. B2Bo supports this, since its eastern and western coastlines are both black. I believe that the map extends beyond America, and includes the rest of the planet, using text to label different regions, and showing zoomorphic gods that probably represent islands. Egyptologists have said the map is for the afterlife journey to the Underworld, Rosetau, to see Osiris, but Sherbiny and others have said that Rosetau is actually in Egypt, and the overall map seems more like a guide to travel around the planet and return to Egypt, and then continue in orbit forever. Rosetau seems to either include Giza or be nearby.
South of the southern wsrt-pole/s are diagonal blue lines in five compartments, which likely represent a northwesterly route. They give the appearance of zigzagging lines, and are very similar to the blue lines that begin from one of the boats in B3C, the boat with a head on both sides, like Aker, situated between the Night-Bark and the Henu-Bark. It and the Henu-Bark are the closest of the four boats to the diagonal/zigzag-line section south of America. The diagonal blue lines in both places are at the same angle, pointing northwest. One difference is, there is one blue diagonal/zigzag line emanating from the boat, and two such lines in the adjacent section. Perhaps the northern one is for that boat and the southern one is for the Henu-Bark to the south of that boat.
This section contains the text: “These roads are here in confusing course, each one thereof is meeting with its counterpart in confusing course. It is the one who knows them who finds their roads. They are high in the form of the walls of flint.” Instead of “in confusing course”, Lesko translates it as “in the opposite direction”. <10p331> Since the text runs west to east, this might imply these routes are from east to west. At the southeastern end is the text: “The entrance of the roads of this Rosetau which are on water and land.” <10p311> Maybe the two diagonal blue lines in each of the five sections actually represent two continuous diagonal blue lines.
The next section contains the text: “Be weary, you, oh Kneeling ones, whose faces are hidden, who live by their throw-sticks! (For) this [Osirian] is a Mighty One, whose wrath is weighty, who made his way in the flame. This [Osirian] has treated Osiris. Make way for this [Osirian] that he may pass! Then this [Osirian] will see the Sole One, when Re circulates among the Ones who make offerings. Make way for this [Osirian]! Let him pass safely, safely!” <10p316>
The next section seems to describe Egypt: “The roads of Rosetau which are on land.” It lists them: “He who spits out the inundation. He who places himself. He who bestows the kas (or: k3w-energy). He who eats his fathers. He who eats his mothers.” A spell is provided: “This [Osirian] is he who fixes the limits of the flood, who separates the two rivals. This [Osirian] has come that he may remove the dhw-bandages (?) from upon Osiris.” <10p324> If in the original Egyptian the first sentence ends with “separates the two rivals”, wp rhwj, and the sentence after it ends with “the dhw-bandages (?) from upon Osiris”, dhw … wsjr, it may be intended to rhyme or have similar sounds, and may be intended to be sung in the style of Coptic chants and Nordic Underworld-spells. Sherbiny: “‘The two rivals’ (rhwj) is a common designation of Horus and Seth. The epithet wp rhwj normally refers to Thoth. <10p324> *** It is not unlikely that dhw is a pun on Dhwtj [i.e. Thoth] whose epithet wp-rhwj is mentioned in the preceding sentence.” <10p325>
Next are listed “The ways of Rosetau which are on water.” These are: “He who opposes Seth while he is angry. The begetter, the bull of Heliopolis. He who swallows the hh-waters. The Face of the falcon who issued from Uto. The ‘Four faces’ that emerged from the Akhet.” <10p324> Sherbiny: “For the primordial hh-waters as running waters with the connotation of endlessness, among other things, in time and space, see Barta, GM 127 (1992), pp. 7–12.” <10p325>
A spell is given: “This [Osirian] is the one who wraps his standard, who departs from the wrrt-crown. This [Osirian] has come in order that he may establish the thing in Abydos, that this [Osirian] may open Rosetau, and that this [Osirian] may ease the suffering of Osiris. This [Osirian] is the one who creates water, who distinguishes his standard, who makes his way in the valley. Oh Great one, make a bright way for this [Osirian]! Let (plural) this [Osirian] pass that this [Osirian] may remove the pain from the One who created him!” <10p324>
The statement that the protagonist “is the one … who departs from the wrrt-crown” seems to confirm my reading of the earlier spell which is to be uttered south of Chile which says that “the hinder-parts of this [Osirian] are (those of) the wrrt-crown” means “This [Osirian] is the one … who departs from the wrrt-crown.” If the wrrt-crown is Antarctica, “This [Osirian] is the one who wraps his standard” may describe a sailing maneuver, perhaps wrapping up the sail in order to jibe or tack to turn the boat from a southward course to a northwesterly course. In favor of this interpretation, the next sentence mentions the voyage of the protagonist to these roads of Rosetau. Graefe translates it as “the one who loosens” or “unties his standard”. <10p326>
Further text, which is red in some versions <10p327>, says: “As for these Kneeling Ones, it is Geb who establishes them in Rosetau in the realm of his son Osiris, for the fear of his brother Seth, that he may not harm (?) him. As for anyone who knows the name(s) of these Kneeling ones, he will be with Osiris forever, and he can never perish.” <10p324>
Osiris is an earth-god, and Seth is a storm-god, so the implication seems to be that these “roads” protect the mainland from the ocean. “He who spits out the inundation” may refer to the mouth of the Red Sea, or to the Nile Delta, along with “He who opposed Seth while he is angry”. “The Face of the falcon who issued from Uto” may relate to the painting in Sepi’s illustrated version which depicts a blue Horus head which looks like a zoomorphized wave of water. Since there are five sentences in the spell, it may be five spells, addressed to those described in the five labels. If so, it may go in the same order, with the “Great one” being “The Face of the falcon who issued from Uto”. That would explain why the next spell is addressed to a plural audience, being “The ‘Four faces’ that emerged from the Akhet.”
Strengthening this interpretation, we find a statement by Sherbiny about the last of the five sentences: “All sources have the plural ending of the imperative. Although this has not been made explicit before, the implication is that a group of persons is being addressed. The addressee in the preceding sentence is either one of the beings addressed in CT VII, 350c, or someone with a high status among them.” <10p326>
We see clearly that the strange and sometimes fierce-sounding names of places are found as much in Egypt’s geography as America’s. The statement that “it is Geb who establishes them in Rosetau in the realm of his son Osiris” seems to confirm that Osiris is indeed Africa and Eurasia, while Geb is all the land on Earth. More potential evidence to that effect is the tradition of depicting Osiris’s body in what has been called a crescent-like shape, but is often closer to the shape of the Mediterranean Sea. Sherbiny writes of the phrase he translated as “in the realm”: “Lit. ‘within the limit’, and denotes a realm, domain, or region.” <10p327> Sherbiny: “It is noteworthy that Rosetau can be referred to with the third person masculine pronoun instead of the usual feminine pronoun with the geographical nouns.” <10p335> In fact most of the masculine pronouns are geographical nouns. And there is no need to use any gendered pronouns for geographic regions, so even referring to “roads/byways” with feminine pronouns is a form of biomorphism, portraying localities in terms that normally describe living beings. That is a grammatical version of the pictorial representations of topography as living beings. It is another sign for the alert observer that the line between places and beings is thin and permeable in the Book of Two Ways.
Next is a pictorial illustration, which in B4C looks like a sarcophagus or a temple, with the text: “This is the sealed thing, which is in the darkness. The fire is around it. It is that which is charged with the efflux of Osiris. It is placed in Rosetau. It (i.e. the efflux) is hidden since it fell into it (i.e. the sealed thing), (and) it (i.e. the sealed thing) is that which descends into it (i.e. Rosetau) on the sandy hill-land. What contains (i.e. the sealed thing) it (i.e. the efflux) is what is placed in Rosetau. As for anyone who is seen there alive, he cannot ever perish, since he knows the spell of passing by the Kneeling ones, the keepers of the gate-halls. The spell for being in Rosetau. This [Osirian] is Great Name, who makes his (own) light. This [Osirian] has come back to you, oh Osiris, that this [Osirian] might worship you, (and) that this [Osirian] might let your efflux raise itself!” <10p335>
Sherbiny writes of the word he translates as “the sealed thing”: “Backes suggests that the word in question refers to a building. It is true that the word htmt is sometimes determined with [house glyph] in other CT spells (e.g. CT VII, 108b [901]; 278/279b (B1L, B3L, BH3Ox) [228])”. <10p337n>
Sherbiny writes that on the back side of B5C there is “a context related to (part of) the body of Osiris referred to as ‘the mysterious’ and ‘mystery’ which is located in Rosetau. The sequel shows that the ritualist is heading for the House of Osiris (pr wsjr) the access to which is guarded by a group of beings. Moreover, in CT 336, which is a hymn on the coffin side (attested only in southern coffins), the efflux of Osiris is correlated with Rosetau. *** Hermsen has suggested that the drawing contains a depiction of the shrine. Indeed the picture does seem to suggest a kind of structure.” <10p339>
Sherbiny writes of “the negative connotation which is attested in some Egyptian texts concerning the rdw” (efflux). <10p343n> Dr. Harco Willems writes, in The Coffin of Heqata: “The efflux of the body of Osiris, in its turn, was nothing less than the inundating Nile, on which the growth of barley and emmer was dependent. As a corollary to providing the deceased with his ‘efflux,’ he therefore also received an offering of grain, and this is rendered by the granaries depicted on F. … [O]n the southern Egyptian coffins, emmer and barley have turned out to be related to libation offerings symbolizing the efflux of Osiris’ body, i.e., the fertilizing inundation of the Nile.” Willems: “During the Khoiak-festival, a snw-vase was placed under the Osirian corn-mummy. The mummy was daily sprinkled with water to make the corn grow. Some of it trickled down through the clay figure and dripped into the vessel. In a religious sense, this was, of course, not just water. It was nothing less than the bodily efflux of Osiris, interpreted as a source of fertility and life.” Dr. Vincent A. Tobin writes, in Theological Principles of Egyptian Religion: “Osiris, as is evident in so many of the mortuary texts, was manifest in the phenomena of the life of nature. He was seen in the growing grain and the vegetation of the land; he was seen also in the waters of the Nile, for it was these waters, the ‘great efflux of Osiris’, which brought fertility to the land and allowed it to produce its crops.” <https://mythodoxy.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/eating-the-body-of-osiris/>
There is a theory that the Great Pyramid at Giza is a water pump. <http://sentinelkennels.com/Research_Article_V41.html> Sherbiny says that Rosetau was in Memphis, and I think it may have been meant to include Giza, one or more of whose pyramids may be “the sealed thing” which “descends into [Rosetau]”, since unlike normal buildings, the pyramids extend far underground. It may indicate a technological purpose of pyramids, to utilize a natural resource and/or to secure some dangerous natural phenomenon. A Mayan pyramid at Chichen Itza, Mexico, the Temple of Kukulcán (El Castillo), has a lake under it, shaped like Africa and Arabia, which may have been considered as one land, the antipodal Underworld of Mexico.
So if the shape of that “lake” is deliberate, this text may refer to similar maps beneath the Giza pyramids, and if its shape is coincidental, the text may refer to some similar underground lake beneath Giza. The image of the tomb is not pointy like a pyramid, but rather is a tall tower with a rounded roof. It resembles the type of building that is usually depicted next to a another tomblike building whose roof is pointy and therefore more resembles a pyramid, especially the Meroitic ones, and the tomb of Sennedjem.
There is a chance that the rounded tower is actually inside the pyramid but is shown separate for a clear view. It may relate to the extremely tall internal chambers, such as the King’s Chamber of Khufu’s Pyramid.
The pyramid fields are artificial plateaus carved into the earth, so we know the pyramid builders were as adept at working with the earth as they were with stones. The text also may reference the Osiris Shaft at Giza, which descends deep beneath the Pyramid Field. Sometimes only one of these buildings appears, such as in Ani’s New Kingdom “Book of Going Forth By Day”, which also contains a map of America. On that papyrus the pointed structure is shown alone. At Abu Simbel Temple I saw a depiction of a building which is a mix of the two, having the large square door of the pyramid structure, but with a rounded top, except for a pole that extends upward from the top, like an antenna, from which descends on one side a curled white shape. This may represent a flagpole and flag, but a temple flag is already shown next to the door, so the curled shape may represent something else. The two mortuary structures are also shown together in the Mixtec Codex Zouche-Nuttall of Mexico, in the same funerary context. But in this case, instead of an ambiguous curly shape descending from the top of one of them, there is a long dragon in its place, perhaps the Mixtec version of Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcán, the Feathered Serpent. It descends from one side of the pointed structure’s roof, which is portrayed differently and looks more like some type of machine than its Egyptian counterparts. But like the depiction at Abu Simbel, the building is red, yellow and green. The dragon may represent some substance which emerges from the structure, or it may symbolize Venus passing over it, since Quetzalcoatl is associated with Venus.
Sherbiny writes of the next section: “Again B3C offers the best preserved drawing although it lacks texts. The most intriguing element of the iconography in B3C is the representation of a small falcon on a standard. Neither the bird nor the standard bears any color, i.e. they were drawn only in outline. A small feather is attached to the front part of the standard, which is most likely the sign for the ‘West’.” <10p352>
B1C and B16C show what may be a baboon or other primate in this section, labeled as “He who brings the head”, and B9C has the word j’n, denoting some kind of nonhuman primate. <10p358> B1C shows a human or human-headed figure behind the primate <10p359>, and B16C may have originally too. <10p358>
The text of this section contains the following labels: “He who brings the head. <10p358> He who is charged with the bnwt (?). Setau. Three Bat-emblems (?).” <10p357>
Sherbiny writes of “Setau” (St3w): “The determinative clearly indicates that St3w is a locality in B2Bo. *** The same word turns up again in two late sources (B16C and B17C), determined with the divine determinative.” Sherbiny writes that the name may mean “the Dragging one”. Many Egyptologists see it as connected to the name Rosetau (r3-st3w). <10p360> The fact that the same thing is portrayed as both a locality and a god should highlight the possibility that other gods in the Book of Two Ways are also localities. The “Three Bat-emblems (?)” are literally three emblems incised into the wood, which Sherbiny says remind him of the emblem of the goddess Bat (not the animal). <10p361>
Further text says: “This is the road of Thoth to the House of Maat.” It’s unclear if that is separate or part of the spell which follows: “This [Osirian] will be among the Followers of Thoth at night with their […].”<10p357> The end of the sentence has not been determined by translators. <10p366>
Further oratory is written nearby: “Let this [Osirian] be brought to you, oh Thoth! (For) this [Osirian] is the one who opens the Duat. Oh Re, your head will be raised up! May this [Osirian] sail in your bark, may this [Osirian] make your way in the sky that the waters in which your bark sails by night may come down. This [Osirian] is the one who silences the water, who takes possession of the district, and who makes way for this Iaau. Oh you who belong to the nhbt-scepter, make way for this [Osirian], that this [Osirian] may remove the bleariness from the Lord-of-All, and that this [Osirian] may spit on the wounds of Re, that he may be alive and hale! This [Osirian] is the one who knows how to repel Apopis who retreats and [he] comes.” <10p357>
Sherbiny: “B1Bo reads ‘Let this N, who opens the Dat, be brought to you!’ Note the old spelling of Dat in B1Bo.” <10p361> Sherbiny writes of the part which says “This [Osirian] is the one who silences the water, who takes possession of the district”: “Bidoli points out that w’rt denotes the bank of a watercourse. *** Some scholars read sdw ‘pool’, or ‘plot of land’. *** Frandsen renders sd w’rt as: ‘he who secures the water (of the underworld)’. *** The protagonist is here pictured as having control over water and the bank of the watercourse in question.” <10p362> Light may be thrown upon the entire composition by a spell that says: “Oh Re, your head will be raised up! May this [Osirian] sail in your bark, may this [Osirian] make your way in the sky that the waters in which your bark sails by night may come down.” This may explain how the journey of the Solar-Bark around the planet can be identified with the protagonist sailing around the planet.
Another spell, either a continuation of the previous one, or a separate one, says: “Greetings to you, Thoth, who is in the Suite of Re! This [Osirian] is the one who brings the bright wd3t-eye. This [Osirian] is the one who removes the bleariness from the injured eye that it may become bright. Look, this [Osirian] has come to you in this nightly Suite of yours among the Ones who make offerings. This [Osirian] has descended into the bark of Re, after this [Osirian] had watered the fire, and after he had lightened the darkness among the Ones who come with offerings bringing Maat to the One who crosses the lake, now that he has heard the words of Hiu on the great northern district of Those who stretch out the bows. This [Osirian] is the one who saves Re from the rage of Apopis, and he will not fall into his fetters. This [Osirian] is the one who raises the voice, who brightens the injured eye, who goes about the door, who provides the god with what is made for him. Let this [Osirian] be brought to you, oh Thoth! This [Osirian] will not be repelled from you at night, (for) this [Osirian] is the one who brings the wd3t-eye, and who saves it from the one who harms it, and the Mansion of the Moon is a witness.”
Another sentence says: “[This is Thoth who is] in the sky, (and) [the Eye of Horus is on his han]ds [in the Mansion of the Moon].” <10p357>
More labels read: “He of the nhbt-scepter. He whose face is rough. The possessor of joy. The possessor of rainwater. The possessor of praise.” <10p357>
Sherbiny writes that nhbt-scepter can mean “lotus-bud scepter”: “This being who is holding the lotus-bud scepter is only attested in our composition in the MK. The lotus-bud scepter is well attested in the PT.” Sherbiny writes of “He whose face is rough”, Nh3-hr: “This is the only attestation of Nh3-hr from the MK.” <10p365> Sherbiny writes of “The possessor of praise” and the two gods who precede him, “The possessor of joy” and “The possessor of rainwater”: “As in the preceding two supernatural beings, this is the only attestation of this being [The possessor of praise] in ancient Egyptian texts.”
Further text says: “This is Isis, who is in front of him as Maat, who shows him the ways when crossing the sky, that he may imitate what Re does.” <10p357> I suspect Isis is Venus rising, and Maat is Venus overhead.
On the other half of the coffin-bottom, there are in illustrated versions a series of boats. The furthest north of these is that of Khepri, the sun-god of the sunrise and sunset. In his Figure 114, Sherbiny displays “The depiction of the nightly sun god in CT 1098 in the last source B1C”, <10p252> showing Khepri in his solar bark, rising, and above that is a shape representing the sky, with the solar disc in the center, and above that is Khepri in his bark again, but now bearing aloft the solar disc. This supports the view that up is west on the coffin bottom, as in the map which it is immediately diagonal from, with America’s Pacific coast being up and the Atlantic coast down. If we look at the overall layout, there is the thick-rimmed rectangle, almost a square, whose rim was red even in the oldest Hermopolitan map, B2Bo. The four sides of the rectangle, up, down, left, and right, or sometimes just left and right, each say “The Ent[ourage of the Fire].” <10p113> The placement of the Khepri-Bark below the “Entourage/s of the Fire” may signal his route. The text near Khepri says: “As for this Mehen which is on him, it is Isis who brought it to him near Horsemsu. His name has been made for him on this day when they protected him in the Akhet, when the Entourage split in the Akhet, when they brought for him their Great ones. Being what his father who is among the gods says: ‘Turn the Entourage into your (singular feminine) subjects, and I may let them intercede for you (singular feminine)!’ This is Re who shines in the night. As for anyone who is among his followers, he lives eternally among the followers of Thoth. Whenever he is made to appear in the night, Osiris is made happy, because he is the Sole One who returns back to him, who is placed among his Followers in the Entourage.” <10p383>
To the south of this is another utterance. Sherbiny: “This spell is the longest in the whole composition and one of the longest in the entire corpus of the Coffin Texts. *** Due to the remarkable length of this spell, only two sources (B1Bo and B2Bo) yield its full text.” <10p392> The spell reads thusly:
This [Osirian] is the follower of Re, who illuminates the firmament (by night), who provides the god in the hm-shrine, Horus who ascends to his lord, whose place is hidden in the purity of the k3r-shrine, the messenger of the god on account of whatever he desires. This [Osirian] is the one who takes out Maat and who elevates her to him in his presence. This [Osirian] is the one who knots the rope and who binds up his k3r-shrine.
The abomination of this [Osirian] is the storm, and there is no flooding-water beside this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] will not be repelled from Re, this [Osirian] will not be barred by the One who acts with both his hands, this [Osirian] will not walk in the valley of darkness, this [Osirian] will not enter into the lake of the criminals, this [Osirian] will not exist in that (place) with heated striking-power, and this [Osirian] will not fall as a prey, which enters among those who are taken to the One whose face is behind the slaughtering block of the efficacious slaughter-place.
Pay attention, oh the Ones who belong to the mat! The sacredness of the god is in the hiddenness, when the arms of Geb are on the dawn. So, who will lead the Great Ones, who will examine the Young Ones at his time?
— Obviously, (it is only) Thoth within the hiddenness performing the purification for the one who examines the hh-gods, who is taken account of, who opens the firmament, and who dispels the bleariness from his realm. This [Osirian] has reached him in his place, grasping the mdw-staff, that this [Osirian] may receive the nms pertaining to Re, (whose) beautiful wanderings are great, and behind whose eye Horus makes an appearance, while his two enneads around his place are removing the pain and malady from which he suffers. This [Osirian] shall remove the pain, and this [Osirian] shall comfort the One who has it.
This [Osirian] has opened the Akhet for Re, that his bark may make for this [Osirian] a good journey, and Thoth may be friendly with this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] shall praise Re, that he may listen to this [Osirian], and that he may impose for (the sake of) this [Osirian] a punishment (against [this Osirian’s] enemies).
This [Osirian] will not be left stranded, this [Osirian] will not be barred in the Akhet, for this [Osirian] is Re. He will not be left stranded in the great ferry crossing.
It is He whose face is in the knee who stretches out the arm, because the name of Re is in the body of this [Osirian] and his dignity is in the mouth of this [Osirian], after he said it to this [Osirian], and this [Osirian] is the one who listened to his speech.
Praise to you, Re, Lord of the Akhet! Greetings to you, for whom the hnmmt-folk become pure, for whom the sky is controlled, who belongs to the great striking-power, which breaks the steering-oars of the Hostile ones!
See, this [Osirian] has come among the Ones who announce Maat since the Celestial One is in the West breaking up the rage of Apopis.
Oh Ruti! See, this [Osirian] has come. Oh (you)-who-is-before the great throne! May you listen to this [Osirian], when he goes down to your tribunal, that this [Osirian] may save Re from Apopis every day, (and then) he will not attack him.
Oh …! This [Osirian] will hold the document, and this [Osirian] will receive the offerings, that this [Osirian] may equip Thoth with what he has made, that this [Osirian] may cause Maat to go around at the head of the great bark, and that the Justified One may go down into the tribunal.
This [Osirian] will make firm the hh-gods, and this [Osirian] will lead the Entourage, that this [Osirian] may grant them a voyage in an uppermost joy, that the crew of Re may look after his beauty, that Maat may be high, that she may reach her lord, and that praise may be given to the Lord-of-All.
This [Osirian] will receive the mdw-staff, that this [Osirian] may sweep the sky with it, that the hnmmt-folk may give praise to this [Osirian] like an attendant who does not tire, that this [Osirian] may exalt Re with what he has made. This [Osirian] will dispel the cloudiness, that this [Osirian] may see his beauty, and that he may make massacre.
This [Osirian] will fix his steering-oars that his bark may traverse the sky at dawn.
This [Osirian] is the Great One who is in the midst of his eye, who sits and who kneels at the head of the great bark of Khepri, and once this [Osirian] comes into being, what he says comes into being. This [Osirian] is this one who traverses the sky to the West, for whom the Emanations (?) of Shu stand up in joy, after they have taken command of the bow-warp of Re(‘s bark) from his crew. It is by the ordinance of this [Osirian] in peace …, that Re goes around the sky. <10p393>
This [Osirian] will not be barred, nor will he be taken by the blast of your striking-power, a detaining(-word) will not come out of your mouth against this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] will not walk on the roads of the downpour, (for) the abomination of the Ka of this [Osirian] is to fall in them. His abomination is the flood, and it will not reach him, and it will not descend in your bark.
His throne has been prepared that this [Osirian] may receive the insignia, and that this [Osirian] may show the roads of Re and the constellation. This [Osirian] is the one who repels this Evil-one who comes on account of the flame of your bark on the great district. This [Osirian] knows them by their names. They will not attack your bark, while this [Osirian] is in it. This [Osirian] is the one who makes the offerings. <10p394>
Sherbiny writes of the phrase “This [Osirian] … who illuminates the firmament (by night): “Or: ‘who receives his bj3-metal’.” <10p394> Sherbiny writes of this “bj3-metal”, explaining that some Egyptologists “think that it is copper, e.g. M. Görg, in: Fs Kákosy, 215–221; Graefe, Wortfamilie bj3, 26–29; Nibbi, JARCE 14 (1977), 59–66; Lalouette, BIFAO 79 (1979), 333–353; Wilson, PL, 306f.” Sherbiny writes that some Egyptologists interpret the term as referencing “more specifically the golden color” of the metal. <10p394> The spell may employ a double entendre which means both “This [Osirian] … who illuminates the firmament (by night)” and “This [Osirian] … who receives his bj3-metal”. It may be significant that this spell is written directly under (east of) the Great Lakes god, whose Aten-crown on the northwest side of Lake Superior may highlight the copper mines on Isle Royale. Also the title of Canada, “The road to the towns of the Ones who live on the dates/fruits of Osiris” may refer to copper boulders or nuggets, as Jim Bailey has written regarding “the Golden Apples” which Greeks and Celts said grew in the Underworld across the sea, and other ancient traditions of Underworld fruit, which Bailey says were references to copper boulders from the ancient copper mines of the Great Lakes.
The next section to the left/south of that spell contains four labels, each with their own spell. They may be islands and/or peninsulas along Europe’s Atlantic coast. The northernmost of the four is: “He whose front is stretched, the keeper of the outer gateway.” The spell to pass him goes: “This [Osirian] has come today from the Great Valley after this [Osirian] had taken the knives of the Fighter from his hand, the butcher, whose striking power is sharp, and who cannot be repelled. This [Osirian] is the one who repels the Evil ones who cannot be repelled. Do not descend on this [Osirian], oh you Whose front is stretched, Whose face is vigilant, that no bleariness may come into being among the sun-folk on the day of the god’s remoteness! If you come as any snake, Re will die, Apopis will be slaughtered and offering will be made from him inside the slaughterhouse of the Protector (?).”
The next label reads: “Jkntj, the keeper of the second gateway.” The corresponding spell says: “Protect yourself! Retreat! What is on the head of this [Osirian] has enacted the protection of this [Osirian]. Hiu stood in your approach. The bark has fallen into the weak waters, and you belong to the spittle in the mouth of Re. You will not be safe from his suite. The striking-power of Him who is on his mouth-drippings is against you. Retreat in your place! (Then) a misdeed will not come to you, when you are seen. The Furious One is under you. The Great One (feminine) comes.”
The next label says: “He who eats the excrement of his hinder parts, the keeper of the third gateway.” The spell to pass him is: “Retreat! Go away, oh Furious-one! Your arm is the 3bhw-plant, and your spine is the red bbt-plant. May you eat from the food of the mmt-plant. This [Osirian] knows you, and he knows the name of this throwing-stick of yours which is thrown behind you. On your face! Stretch your arms out that the light can come out and that it can open the firmament, (for) it is what dispels the bleariness of the face!”
The next label is: “He whose face is repellent, the [No]isy-one, the keeper of the fourth gateway.” The spell to pass him is: “Shu and Ruti; Shu is to the sky and Ruti is to the earth! It is you who said to this [Osirian] (that) ‘the sky and earth have been separated.’ On your face! Retreat because of the white-crown! Retreat because of the nms- head cloth! It prompts trembling to enter to this One-whose-face-is-repellent, who is behind the holiness of the god, the One who announces in the 3srt-sky. Who will go around Mehen? — The one whose status is great, he who judges, (namely) Thoth at dawn. The bark is (to be) broken as soon as you come and approach this [Osirian].”
B6C has an additional spell addressed to the protagonist: “Oh Osiris this [Osirian], hurry, raise yourself! Oh Lord of Shallowness, Lord of Horns, whom the Hesat-cow suckles! Here is the Magistrate of Th[ose who traverse] his places in the sky, to whom the Sleepers in the earth are committed! Hurry! Raise yourself [that you may sieze] the tail of the long-horned bull, the Carrier of Anubis who knows the ways of the W[es]t!” <10p429>
The next section has the following labels and other descriptive text: “Darkness. Fire. He whose face is upside-down and whose shapes are numerous, the keeper of the first gate. He lives on the demolishers, (those) who do not know how to pass by it. What is in front of him is the utterance for passing by him, even the protection of this [Osirian] against him, this [Osirian] knows the ferry crossing of the One who created his own name.” The spell says: “This [Osirian] has come in joy that he may announce the number of cubits of Re as Kheprer. Horsemsu-Re, he circulates in the sky, when he sees this [Osirian] among those who are at the oars.” <10p459> The reference to the cubits of Re may be related to the act of measuring the Earth with solar rays, as Eratosthenes later did in Egypt using Egyptian data and measurements. The Rig Veda seems to describe that geodesic process with similar religious language:
Next are more labels and other descriptive text: “Darkness. Fire. He who lives on maggots, the keeper of the middle gate. He lives on him who does not know how to go to this sky of Horsemsu. As for the one who lands among the maggots, he will by consequence eat them, since he does not know. What is in front of him is the utterance for passing by him, and protection against him. This [Osirian] is in the middle of his firmament. He is the brother of this [Osirian], (namely) Mehen in the sailing.” The spell goes: “This [Osirian] has come from the sky of Ruti, after this [Osirian] had saved Maat. Make way for this [Osirian] that he may receive the wrrt-crown from upon (the head of) Horsemsu-Re! Look, it is in the hand of [this Osirian], after he has brought it. Make way for [this Osirian] that he may pass on it, that he may present Maat and that he may open the darkness!”
A similar formula follows: “Darkness. Fire. Jkntj who raises voice in the fire, the keeper of the third gate. The Third One, who ascends to his Lord, who lives on fire. This is the fire which is on his mouth. What is in front of him is the utterance for passing by him, even the protection of this [Osirian] against him. This [Osirian] is the Lord who is in the middle of his firmament as Horsemsu. This [Osirian] cannot be attacked by those who live and travel (?), (for) it is his suite who gave the magical protection to this [Osirian].” The corresponding spell is: “This [Osirian] has come near you, oh Horsemsu, among the Openers of the firmament that you may save this [Osirian] from the two long legs of the One who takes for himself whatever he sees. This [Osirian] will not be taken by the blast of his mouth, and his rage will not oppose this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] has been admitted because of Him who is on his mouth-drippings. Let this [Osirian] pass that he may open the darkness!” <10p459>
Next is another spell or spells: “Open yourself, oh storm (?)! The bleariness of Re has been undone that the beautiful Horus may travel every day. Oh he whose shape is great, whose attack is heavy, who dispels the bleariness with his blast! Look, this [Osirian] has come, and Re is in the sailing! This [Osirian] is one of these gods who are on the sides of the sky. This [Osirian] will announce for you the One who is in his day. Jubilation is at your tow-rope, and there is no opposition to you. It is in order that this [Osirian] may ascend to you that you have become high. You became truly high. The abomination of Apopis is this [Osirian], since this [Osirian] knows how to spit on the wounds. This [Osirian] sees, and this [Osirian] is the one who spits on the wounds so that they are recovered. This [Osirian] will not be repelled from you, oh Re! This is Horsemsu who is in this sky, the mistress of every sky. As for anyone who knows this utterance which is in front of the One whose shape is great, he will be there as the One whose shape is great. Be greeted, oh Re! May this [Osirian] see your beauty, for you will not reach the Evil One; your companion.” <10p478>
The next section contains this text: “This is the Drinking Place of the sky of the god’s booth. It endures in the sky; its front is fire and its back is darkness.” <10p486>
The next section contains the painting of what seems to be the Night-Bark, perched atop a tripartite black line which resembles those in the Caribbean to its west. One of the lines of text here uses strange hieroglyphs and has not been deciphered. Other text here says: “The place of the very truly equipped akh, who cannot die forever. There is no god who knows his front. The place of the equipped akh who exists as a god himself.” Inside the black platform shape is the text: “This is the place of the akh who is able to enter into the fire and open the darkness (but) who does not know how to ascend to this sky of Re-Horsemsu among the Suite of Re-Horsemsu with offerings in the Akhet of Re-Horsemsu. This is the true ‘ftt of Re.” <10p493>
The next section contains this text: “As for anyone who knows the ssd3t-document, he is thereby more transfigured than Osiris. He has passed every tribunal in which Thoth was; now it is in the tribunal of Osiris that Thoth will be. When a man, a Great One, who is on his lake of traveling to the beautiful West, it is in the purification of the beginning of the four-day period that the man should recite it four times, and it is on his fourth day, being precise more than anything, that he should travel. If, however, anyone likes to know it while still being alive on his own feet, it is after he has rubbed his body with the b3d-substance of the ‘m’t girl and the snft-substance of the ‘m’ bald man, that he should recite it every day.” Sherbiny writes of “the ssd3t-document”: “The word is feminine and determined with papyrus scroll determinative in B3C and probably in B6C as well. Two of the late variants write the walking-legs determinative. *** The word may be a formation derived from sd3 ‘to proceed’. The causative formation of the word (ssd3) may mean ‘the thing (i.e. document) that allows one to proceed (by gates/structures/regions … etc.)’.” <10p505>
The next section contains a painting of what may be Aker, who is said to symbolize the place the sun is at midnight, when it is reborn to shine for the next day. Perhaps it relates to the sun rising over Asia. There is a man’s head looking backwards on the stern of the boat, and another on the prow looking forward. If this is Aker, the head on the stern is named Duaj, meaning “Yesterday” while the head on the prow is named Sefer, meaning “Tomorrow”. He is often depicted as a two-sided sphinx in Egyptian and Mesoamerican art. This is adjacent to South America, and may be meant to represent Egypt’s ultimate antipode in the South Pacific on the doorstep of Asia. There is a cabin or shrine in the boat, within which stands Osiris.
Above the boat is a label saying: “The Mansion of Osiris and the land of the 4 akhs.” A spell is given: “He is the announcer of Osiris. The water is around him (i.e. Osiris) and life is on his mouth. Indeed, as for Osiris, who is made from earth, his two arms repulse (?) Seth for him, and every limb attached to him is in the place where it belongs. Those limbs of his are useful for his completion. Greetings to you, oh Osiris, who is the possessor of his hidden mansions, the one with twisted heart (i.e. Seth) is tired, (while) your heart is stout! The fight ceased and the tumult has been constrained. This [Osirian] will tell the condition of the container (?) of the red stuff (?), Oh He whose heart is sharp. Once you have assessed this [Osirian], oh Osiris, this [Osirian] has assessed you. May the bones of this [Osirian] become sound and may the limbs of this [Osirian] become sturdy!”
To the right of the boat is a label: “Seth and the Land of the 4 akhs.” Beneath the boat is a label: “The name of this bark is Whose life is durable.” Inside the boat’s cabin or shrine, where Osiris stands, is the label: “Osiris.” To the left of the boat is a label: “The Centipede.” A spell or spells begin to the right of the boat: “This [Osirian] will stand with Osiris when he stands. Oh Osiris, your ba comes to you! Open your throat! Give Osiris to Osiris — four times! The sweet breezes come to you, after his wrath has been cast on the ground, and after they have chased away the rage off him forever.” The oratory continues behind the boat’s right head: “He, (namely) Seth, is unmindful of Osiris. Stand up! Raise yourself, after your ears have been opened, and wd3t-eye has been given to you!” Below that, inside the boat and to the right of its cabin/shrine, it continues: “This [Osirian] is the one who issued from you. Give the Eye of Horus to Osiris! Your eye is pure. Rise up that you may live after this [Osirian] has pleased (you), and after he has given (the Eye of Horus?)!” To the left of the cabin/shrine is more oratory: “This [Osirian] is pure in the shrine of this [Osirian] himself. This [Osirian] is Thoth, the Lord of the rites for Osiris, and the Lord of rites for this [Osirian]. These belong to this [Osirian’s] father, Osiris, who is in the hill, (to) Aker, and (to) Mehenet (?).” <10p523>
We see the standard tradition of Osirian rebirth atop Aker via the “opening of the mouth” ceremony (called by the same name in Mesopotamia) where the spell says: “Oh Osiris, your ba comes to you! Open your throat!” This involved distinctive “opening of the mouth tools” which were sometimes depicted within these scenes in Egyptian and Mesoamerican art. It was part of the funerary and mummification tradition, and was seen as a means to achieve a full afterlife. Therefore it symbolizes resurrection. It is seen by many as an influence on Psalm 51 of Hebrew Scripture. We have here also the clear description of Osiris as land surrounded by water, no longer under threat from the storm-god Seth. Seth’s “twisted heart” could refer to hurricanes, and he might be identical with Huracan of the Mayans, who was also called U Kʼux Kaj, the “Heart of Sky”.
Where “the hill” is mentioned, it may be the hill of sunset between Nut’s arms or the hill of dawn between her legs.
We see the same hill in the Hindu painting in the upper-left of the image below.
It is also evident at Göbekli Tepe, a megalithic site in northern Mesopotamia which is over 11,000 years old in its excavated levels, and perhaps far older in deeper layers. This indicates these cosmological traditions already existed in the Ice Age.
Aker means “He who is beneath”, and may mean the Underworld generally and especially the ultimate antipode, while Mehenet may be the ocean in the form of a serpent, like Okeanos of the Greeks. The line: “These [rites] belong to this [Osirian’s] father, Osiris, who is in the hill, (to) Aker, and (to) Mehenet (?)” may imply the distinct but inter-related nature of each of those three, if it is saying those rites belong to Afro-Eurasia, America, and the sea.
In the illustrated coffin of Sepi, the next section contains a depiction of either five male human, or one male human depicted five times. One is pointing a bow and arrow directly at a large serpent, likely Apopis, and another of the human figures is above the bowman, pointing a spear diagonally downward at the snake. This may represent the routes by which to cross the ocean. The human figures may represent Sepi himself. A spell is written here: “Greetings to you, oh Portals, whose names are hidden, whose places are secluded! May you save this [Osirian] from any cruel punishment of the Powerful ones who are before you, until this [Osirian] comes into the presence of the Lord-of-All, after having pacified the Two Fighters, and after having elevated the Orphan, that he might make complaint about the injury which was done against his father by Tebehu who destroyed his (i.e. the father’s) body.” Sherbiny writes of “Tebehu”: “This is a normal name of Seth.” <10p538>
The next section contains a painting of what seems like the Henu-Bark. In the upper right of the section are these labels: “Apopis. His spine. Amset. Hepy. Duamutef. Qebehsenuef. He who sees his father. He who created his own name.” The Four Sons of Horus (Amset, Hepy, Duamutef, and Qebehsenuef) are seemingly not arranged in four directions, but their placement still may be significant, labeled one atop the next in a downward row. Near these labels is the following text: “Recitation by the Eldest Magician: ‘Where are you (i.e. Apopis) going? Your glance has fallen on you’. ‘Shoot him, oh bowmen! Overthrow him, oh spearmen!’” To the right of the boat is the label: “The sun-folk, the crew of Re, (whose) number is not known.” Above the right side of the boat is the label: “The Entourage which is at the prow.” Beneath that text, within the right (front) side of the boat, are the labels (from right to left): “Isis. Seth. Horus.” Above the left side of the boat is the label: “The Entourage which is at the stern.” Beneath that label, within the left side of the boat, are the labels (from right to left): “Hu. Sia.” Above the middle of the boat is the label: “Re.” Further up is another label: “The northern bank of the Winding Waterway, the towns of which are innumerable. Million cubits (are) around it consisting of fire and blaze.” A spell is provided: “Greetings to you (singular feminine), oh (she) whose flame has protected (her); whose fire has made her remoteness, save this [Osirian] from the One who implants every bad obstacle for (the sake of) the One whose perception is hidden, (for) it is from his flesh that this [Osirian] has evolved, and it is from his limbs that he has created this [Osirian]! There is no father of this [Osirian] who placed him on it, and there is none from whose body this [Osirian] has appeared. May it distinguish the name of this [Osirian] from the stare (?) of his face, and differentiate the limbs of this [Osirian] from his heart according to what is good in the sight of this [Osirian], after this Portal has closed on this [Osirian] in(side) the body of this egg, from which this [Osirian] has emerged. It is the darkness of his father, (namely) Nun, which effectuates the distancing from this portal. This [Osirian] has made a million cubits as his own cubit as the distance of this place of this [Osirian].” <10p548>
Seth is associated with the planet Mercury, but I suspect he is actually Jupiter, because the ancient Greeks seem to have thought Thoth is Mercury, and because Jupiter is the storm-god in so many similar pantheons. I think Isis is Venus rising. The order of these gods on the boat may reflect their order in the sky as they move westward. This Apopis spell seems connected with the “previous” section, which may mean the order should be reversed, or “both sections” are really one section in this way.
The next section says: “Recitation by the One whose names are hidden. The Lord-of-All is he who speaks before the Ones who silence the storm during the sailing of the Entourage: “Proceed now in peace! I intend to relate to you (plural) one good deed after another which my own heart did for me within the Mehen in order to silence evil. I have done four good deeds within the portal of Akhet. I have made the four winds that everyone may breathe in his lifetime. That is a deed thereof. I have made the great flood that the humble one may have power over it as the great one. That is a deed thereof. I have made every man like his fellow, I did not command (that) they do evil; it is their hearts which violated what I had said. That is a deed thereof. I have made their hearts not to forget the West in order to make divine offerings to the gods of the nomes. That is a deed thereof. I brought the gods into being from my sweat. The people are from the tears of my eye. I shine anew every day in this privilege of the Lord-of-All, after I have spent the night for the One whose heart is weary. I shall sail rightly in my bark, (for) I am the Lord of the hhw-waters in crossing the sky. I have not spared a limb of mine, (for) Hu and Hekau are overthrowing for me that One whose character is evil, that I may see the Akhet, that I may sit in its forefront, that I may separate the weak from the strong, and that I may do the same against the evil-doers. To me belongs life, and I am its lord. Moreover, the w3s-scepter will not be taken away from me. I have established millions of years between me and that One whose heart is weary, (namely) the son of Geb. Then we will sit in one place. The mounds will be towns and vice versa, and it is (one) mansion that will destroy the (other) mansion.’” <10p565>
It seems clear that “the One whose names are hidden”, “The Lord-of-All” is Re. The reference to the gods of the nomes in relation to the West (America) may denote the Underworld-gods, the guards of the byways of America. Egypt was divided into separate provinces, each with its own ruler based in its capital city-state which predated the unification of Egypt under the Pharaohs. Each province, (called a sepat in Egyptian and a nome in Greek) had its own god. The Underworld-gods may play an identical role, signifying not only localities but also nations or communities. And just as Underworld-gods are depicted in accordance with actual features of topography, the same may prove true regarding Egypt’s own nome-gods also. For instance the crown of the Nile-god Hapi is shaped like the delta of northern Egypt and his chest is shaped like the major turns of the Nile in southern Egypt and Nubia. The reference to separating “the weak from the strong” may refer to the separation of the planets from the stars which is said to occur in the Akhet. It may be the basis or part of the basis for the concept of the Underworld tribunal. The end of the spell may refer to the eventual destruction of the Earth when the sun gets too close, if “the son of Geb” means Osiris.
Next is a spell on behalf of the protagonist: “This [Osirian] is the Lord of Fire, the one who lives on Maat, the Lord of nhh-eternity, [who makes] happiness. The snakes of ‘ftt will not rebel against this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] is [the one who is in his sh]rine, the [Lord of] Wounds, [who annihilates the st]orm, who drives away the serpents for the One whose names are numerous, who comes forth from his shri[ne], the Lord of the Winds, who announces the north winds, whose names are numerous in the mouth of the Ennead, the Lord of Akhet, who creates light, who illuminates the sky with his own beauty. That is indeed this [Osirian] in person. Make way for this [Osirian], that he may see Nun and Amun. This [Osirian] is an akh, equipped (with) the ‘ftt! This [Osirian] will pass by the Appeased ones (?), (and) they cannot speak for the fear of the One whose name is hidden, who is within the body of this [Osirian]. This [Osirian] knows him, he is not ignorant of him. This [Osirian] is equipped with effectiveness in opening the portals.” <10p565>
Maat may represent something terrestrial, like oxygen perhaps, but she is composed of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who are in Re’s boat. It may be, that in an “as above, so below” way, each planet represents something terrestrial. It seems possible that Isis of the East is the Morning Star, Venus rising, while Nephthys of the West is the Evening Star, Venus setting. Thus Maat would be Venus generally. This would mirror the Greek tradition, which calls the rising Venus “Phosphorus” and the setting Venus “Hesperus”. The fact that Osiris, Seth, Isis, Nephthys, and Horus are called children of Geb may indicate they are all planetary gods. The possibility that the snakes of ‘ftt are auroras may be strengthened by the line: “The snakes of ‘ftt will not rebel against this [Osirian].” Since the protagonist is in a solar role, it makes sense that auroras could be considered his subjects or attendants.
That spell is followed by the final text of the Book of Two ways: “As for anyone who knows this spell, he will be like Re in the east of the sky and like Osiris inside the Duat, and he will descend to the Entourage of fire without a (single) flame against him eternally. This is how it comes (to an end) in peace. This is how it comes (to an end) in peace.” <10p565>
Sherbiny writes of “the last spell on the Back of B1C (CT 752) which touches upon the same accounts encountered in the famous spell of knowing the bas of the West (CT 160). The rubric indicates that this is a spell for allowing one to enter into the West in the Followers of Re every day.” <10p252n>
The Papyrus of Ani, the Book of Going Forth (to the Underworld) by Day, says: “As for he who passes through the place of purification in the chamber of the bull’s hide, it is Anubis. He is behind the coffer which has the intestines of Osiris.” <17> The intestines of Osiris are in one of his four canopic jars, which are the Four Sons of Horus, also called the Four Horuses, which represent the four directions. The intestines are in the one named Qebehsenuef, who represents the West. Anubis may represent Canis Major, unless the chamber of the bull’s hide is Taurus, in which case Anubis may represent a planet.
In his book, Egyptian Religion, Sir Wallis Budge describes Pisentios, 7th century Coptic Bishop of Keft: “The holy man had taken refuge in a tomb wherein a number of mummies had been piled up, and when he had read the list of the names of the people who had been buried there he gave it to his disciple to replace. Then he addressed his disciple and admonished him to do the work of God with diligence, and warned him that every man must become even as were the mummies which lay before them. ‘And some,’ said he, ‘whose sins have been many are now in Amenti, others are in the outer darkness, others are in pits and ditches filled with fire, and others are in the river of fire: upon these last no one hath bestowed rest. And others, likewise, are in a place of rest, by reason of their good works.’” <18>
A lot of evidence indicates that the story about Osiris being attacked by Seth is the Egyptian version of the Great Flood story. Osiris is a land-god, often green and sometimes shown with plants growing out of him like his Hindu counterpart Vishnu, and explicitly described as “made from earth” with “water around him” in the Book of Two Ways. Sherbiny writes of “the famous BD 144, where the ritualist hopes to approach the seven gates of the building that shelters the body of Osiris.” <10p300> The two hemispheres of the planet were each often divided into seven sections in ancient cosmology, so it would make sense that Osiris’s body would have seven gates if it is Afro-Eurasia. Dr. Colleen Manassa writes, in The Late Egyptian Underworld: “In a scene from a Third Intermediate Period coffin, the light of the disk causes grain to spring forth from the mummy of Osiris.” The painted coffin shown below has the verses:
Thriving are the fields of the Netherworld,
As Re shines over the body of Osiris.
At your rising the plants appear.
<https://mythodoxy.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/eating-the-body-of-osiris/> This is not necessarily equating Osiris with the Underworld; it may be referring to the sun shining upon both hemispheres. It was the agricultural produce of Egypt that was seen as growing from his body.
Dr. Edwin C. Krupp writes in Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations: “New life, in the form of a crop of grain, sprouts from the body of the dead Osiris and completes another cycle in the circuit order.” Dr. Geraldine Pinch writes, in Egyptian Myth: A very Short Introduction: “From the New Kingdom onwards, Osiris beds (wooden outlines of the god filled with soil) and corn mummies were also placed in tombs. They were sometimes watered during the funeral so that the seeds would sprout after the tomb was closed.”
Dr. Bob Brier writes in Ancient Egyptian Magic: “One of the most interesting magical objects in this room was a wooden mold in the shape of Osiris. This mold was lined with linen and filled with rich topsoil deposited by the Nile. Seeds, mostly for grain, were planted in the topsoil. When they sprouted, they would be a green, living representation for Osiris, symbolizing resurrection. Tutankhamen had sought to identify himself with Osiris in that way and bring about his resurrection.”
Osiris was attacked by the storm-god, Seth. Nothing immortal can be damaged by storms except land. Celestial bodies cannot, nor can water-gods and air-gods. Seth’s Sumerian counterpart, the storm-god Enlil, is the cause of the Sumerian tradition’s Great Flood. Nadine Guilhou writes that Seth threw Osiris “into the sea”<19> which is consistent with the land-god Osiris being subjected to a flood. Guilhou writes that Isis went “to Byblos to look for” Osiris <19>, Byblos being a major coastal city in the Mediterranean, and it may not have been coastal when the sea level was lower during the last ice age. The Levant may have extended as far west as Cyprus and the Nile, bathymetry suggests. The sea level rise may have involved a storm, or may have been mythologically explained as the result of a storm. Guilhou writes: “Having been grounded on the beach, he had been enveloped by a bush” <19>, which again reinforces his nature as a land-god which plants grow from. Guilhou: “The most complete ancient work in existence of the myth of Osiris which we know is that of Plutarch, in his ‘De Iside et Osiride’.” Guilhou (describing Plutarch’s account) says Osiris was “thrown into the water, he is not said to be ‘dead’ anywhere”. <19> That fits him being land which was damaged and disfigured by a storm but not “killed”.
Isis may be the Morning Star, Venus of the East, just as Inanna mourns and seeks to protect mankind after the flood: “… seat in heaven. … flood. … mankind. … Holy Inana made a lament for its people.” <https://www.earthhistory.org.uk/genesis-6-11-and-other-texts/flood-texts-from-mesopotamia> Inanna is considered to be Venus, like her Akkadian counterpart Ištar whose name is closer to ꜣst, the actual name of Isis in ancient Egypt. Isis and Nephthys were often called “Isis of the East” and “Nephthys of the West”, and combined they are the goddess Maat. This fits with a tradition like that of the Greeks with their gods Phosphorus and Hesperus and the Romans with their gods Lucifer and Noctifer, the Morning Star and the Evening Star, being Venus rising and Venus setting. The Pyramid Texts say: “I have come to you, Nephtys. I have come to the Evening Barge.” <https://www.pyramidtextsonline.com/translation.html> Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History: “This property of Venus was first discovered by Pythagoras of Samos about the 42nd Olympiad, 142 years after the foundation of Rome. Further it surpasses all the other stars in magnitude, and is so brilliant that alone among stars it casts a shadow by its rays. Consequently there is a great competition to give it a name, some having called it Juno, others Isis, others the Mother of the Gods.” <https://www.loebclassics.com/view/pliny_elder-natural_history/1938/pb_LCL330.193.xml?readMode=recto>
Diodore of Sicily said that the storm-god Seth “made [Osiris] disappear” <19>, which fits a flood upon the land-god Osiris. According to Diodore, Typhon attacked Osiris and “cut his victim’s body in twenty-six pieces”, <19> and like Seth, Typhon is a storm-god, closely associated with water and the sea. Guilhou writes of “The ‘second death’ of Osiris, cut in pieces by his brother Seth, pieces once again thrown into the Nile.” <19> The notion of being killed twice makes more sense when we view thi “deaths” as large floods, which of course can occur multiple times. Formula 353 from the Coffin Texts references the same tradition when it requests that “you can permit me to have water as Seth had water when he committed a flight against Osiris, on the night of the great storm!” Nadine Guilhou mentions “the brutal waters of the storm of which Seth is the master”. <19> All this is consistent with Osiris the land-god being flooded by a storm. Carolyn Graves-Brown writes: “As Wainwright (1963) has shown, Seth is a storm god, hyperborean and associated with biA, the name also given to the well in the sky (Wainwright 1932, 11; Allen 1989, 9). It could be then that he has some control over the Inundation. Coffin Text 353 (de Buck <21p35> 1935 IV, 392–396; Faulkner 1973 I, 285) translates: ‘O Nile-god…grant that I may have power over water just as Seth had power over the water in the eye(?) of Osiris on that night of the great storm’. Plutarch too, describes the Egyptian belief in the watery connections of both Seth and Osiris ((De Iside et Osiride 33, Griffiths 1970, 169–70).” <21p36> The Sumerian flood story says: “All the windstorms and gales arose together, and the flood swept over the ……. After the flood had swept over the land, and waves and windstorms had rocked the huge boat for seven days and seven nights, Utu the sun-god came out, illuminating heaven and earth.” The Akkadian version says: “For seven days and seven nights, The torrent, storm and flood came on.” <https://www.earthhistory.org.uk/genesis-6-11-and-other-texts/flood-texts-from-mesopotamia>
Graves-Brown: “The sarcophagus of Seti I also shows Osiris coiled in a circle within water with accompanying inscription: This is Osiris; he encircles the underworld. (Griffiths 1980, 154–155)”. <21p35n> This may mean Osiris is Africa and Eurasia, which encircle America, just as Okeanos and the Midgard Serpent are said to encircle both the World and the Underworld. If Osiris is Afro-Eurasia, “his two arms” mentioned in the Book of Two Ways could be Africa and India or Siberia or Southeast Asia or Iberia. If they are Africa and Iberia, that would explain their description as protecting against Seth and Apopis, by sheltering the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean, and it might fit India or Southeast Asia too for similar reasons.
Another theory held by some is that the Great Flood was celestial, describing a change in the position of celestial bodies which were used to orientate and govern the cosmos, thereby signaling the end of an era. It could even describe both somehow, and Osiris may be Afro-Eurasia and a planet or constellation which represents Afro-Eurasia, just as the ancient Chinese assigned a constellation for each Earthly region. Despite my suspicion that Seth is Jupiter, his role seems to be that of a terrestrial storm-god. It may be that Jupiter’s position in the sky night, its place in the Solar-Bark and thus its power over Apopis to protect Re, made it the storm-god. If Osiris represents a constellation, as many say, it may be that it was once aligned with Afro-Eurasia in a particular position, but eventually was thrown onto its side, changing position and angle.
Guilou writes: “This water … ‘drowns’ the land of Egypt, and it is in this sense that it is necessary to understand the ‘drifting’ of the body of Osiris, whether he is in the chest or not. This idea is again resumed by the sarcophaguses of the Middle Kingdom, the all in one receptacle containing the house and boat for the body, since its long west and east sides are called walls of ‘port and starboard’ respectively.” <19> This may relate to the Ark in West Asian stories of the Great Flood. It may be that the Ark represents something cosmological, like a landmass, or that the floating Osiris relates to the inhabitants of Afro-Eurasia aboard a boat. In the first possibility, the detail of port and starboard being west and east fits a cosmological context. But in the second possibility, it could describe the position of a boat sailing north.
The Sumerian story says: “More and more animals disembarked onto the earth. Zi-ud-sura the king prostrated himself before An and Enlil. An and Enlil treated Ziudsudra kindly ……, they granted him life like a god, they brought down to him eternal life. At that time, because of preserving the animals and the seed of mankind, they settled Ziusudra the king in an overseas country, in the land Dilmun, where the sun rises. …” <https://www.earthhistory.org.uk/genesis-6-11-and-other-texts/flood-texts-from-mesopotamia> The term “overseas” suggests that Jim Bailey is correct in identifying Dilmun as America, which Sumerians may have associated with the east, because from Mesopotamia east was a viable route to reach it, or the phrase “the land Dilmun, where the sun rises” may simply mean the Underworld, the land of the sun’s nightly journey from sunset to sunrise. In Egyptian tradition the sun seems to rise but once every 24 hours, and always in the center of America in the Lake of Fire. Guilhou says “the Egyptian documents assign the death of Osiris to drowning.” <19> This of course fits a land-god suffering flooding during a large storm. The Pyramid Texts say: “Osiris had been placed on his side by his brother Seth.” <19> This can fit a flood which makes a landmass appear to have fallen from its prior stature.
The Pyramid Texts contain the following: “[…], says Isis. ‘I have found’, says Nephthys, (when) they saw Osiris on his side on the bank of [Nedit].” This fits with finding land peaking out of the water at the side of a body of water after a large flood. The Pyramid Texts reference Seth’s attack against Osiris: “The ḥȝ.t-bird comes, the kite(-bird) comes; they are Isis and Nephthys. They are come in search of their brother Osiris”. <https://www.sacred-texts.com/egy/pyt/pyt30.htm> This mirrors the Akkadian flood story of Utnapishtim as deciphered in 1872 by George Smith, who remarked: “On looking down the third column, my eye caught the statement that the ship rested on the mountains of Nizir, followed by the account of the sending forth of the dove, and its finding no resting place and returning. I saw at once that I had here discovered a portion at least of the Chaldean account of the Deluge.”
The Neo-Assyrian version of the Utnapishtim story says: “When the seventh day arrived, I put out and released a dove (summatu). The dove went; it came back, for no perching place was visible to it and it turned round. I put out and released a swallow (sinuntu). The swallow went; it came back, for no perching place was visible to it, and it turned round. I put out and released a raven (āribu). The raven went, it saw the receding of the waters…eating, bobbing up and down, it did not return.”
In the Great Flood story in the Hebrew Torah, Genesis 8 describes Noah: “Then he sent out the dove to see whether the waters had decreased from the surface of the ground. But the dove could not find a resting place for its foot, and returned to him to the ark, for there was water over all the earth. So putting out his hand, he took it into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the waters had decreased on the earth. He waited still another seven days and sent the dove forth; and it did not return to him anymore. And he sent out the raven; it went to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth.” <22> Since this element is absent from the Sumerian texts, it may reflect a shared origin for part of the Akkadian and Egyptian traditions.
The Pyramid Texts describe Osiris: “This Great One had fallen on his side; he had been thrown down, The One who is in Nedit.” <19> Osiris’s title “Great One” fits Afro-Eurasia, which is much larger than America, and which is the largest thing visually for its inhabitants, besides the sky. The Pyramid Texts say: “This Great One had fallen on his side. (But) The One who is in Nedit can move, (because) his head has been put back in place by Re.” <19> This mirrors the positive relationship between the sun-god and the protagonist of the Sumerian story of the Great Flood: “After the flood had swept over the land, and waves and windstorms had rocked the huge boat for seven days and seven nights, Utu the sun-god came out, illuminating heaven and earth. Ziusudra could drill an opening in the huge boat and hero Utu entered the huge boat with his rays. Ziudsudra the king prostrated himself before Utu. The king sacrificed oxen and offered innumerable sheep.” <https://www.earthhistory.org.uk/genesis-6-11-and-other-texts/flood-texts-from-mesopotamia> It makes sense that the sun can play a role in restoring flooded land.
Guilhou writes: “According to the Coffin Texts, they have the worry of preventing liquefaction of the corpse (TS 73). They make a ‘dam’ around him (TS 74, CTI, 3073.): this is the sarcophagus.” <19> Perhaps the Ark was an architectural project that fortified the land against the flood, and animals were gathered into the fortified area. The pyramid fields of Egypt show extensive artificial molding of the landscape, and extensive subterranean compartments, like the Osiris Shaft and Collins Caves. If the “boat” is an artificial fortification, and especially if it involves underground refuges, the pyramids themselves may relate somehow. Large-scale manipulation of the landscape is also found in ancient American sites like Machu Picchu and the famous carved face on the adjoining Huayna Picchu. The latter is likely the face of a land-god, perhaps South America or America altogether. If it is South America, the Badlands Guardian may be the face of North America.
And if so, Peña de los Enamorados in Spain may be the face of Osiris. That could also explain why Osiris lost his head in the flood and Re helped reattach it, if Iberia was temporarily severed from Europe or Europe was severed from Asia by flooding.
Bailey: “The netherworld was called by the Sumerians Kur: i.e., where the sun was at midnight — or America. It provided a base for Tiamat, the sea goddess. Kur was famous even then for its power and its wealth.” <8p162plate94description> Bailey: “The Anunnaki were known to Babylon but were best known as the seven fearsome rulers of the Americas or the lower world.” <8p365>
Samuel Noah Kramer writes:
One of the most difficult groups of concepts to identify and interpret is that represented by the Sumerian word kur. That one of its primary meanings is “mountain” is attested by the fact that the sign used for it is actually a pictograph representing a mountain. From the meaning “mountain” developed that of “foreign land,” since the mountainous countries bordering Sumer were a constant menace to its people. Kur also came to mean “land” in general; Sumer itself is described as kur-gal, “great land.”
But in addition the Sumerian word kur represented a cosmic concept. Thus it seems to be identical to a certain extent with the Sumerian ki-gal, “great below.” Like ki-gal, therefore, it has the meaning “nether world”; indeed in such poems as “Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World” and “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World,” the word regularly used for “nether world” is kur. *** Moreover, it is not improbable that the monstrous creature that lived at the bottom of the “great below” immediately over the primeval waters is also called Kur; if so, this monster Kur would correspond to a certain extent to the Babylonian Tiamat. In three of four “Myths of Kur,” it is one or the other of these cosmic aspects of the word kur which is involved.
THE DESTRUCTION OF KUR: THE SLAYING OF THE DRAGON
It is now more than half a century since the Babylonian “Epic of Creation,” which centers largely about the slaying of the goddess Tiamat and her host of dragons, has been available to scholar and layman.
***
<7p76>
Almost all peoples and all ages have had their dragon stories. In Greece, especially, these tales, involving both gods and heroes, were legion. There was hardly a Greek hero who did not slay his dragon, although Heracles and Perseus are perhaps the best known dragon-killers. With the rise of Christianity, the heroic feat was transferred to the saints; witness the story of “St. George and the Dragon” and its numerous and ubiquitous parallels. The names are different and the details vary from story to story and from place to place. But that at least some of the incidents go back to a more original and central source, is more than likely. And since the dragon-slaying theme was an important motif in the Sumerian mythology of the third millennium B. C., it is not unreasonable to assume that many a thread in the texture of the Greek and early Christian dragon tales winds back to Sumerian sources.
As stated above, we may have three versions of the slaying-of-the-dragon myth as current in Sumer in the third millennium B. C. The first involves the Sumerian water-god <7p77> Enki, whose closest parallel among the Greek gods is Poseidon. The hero of the second is Ninurta, prototype of the Babylonian god Marduk when playing the role of the “hero of the gods” in the Babylonian “Epic of Creation.” In the third it is Inanna, counterpart of the Semitic Ishtar, who plays the leading role. In all three versions, however, the monster to be destroyed is termed Kur. Its exact form and shape are still uncertain, but there are indications that in the first two versions it is conceived as a large serpent which lived in the bottom of the “great below” where the latter came in contact with the primeval waters. For at least according to one of the versions, when Kur is destroyed, these waters rise to the surface of the earth and all cultivation with its resulting vegetation becomes impossible.
It is the first of the three versions of the slaying of the dragon which seems to be the more original; the details of the story, few as they are, are significant and instructive. For in the first place, the battle between the god and Kur seems to take place not long after the separation of heaven and earth. Moreover, the crime involved is probably that of abducting a goddess; it therefore brings to mind the Greek story of the rape of Persephone. Finally, it is the water-god Enki, the “god of wisdom,” one of the ruling and creating deities of Sumer, who is the hero of the story. Unfortunately <7p78> we have only a very brief laconic passage from which to reconstruct our story; the tablets on which the details of the myth are inscribed are still lying no doubt in the ruins of Sumer. What we do have is part of the introductory prologue to the epic tale “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World,” whose contents have been described on page 30 ff. Briefly sketched, this version of our story runs as follows:
After heaven and earth had been separated, An, the heaven-god, carried off the heaven, while Enlil, the air-god, carried off the earth. It was then that the foul deed was committed. The goddess Ereshkigal was carried off violently into the nether world, perhaps by Kur itself. Thereupon Enki, the water-god, whose Sumerian origin is uncertain, but who toward the end of the third millennium B. C. gradually became one of the most important deities of the Sumerian pantheon, set out in a boat, in all probability to attack Kur and avenge the abduction of the goddess Ereshkigal. Kur fought back savagely with all kinds of stones, large and small. Moreover it attacked Enki’s boat, front and rear, with the primeval waters which it no doubt controlled. Here our brief prologue passage ends, since the author of “Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World” is not interested in the dragon story primarily but is anxious to proceed with the Gilgamesh tale. And so we are left in the dark as to the outcome of the battle. There is little doubt, however, that Enki was victorious.
<7p79>
“Inanna’s Descent to the Nether World” says:
Inanna, from the “great above” she set her mind toward the “great below.”
My lady abandoned heaven, abandoned earth,
To the nether world she descended,
Inanna abandoned heaven, abandoned earth,
To the nether world she descended,
Abandoned lordship, abandoned ladyship,
To the nether world she descended. <7p88>
Another translation says: “She abandoned the office of en, abandoned the office of lagar, and descended to the underworld.” <28> This may indicate that those titles are impermanent and conditional, like the Hindu title Deva, referring to planets that are visible in Asia’s night sky, as opposed to the Asura planets which are below Asia’s horizon at night and therefore belong to the Underworld. Inanna is Venus, Ninurta is Saturn, and Enki may be a planet too, perhaps Mercury. The text says:
In Erech she abandoned Eanna,
To the nether world she descended,
In Badtibira she abandoned Emushkalamma,
To the nether world she descended,
In Zabalam she abandoned Giguna,
To the nether world she descended,
In Adab she abandoned Esharra,
To the nether world she descended,
In Nippur she abandoned Baratushgarra,
To the nether world she descended,
In Kish she abandoned Hursagkalamma,
To the nether world she descended,
In Agade she abandoned Eulmash,
To the nether world she descended. <7p88>
That may relate to the seven divisions of the World, and perhaps their respective constellations. The text says:
When Inanna had arrived at the lapis lazuli palace of the nether world,
At the door of the nether world she acted evilly,
In the palace of the nether world she spoke evilly:
“Open the house, gatekeeper, open the house,
Open the house, Neti, open the house, all alone I would enter.”
Neti, the chief gatekeeper of the nether world,
Answers the pure Inanna:
“Who pray art thou?”
“I am the queen of heaven, the place where the sun rises.”
“If thou art the queen of heaven, the place where the sun rises,
Why pray hast thou come to the land of no return?
On the road whose traveller returns not how has thy heart led thee?” <7p90>
***
Then Ereshkigal . . .,
Answers Neti, her chief gatekeeper:
“Come, Neti, chief gatekeeper of the nether world,
Unto the word which I command thee, give ear.
Of the seven gates of the nether world, open their locks,
Of the gate Ganzir, the ‘face’ of the nether world, define its rules;
Upon her (Inanna’s) entering,
Bowed low . . . let her . . .”
Neti, the chief gatekeeper of the nether world,
Honored the word of his queen.
Of the seven gates of the nether world, he opened their locks,
Of the gate Ganzir, the ‘face’ of the nether world, he defined its rules.
To the pure Inanna he says:
“Come, Inanna, enter.”
Upon her entering the first gate,
The shugurra, the “crown of the plain” of her head, was removed.
“What, pray, is this?”
“Extraordinarily, O Inanna, have the decrees of the nether world been perfected,
O Inanna, do not question the rites of the nether world.” <7p91>
At each of the Underworld’s seven gates, one of her seven emblems of authority was removed. As in Egyptian tradition, a tribunal of the gods (seven planets?) seems to occur in the Underworld:
The pure Ereshkigal seated herself upon her throne,
The Anunnaki, the seven judges, pronounced judgment before her,
They fastened (their) eyes upon her, the eyes of death, <7p92>
At their word, the word which tortures the spirit,
. . . ,
The sick woman was turned into a corpse,
The corpse was hung from a stake.
After three days and three nights had passed,
Her messenger Ninshubur,
Her messenger of favorable words,
Her carrier of supporting words,
Fills the heaven with complaints for her, <7p93>
***
Father Enki answers Ninshubur:
“What now has my daughter done! I am troubled,
What now has Inanna done! I am troubled,
What now has the queen of all the lands done! I am troubled,
What now has the hierodule of heaven done! I am troubled.”
. . . he brought forth dirt (and) fashioned the kurgarru,
. . . he brought forth dirt (and) fashioned the kalaturru,
To the kurgarru he gave the food of life,
To the kalaturru he gave the water of life,
Father Enki says to the kalaturru and kurgarru:
. . . (nineteen lines destroyed)
“Upon the corpse hung from a stake direct the fear of the rays of fire,
Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, sprinkle upon it,
Verily Inanna will arise.”
. . . (twenty-four(?) lines destroyed) <7p94>
Upon the corpse hung from a stake they directed the fear of the rays of fire,
Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, they sprinkled upon it,
Inanna arose.
Inanna ascends from the nether world,
The Anunnaki fled,
(And) whoever of the nether world that had descended peacefully to the nether world;
When Inanna ascends from the nether world,
Verily the dead hasten ahead of her.
Inanna ascends from the nether world,
The small demons like . . . reeds,
The large demons like tablet styluses,
Walked at her side.
<7p95>
The last part about Underworld gods who look like reeds may relate to the Egyptian tradition about a Field of Reeds in the Underworld, and perhaps to the depictions of the West Coast in the Book of Two Ways, where Underworld gods are depicted as or atop thin poles. The tradition of Underworld gods and departed souls returning with Inanna may relate to a “liminal” time like Halloween or Beltane when the dead visit the living. The judgment and execution of Inanna and her resurrection seem to be echoed in the story of Jesus, who was originally said to have been executed upon a stake like Inanna, and who likewise was resurrected after three days and three nights in Hades: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.” It’s also similar to the Osirian revivification spell in the Book of Two Ways in their repetitive offerings of natural elements to revive a god: “Sixty times the food of life, sixty times the water of life, they sprinkled upon it, Inanna arose. Inanna ascends from the nether world.” And likewise: “‘Give Osiris to Osiris — four times!’ The sweet breezes come to you, after his wrath has been cast on the ground, and after they have chased away the rage off him forever.” *** Stand up! Raise yourself, after your ears have been opened, and wd3t-eye has been given to you! *** Give the Eye of Horus to Osiris! Your eye is pure. Rise up that you may live after this [Osirian] has pleased (you), and after he has given (the Eye of Horus?)!” <10p523> This relates to a ritual involving chanting and an effigy of the Osiris made of earth and grains, which water was sprinkled upon. Inanna’s resurrection may have involved a similar ritual, perhaps involving an effigy of a corpse on a stake, similar to a crucifix.
“Gilgameš, Enkidu and the nether world” describes Kur:
“Did you see him who had no respect for the word of his mother and father?” “I saw him.” “How does he fare?” “”O my body! O my limbs!” he never ceases to cry.” “Did you see him who was reached by the curse of his mother and father?” “I saw him.” “How does he fare?” “He is deprived of an heir. His spirit roams about.” “Did you see him who …… the name of his god?” “I saw him.” “How does he fare?” “His spirit …….” “Did you see the spirit of him who has no funerary offerings?” “I saw him.” “How does he fare?” “He eats the scraps and the crumbs …… tossed out in the street.” “Did you see my little stillborn children who never knew existence?””I saw them.” “How do they fare?” “They play at a table of gold and silver, laden with honey and ghee.” “Did you see him who was set on fire?” “I did not see him. His smoke went up to the sky. His spirit does not live in the underworld.” <28>
“An adab to Nergal for Šu-ilīšu (Šu-ilīšu A)” says: “Lord who, like his own father Nunamnir, has the power to create life, Nergal, enduring house (?), underworld — you are the junior Enlil! It is in your power to determine destinies, to render judgments and to make decisions, Nergal, your great hands are filled with mighty actions and terrible powers! Great rites which are revealed to no one are organised for you! Nergal, among this people it is you who take charge of the divine plans and the purification rites!”
“A hymn to Ḫaia for Rīm-Sîn (Rīm-Sîn B)” says: “Ḫaia, linen-clad priest of E-unir, who stocks the holy uzga precinct; learned scholar of the shrine E-kiš-nu-ĝal, whose august name is great, whose mind is discerning; who dwells in the great dining-hall alongside the maiden Ningal! *** Indagara, administrator who performs the opening of the mouth for the gods in the heavens and in the underworld, and who is versed in the meaning of obscure tablets; craftsman of the great gods!”
“A hymn to Inana as Ninegala (Inana D)” says: “At the New Year, at the festival of Dumuzid, your spouse Ama-ušumgal-ana, Lord Dumuzid, steps forward to you. …… of weeping are brought to you, Inana, as offerings. The tubes of the underworld are opened for you, and memorial libations are poured down them for you. The en priests, the lumaḫ priests and the nindiĝir priestesses, and the dead luzid and amalu, eat meals for you, to keep away the ghosts, and drink water for you, to keep away the ghosts. Your holy dais is set up beside them.”
“An elegy on the death of Nannaya” says: “Utu, the great lord of the nether world, after turning the dark places to light, will judge your case. May Nanna decree your fate on the day of sleep. Nergal, the Enlil of the underworld, …… before it, may the …… utter your name, may he cause you to eat fresh food. May you be …… of the underworld, and may she have pity on you. May your household bring fresh water to the libation place. May Lord Ninĝišzida …… the house ……. May the mighty Gilgameš …… health for you. May Neti and Etana be your helpers. May the god of the underworld utter prayers for you.”
“An axe for Nergal” says: “Should it break, I will repair it for Nergal. Should it disappear, I will replace it for him. May Nergal look after me during my life, and may he provide me with clean water in the underworld after my death.” <28>
Enlil’s Wikipedia page says: “One Sumerian hymn describes Enlil as so glorious that even the other gods could not look upon him. The same hymn also states that, without Enlil, civilization could not exist. Enlil’s epithets include titles such as ‘the Great Mountain’ and ‘King of the Foreign Lands’. Enlil is also sometimes described as a ‘raging storm’, a ‘wild bull’, and a ‘merchant’. The Mesopotamians envisioned him as a creator, a father, a king, and the supreme lord of the universe. He was also known as ‘Nunamnir’ and is referred to in at least one text as the ‘East Wind and North Wind’.” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlil> Nergal is his Underworld counterpart, ruling over the Underworld and its gods just as Enlil rules over the World and its gods. Nergal is Mars, and Enlil is probably Jupiter like his Babylonian counterpart, Marduk.
William Fairfield Warren wrote of Babylonian cosmology: “The upper … half of the earth was regarded as consisting of seven stages (tupukati), ranged one above another in the form of a staged pyramid.” Assyriologist Archibald Sayce wrote of the staged ziggurat temple of Nippur in Iraq, which was recently destroyed: “It was a model of the earth”. Warren: “In like manner the … under half of the earth was supposed to consist of seven stages corresponding to those of the upper half.” <1p35>
Warren writes that the Babylonian system had seven heavens: “Proceeding outward from the central earth, the order of the seven known planets was as follows: Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.” Warren: “In order to pass from the upper half of the earth to its under half, that is, from the abode of living men to the abode of the dead, it was necessary to cross a body of water which on every side separated the two abodes. <1p37> This explains the language of Dr. A. Jeremias where he says: ‘When one sails out upon the ocean, one finally comes down into the Underworld.’” Warren writes that “clearly…the living and the dead [are] the residents respectively of antipodal surfaces of one and the same heaven-inclosed earth.” <1p38>
Warren writes that Hindu cosmology also has a spherical Earth divided between an upper-world and an underworld: <1p79> “A girdle of oceanic waters surrounds the globe…, separating the upper from the lower hemisphere.” <1p80> Warren writes of the Surya Siddhanta: “The name here given to this earth-core is Meru, but in other Sanskrit writings this name is almost invariably restricted to the upper end, that is, to the ‘Mountain of the gods,’ otherwise known as Su-Meru, that is, Meru the Beautiful.” <1p80n> Warren writes that Hindus had an upper-world and underworld, <1p81> which are each divided into seven districts. He says an upper district is called a “varsha”, and a lower district is called a “pātāla”. Warren writes that “in Indian thought, the divisions of the under hemisphere were in number precisely the same as the varshas of the upper hemisphere, namely seven; and that while these underworld divisions were called pātālas, nothing in the etymology of the name, or in the extant descriptions of the regions, is in the least inconsistent with the requirements of the law of perfect symmetry elsewhere found prevailing throughout the system. But if this law holds, the seven pātālas, in form and collocation, must be exact counterparts of the varshas; only, like the…mountain about which they are grouped, inverted in position. In no case is it permissible to picture them as dark caverns in the heart of the earth, as so many writers have done. The Vishnu Purana (bk. ii, ch. v) and the Mahābhārata (Udyoga Parva, sect. xcviii) describe them as ‘excellent regions,’ as surpassingly beautiful, and as illuminated by our circling sun and moon. In the Story of Suparaga we read of a voyage which a merchant ship made to one of the pātālas. Upon the surface of the earth, <1p84> therefore, and not within it, they must have been located.” <1p85>
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky wrote of “‘Patala’ (signifying at once hell and the antipodes)” and “‘Naraka’ (hell)”: “Concerning the word Patala, which literally means the opposite side, a recent discovery of Swami Dayanand Saraswati, whom I have already mentioned in the preceding letters, is interesting, especially if this discovery can be accepted by philologists, as the facts seem to promise. Dayanand tries to show that the ancient Aryans knew, and even visited, America, which in ancient MSS. is called Patala, and out of which popular fancy constructed, in the course of time, something like the Greek Hades. He supports his theory by many quotations from the oldest MSS., especially from the legends about Krishna and his favourite disciple Arjuna. In the history of the latter it is mentioned that Arjuna, one of the five Pandavas, descendants of the moon dynasty, visited Patala on his travels, and there married the widowed daughter of King Nagual, called Illupl.” <5>
The Surya-Siddhanta, an ancient textbook of Hindu astronomy, says:
Quite in the middle of the egg, the earth-globe (bhugold) stands in the ether, bearing the supreme might of Brahma, which is of the nature of self-supporting force.
Seven cavities within it, the abodes of serpents (naga) and demons (asura), endowed with the savor of heavenly plants, delightful, are the interterranean (patala) earths.
A collection of manifold jewels, a mountain of gold, is Meru, passing through the middle of the earth-globe, and protruding on either side.
At its upper end are stationed, along with Indra, the gods, and the Great Sages (maharshi) ; at its lower end, in like manner, the demons (asura) have their place — each the enemy of the other.
* * *
Hence, owing to his exceeding nearness, the rays of the sun are hot in the hemisphere of the gods in summer, but in that of the demons in winter : in the contrary season, they are sluggish.
At the’ equinox, both gods and demons see the sun in the horizon ; their day and night are mutually opposed to each other.
Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, Formerly Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in India, said in his notes with his translation: “The patalat, or interterranean cavities, spoken of in verse 33, are also an important feature of the Puranic geography. * * * In the Puranas they are declared to be each of them 10,000 yojanas in depth, and their divisions, inhabitants, and productions are described with the same ridiculous detail as those of the continents on the earth’s surface.”
* * *
Their mid-day and midnight, which are opposed to one another, are at the end of each half-revolution from solstice to solstice (ayana). The gods and demons each suppose themselves to be uppermost.
Others, too, who are situated upon the same diameter (samasutrastha), think one another underneath — as the dwellers in Bhadracva and in Ketumala, and the inhabitants of Lanka and of the city of the Perfected, respectively.
And everywhere upon the globe of the earth, men think their own place to be uppermost : but since it is a globe in the ether, where should there be an upper, or where an under side of it?
Owing to the littleness of their own bodies, men, looking in every direction from the position they occupy, behold this earth, although it is globular, as having the form of a wheel.
To the gods, this sphere of asterisms revolves toward the right ; to the enemies of the gods, toward the left ; in a situation of no latitude, “directly overhead — always in a westerly direction.
Hence, in the latter situation, the day is of thirty nadis, and the night likewise : in the two hemispheres of the gods and demons there take place a deficiency and an excess, always opposed to one another.
During the half-revolution beginning with Aries, there is always an excess of the day to the north, in the hemisphere of the gods — greater according to distance north — and a corresponding deficiency of the night ; in the hemisphere of the demons, the reverse.
In the half-revolution beginning with Libra, both the deficiency and excess of day and night in the two hemispheres are the opposite of this : the method of determining them; which is always dependent upon situation (deqa) and declination, has been before explained.
Multiply the earth’s circumference by the sun’s declination in degrees, and divide by the number of degrees in a circle : the result, in yojanas, is the distance from the place of no latitude where the sun is passing overhead.
Subtract from a quarter of the earth’s circumference the number of yojanas thus derived from the greatest declination : at the distance of the remaining number of yojanas.
There occurs once, at the end of the sun’s half revolution from solstice to solstice, a day of sixty nadis, and a night of the same length, mutually opposed to one another, in the two hemispheres of the gods and of the demons.
In the intermediate region, the deficiency and excess of day and night are within the limit of sixty nadis ; beyond, this sphere of asterisms (bha) revolves perversely.
Subtract from a quarter of the earth’s circumference the number of yojanas derived from the declination found by the sine of two signs: at that distance from the equator the sun is not seen, in the hemisphere of the gods, when in Sagittarius and Capricorn ;
So also, in the hemisphere of the demons, when in Gemini and Cancer : in the quarter of the earth’s circumference where her shadow is lost, the sun may be shown to be visible.
Subtract from the fourth part of the earth’s periphery (kaksha) the number of yojanas derived from the declination found by the sine of one sign : at the distance from the place of no latitude of the remaining number of yojanas.
The sun, when situated in Sagittarius, Capricorn, Scorpio, and Aquarius, is not seen in the hemisphere of the gods ; in that of the demons, on the other hand, when in the four signs commencing with Taurus.
At Meru, the gods behold the sun, after but a single rising, during the half of his revolution beginning with Aries; the demons in like manner, during that beginning with Libra.
The Sun, during his northern and southern progresses (ayana) resolves directly over a fifteenth part of the earth’s circumference, on the side both of the gods and of the demons.
Between those limits, the shadow is cast both southward and northward; beyond them, it falls toward the Meru of either hemisphere respectively. <20>
The fact that the Asuras of the Underworld are described as southern, fits an antipodal location, and brings to mind the Mesopotamian tradition in which Enlil is the North and East Winds, and the Underworld ruler, Nergal, is the South and West Winds. Therefore in Hindu nomenclature, Enlil is a Deva, and Nergal is an Asura.
In Buddhism, Mount Meru is divided into seven worlds and seven underworlds, <1p137> and the first heaven is that of the Maha-Rajahs, <1p137–8> the four kings or mountains supporting the heavens, each ruling its quarter of the world. The second heaven is that of Sakra. <1p138> Warren: “This King Sakra is himself one of the most interesting of all imaginable gods. He has for a trumpet a remarkable conch-shell one hundred and twenty cubits in length, and when he has finished blowing a merry blast upon it, it continues to sound on and on four months before its wind is exhausted.” <1p139> Warren: “The third heaven is inhabited by beings called Yamas, and their king is Suyama.” Warren: “The fourth heaven, far above this, is that of the Tushitas, or the Satisfied Ones. Their king is Santushita.” <1p140> Warren: “Of the fifth heaven the sacred books have little to say. Its inhabitants are called ‘The Gods who Delight in Fashioning.’” Warren: “The sixth is the heaven of King Mara, and he rules over millions of subjects, also called Maras.” <1p141> The seventh heaven and those above it are heavens of Brahma, <1p142> just as the Seventh Heaven of Islam is that of Abraham, who may be Brahma.
Alice K. Turner writes: “Hesiod tells us that Erebus and Tartarus, the upper and lower realms of Hades, were born, together with Night and Earth, itself, from the primeval Chasm. He narrates the bloody battles of the gods. First, Uranus, the Sky God, fathered the Cyclops on Mother Earth. When they rebelled, he threw them into Tartarus, a place as far below the earth as the earth is below the sky; an anvil falling from Heaven would reach it in eighteen days.” <9p21>
Bailey: “Greek tradition reports tales about Heracles: the golden apples of the Hesperides, which had first belonged to the earth mother, were appropriated by Heracles. Now, the Hesperides were in the remote west, across the Atlantic, so when Hyperboreans come into the story, commentators find confusion, not realizing that one standard route to North America was via the northern tip of the Hebrides, or the Orkneys, or Shetland,…via Iceland and Greenland; indeed the people who lived beyond the North Wind!” <8p392>
Bailey: “The name Tartar covered all the tribes of Central Asia. So when the Greeks and Romans called their underworld Tartarus they knew perfectly well that the inhabitants of America were also Mongols.” <8p365> Bailey: “After Zeus’s war with the Titans, tradition said, Zeus imprisoned all the Titans in Tartarus: i.e. sent them packing to the New World.” <8p346> Bailey: “Zeus consigned all his defeated enemies to Tartarus, or America, which may possibly have involved slave labor on the American mines, among other things.” <8p348> Bailey: “When a new set of thalassocrats took over in the Old World the losers fell back on the Americas, so when the male sky god Zeus took over, the Titans were confined to Tartarus, or the Americas, i.e. where the Mongols or Tartars were.” <8p317plate221description> Bailey: “Hades … had been a perfectly decent ruler down under, where at midnight the sun shone”. Bailey writes that the Underworld was “that rather gladsome stone-rich world that was bathed in sun when the Old World lay in darkness.”
Bailey: “The Roman name for Hades was Pluto, ‘Lord of the world beneath.’ *** But as the Bronze Age knowledge of America was lost, Pluto, the American millionaire, came to be looked upon as … the demon who presided over the furnaces in the place of punishment inside the earth, not the rich lord of a country the obverse side of the globe.” Bailey writes that Hades/Pluto “had for so long been the lord of America or the underworld.” <8p244>
Bailey: “And Plutarch, in his narrative ‘On the Face in the Moon’s Orb,’ seems to describe in one passage the Greek trip from Britain to America.” <8p391> Bailey: “Plutarch (A.D. 46–120), in his dialogue ‘On the Face in the Moon’s Orb’ records that far west in the ocean, in the latitude of Britain, lie certain islands beyond which stretches a great continent. There, during a period of thirty days, they have almost unbroken sunshine and light. During the night the sun disappears only for an hour but it never really becomes dark. We must be totally clear that the knowledge of America was never lost.” <8p296imagedescription> Bailey writes of “Hades, who ruled in America, the remote west.” Bailey: “In Greek tradition Hades was … a Titan who ruled in the remote west, somewhere far out in the Atlantic.” <8p243> Bailey: “Diodorus Siculus wrote, with complete accuracy, that the Amazons in his day were living in the remote west on an island called Hesperia.” <8p65plate26description>
Bailey: “In the Odyssey the island of Circe has been removed to the far west, and the scene of the descent to the underworld translated to crossing the Atlantic Ocean.” <8p142plate77description> Bailey: “In Greek tradition the Titan Hades ruled in the remote west beyond the Atlantic. His other name was Pluto. *** Hesiod says categorically that the Hesperides, where Hades ruled, lay ‘beyond glorious Ocean.’” <8p105plate54description> Bailey: “Plutarch (46–120 A.D.) records that Sertorius had met sailors who had returned from two Atlantic Islands ten thousand stadia from Africa. Theopompus of Chios, born c. 380 B.C., makes Silenus describe the Meropids as dwelling on a continent beyond Africa and the <8p56> islands of the ocean, in a land with cities, where gold and silver are so common that they have less value than iron. While Plutarch, in his essay ‘On the Face in the Moon’s Orb,’ refers to Greeks settled on the great continent beyond the Atlantic.” <8p57> Warren writes that Homer’s writings describe a spherical Earth. <1p71> He describes his 1885 studies on the subject: “Suffice it…to say that they presented from the Iliad and Odyssey what is to many convincing evidence, not only of a <1p72> spherical earth, but also of a plurality of heavens. *** New light was thrown upon the nightly journey of the sun from west to east. Finally, Hades was identified as an inverted country, beneath our earth yet not within it.” <1p73> Warren:
Where does Homer locate the realm of Hades?
In the whole broad field of Homeric scholarship it would be difficult to find a more fascinating question. Few have been more written upon. The literature of the subject is itself almost a library. No mythologist, no commentator upon the poet, no class-room interpreter even, can evade the question; and yet, in their answers, the Homeric authorities of all modern times, whatever their nationality, present only a pitiable spectacle of helpless bewilderment. <1p157>
Warren: “The region of the dead is represented in Homer as one of perpetual night. Its name is Erebos. From the name of the divinity presiding in it, it is generally called the house or abode of Aïdes (Hades). That it was conceived of as underneath the earth appears from the perpetually recurring expressions, both in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, relating the descent into and ascent out of it. In certain passages it is in fact expressly spoken of as ‘under the earth’ ; in others, as ‘under the recesses of the earth.’ Hence Aïdes himself is styled Ζεὺς καταχθόνιος, ‘the Subterranean Zeus.’” <1p161> William Ewart Gladstone wrote: “There is not in all Homer a single passage which imports the idea, or indicates the possibility, of our passing through the solid earth.” <1p161n>
Warren: “But while the abode of Aïdes is thus clearly represented as under the earth, it is nevertheless represented as just across the Ocean-river, and capable of being reached by ship. In the eleventh and twelfth books of the Odyssey, the voyage of Odysseus to this region is described in the same apparently literal nautical terms as is the voyage to the Land of the Lotus-Eaters. And of his interview with the dead, Hayman says, ‘The whole scene is conceived by the poet as enacted on a geographical extension of the earth beyond the Ocean-stream.’ There is no hint of any descent into the interior of the earth, no passage through or into subterranean caverns. The journey is as natural in all <1p162> its aspects as any voyage from one coast of the Atlantic to its opposite.”
The eleventh book opens with: “But when we were come down to the ship and the sea, we first of all drew the ship into the divine sea, and we placed a mast and sails in the black ship. And taking the sheep we put them on board, and we ourselves also embarked grieving, shedding the warm tear. And fair-haired Kirkè (Circe) — an awful goddess, possessing human speech — sent behind our dark-blue-prowed ship a moist wind that filled the sails, an excellent companion. And we sat down, making use of each of the instruments in the ship, and the wind and the pilot directed it. And the sails of it passing over the sea were stretched out the whole day; and the sun set, and all the ways were overshadowed. And it reached the extreme boundaries of the deep-flowing Ocean, where are the people and city of the Kimmerians covered with shadow and vapor, nor does the shining sun behold them with his beams, neither when he goes toward the starry heaven, nor when he turns back again from heaven to earth, but pernicious night is spread over hapless mortals. Having come there we drew up our ship, and we took out the sheep, and we ourselves went again to the stream of the Ocean, until we came to the place which Kirkè mentioned.” <1p163>
Kirkè said: “O noble son of Laertes, much-contriving Odysseus, let not the desire of a guide for thy ship be at all a care to thee; but having erected the mast, and spread out the white sails, sit down, and let the blast of the North wind carry it. But when thou shalt have passed through the Ocean in thy ship, where is the easy-dug shore and the groves of Persephonè, and tall poplars, and fruit-destroying willows, there draw up thy ship in the deep-eddying Ocean, and do thou thyself go to the spacious house of Aïdes. Here indeed both Pyriphlegethon and Cocytus, which is a stream from the water of Styx, flow into Acheron; and there is a rock, and the meeting of two loud-sounding rivers. There then, O hero, approaching near as I; command thee, dig a trench the width of a cubit each way; and pour around it libations to all the dead, first with mixed honey, then with sweet wine, and again the third time with water, and sprinkle white meal over it. And entreat much the powerless heads of the dead, promising that when thou comest to Ithaca thou wilt offer up in thy palace a barren heifer, whichsoever is the best, and wilt fill the pyre with excellent things, and that thou wilt sacrifice to Tiresias alone a black sheep, all black, which excels among thy sheep. But when thou shalt have entreated the illustrious nations of the dead with prayers, then sacrifice a male sheep and a black female, turning toward Erebos; and do thou thyself be turned away at a distance, going toward the streams of the river; but there many souls of those gone dead will come. Then immediately exhort thy companions and command them, having skinned the sheep which lie there slain with the unpitying brass, to burn them and to invoke the gods, both mighty Aïdes and dread Persephonè. And do thou, having drawn thy sharp sword from thy thigh, sit down, nor suffer the powerless heads of the dead to go near the blood before thou inquirest of Tiresias. Then the prophet will immediately come to thee, O leader of the people, who will tell to thee the voyage and the measures of the way and thy return, how thou mayest go over the fishy sea.” <1p164>
“And first the soul of my companion Elpenor came, for he was not yet buried beneath the wide-wayed earth; for we left his body in the palace of Kirkè, unwept-for and unburied, since another toil then urged us. Beholding him I wept, and <1p165> pitied him in my mind; and, addressing him, spoke winged words: ‘O Elpenor, how didst thou come under the dark west? Thou hast come sooner on foot than I with a black ship.’ Thus I spoke, but he groaning answered me in discourse: ‘O Zeus-born son of Laertes, much-contriving Odysseus, the evil destiny of the deity and the abundant wine hurt me. Lying down in the palace of Kirkè, I did not think to go down backward, having come to the long ladder; but I fell downward from the roof, and my neck was broken from the vertebræ, and my soul descended to Hades.’” Warren:
In line 69, Elpenor speaks of Odysseus “going hence from the house of Aïdes;” and in line 164, as elsewhere (x. 502; xi. 59, 158; Xii. 21; xxiii. 324), the expressions leave no chance to doubt that Odysseus’ voyage was a genuine descensus ad inferos.
Here, then, are the two grand tests of every proposed solution of the problem of the location of the Homeric Hades: —
I. Its Hades must be underneath the earth; and
II. It must be on the surface of the earth, beyond the Ocean.
<1p166>
Hentz said “the subterranean character of even the Odyssean Hades can by no means be got rid of.” <1p167n> Warren: “In this conception, whatsoever is ‘trans-oceanic’ is also and of necessity ‘subterranean.’ Now for the first time can it be understood how Leda and her noble-minded sons can be ‘on a geographical extension of the earth’ on the farther shore of the Ocean, and at the same time νέρθεν γῆς (Od., xi. 298). In this Cosmos, Hades cannot be beyond the Ocean without being also underneath the earth. On the traditional theory of a flat earth, the passage is and ever must be the palpable inconsistency which Völcker represents it. Even the theory of two or of twenty Homers does not reasonably explain it. Precisely so with the passages relating to Elpenor. His soul at death goes κατὰ χθονός, yet it is found with the other ghosts in the shadowy land just across the Ocean-river. So again with the passages relating to the shades of the slain Suitors. These reach the Underworld (xxiv. 106, 203); but it is by a route along the surface of the ground to the Ocean-stream, in full sight of the gates of the sun and of the stars of the Milky Way (xxiv. 9–12). Illustrious scholars have accused the poet of Widersprüche gröber and ärger than usual in this account; but the whole trouble has been, not in the poet, but in the poet’s interpreters. With the spherical earth, all is consistent and precisely as it should be. In this <1p168> reconstructed Homeric Cosmos, every crosser of the Ocean-stream, whether it be Hermes, or Odysseus, or Herakles, reaches the groves of Persephonè and the house of Aïdes. Wherever Kirkè’s isle is located, the ‘blast of the North wind’ will drive the voyager thence towards the realms of the dead. In like manner it can now be understood how the stolen bride of Subterranean <1p169> Zeus, while descending behind swift steeds to the Underworld, can yet for a considerable time behold the starry heaven, the earth, the sunlight, and the fishy sea. Though the god has power to penetrate the solid sphere, it is down no yawning chasm that his chariot disappears. As far as we can trace him and his victim, they are still at the surface, simply moving from the upper to the lower hemisphere. In perfect accordance with the requirement formulated by Völcker, Odysseus and his companions descend (xi. 57, 476), while the ghosts ascend (xi. 38), to reach the meeting-place on the lower edge of the Ocean-stream. Beautifully exact and strikingly natural is now the poet’s declaration that Tartaros is ‘as far below Hades as earth from heaven,’ — a declaration as fatal to many of the fifteen or more traditional explanations of Homer’s Hades as it is to Flach’s elaborate and ingenious diagram of the Hades of Hesiod. With this inverted hemisphere for the kingdom of the dead, Voss need not longer trouble himself about the mention of ‘clouds’ therein. In fine, with the correct Homeric conception of the earth and of Hades, the manifold alleged contradictions of the poet instantaneously vanish. Better than that, the dual images of Hades, which have so long perplexed and blurred the vision of Homeric interpreters, suddenly resolve themselves into one perfectly focused stereoscopic picture of startling vividness and beauty.” <1p170>
The Greek writer Plutarch wrote, in his biography of Sertorius: “Here he fell in with some sailors who had recently come back from the Atlantic Islands. These are two in number, separated by a very narrow strait; they are ten thousand furlongs distant from Africa, and are called the Islands of the Blest. They enjoy moderate rains at long intervals, and winds which for the most part are soft and precipitate dews, so that the islands not only have a rich soil which is excellent for plowing and planting, but also produce a natural fruit that is plentiful and wholesome enough to feed, without toil or trouble, a leisured folk. Moreover, an air that is salubrious, owing to the climate and the moderate changes in the seasons, prevails on the islands. For the north and east winds which blow out from our part of the world plunge into fathomless space, and, owing to the distance, dissipate themselves and lose their power before they reach the islands; while the south and west winds that envelope the islands sometimes bring in their train soft and intermittent showers, but for the most part cool them with moist breezes and gently nourish the soil. Therefore a firm belief has made its way, even to the Barbarians, that here is the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, of which Homer sang.”
Plutarch is referring to the Underworld tradition when he says “the Elysian Field and the abode of the blessed, of which Homer sang”, and indeed the description and location of those “Atlantic Islands” match those of the Underworld as it was portrayed by the ancients. Plutarch says these islands are ten-thousand furlongs away from Africa across the Atlantic, which is 1,250 miles, and in fact South America is 1,600 miles away from Africa. That makes Plutarch’s description an excellent approximation, and more accurate than some recent estimates from the twentieth century.
The Wikipedia page for the god Pluto says: “Plouton Helios is mentioned in other literary sources in connection with Koure Selene and Helios Apollon; the sun on its nighttime course was sometimes envisioned as traveling through the underworld on its return to the east. Apuleius describes a rite in which the sun appears at midnight to the initiate at the gates of Proserpina; it has been suggested that this midnight sun could be Plouton Helios.” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto_(mythology)>
p. 111. Plutarch, The Face of the Moon, LacusCurtius edition of the Loeb Classical Library translation online, as discussed by Leonard L. Thompson, “ISmyrna 753: Gods and the One God,” in Reading Religions in the Ancient World: Essays Presented to Robert McQueen Grant on His 90th Birthday (Brill, 2007)
“They see the ghosts of people there turned upside down and as it were descending into the abyss.” — On the Face in the Orb of the Moon, section 28.
Warren: “That the Greek astronomers derived their conception of the mutually antipodal xoúv ávtixowr [greek writing, inexactly transcribed] from the ancient Babylonians has long been clear to me. The Chthōn was simply the Upper E-KUR, the Anti-chthōn the inverted Lower E-KUR.” <1p208n>
Jevons writes of “the happy western world” <4p312> : “…Irish literature is full of tales telling, as The Voyage of Bran tells, of a happy island from which the man who discovers it cannot return — an island in which, according to the Adventures of Connla, there was no death and no sin; and, according to the tale of Cuchulinn’s Sick Bed, there are all manner of delights.” <4p13>
Bailey: “Bronze Age Irish tradition stated that their most gifted and graceful immigrants were the Tuatha de Danaan, who came to western Ireland from across the Atlantic and eventually returned, tradition says, whence they had come.” <8p112> Bailey: “There is a tantalizing reference in Plutarch’s Moralia, in the section entitled ‘On the Face in the Moon’s Orb,’ written in the first century A.D. He describes how every thirty years a ship leaves Britain on a sort of pilgrimage. The story is far from clear, but it seems as if the ship travels along the stepping-stone route to America, and the impression one receives is that the route had once been economically important and the custom of making the journey lingered on as a religious or commemorative ceremony of what once had been vitally significant to the Celts.” <8p70>
Celtic Otherworld, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
In Celtic mythology, the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also of the dead.
In Gaelic and Brittonic mythology it is usually described as a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. The Otherworld is usually elusive, but various mythical heroes visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. They often reach it by entering ancient burial mounds or caves, or by going under water or across the western sea. Sometimes, the Otherworld is said to exist alongside our own located beyond the edge of the earth and intrudes into our world; signaled by phenomena such as magic mist, sudden changes in the weather, or the appearance of divine beings or unusual animals. An otherworldly woman may invite the hero into the Otherworld by offering an apple or a silver apple branch, or a ball of thread to follow as it unwinds.
The Otherworld is usually called Annwn in Welsh mythology and Avalon in Arthurian legend. In Irish mythology it has several names, including Tír na nÓg, Mag Mell and Emain Ablach. In Irish myth there is also Tech Duinn, where the souls of the dead gather.
Irish mythology
In Irish mythology, the Otherworld has various names. Names of the Otherworld, or places within it, include Tír nAill (“the other land”), Tír Tairngire (“land of promise/promised land”), Tír na nÓg (“land of the young/land of youth”), Tír fo Thuinn (“land under the wave”), Tír na mBeo (“land of the living”), Mag Mell (“plain of delight”), Mag Findargat (“the white-silver plain”), Mag Argatnél (“the silver-cloud plain”), Mag Ildathach (“the multicoloured plain”), Mag Cíuin (“the gentle plain”), and Emain Ablach (possibly “isle of apples”). It is described as a supernatural realm where there is everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy, and where time moves differently. It is the dwelling place of the gods (the Tuatha Dé Danann) as well as certain heroes and ancestors. It was probably similar to the Elysium of Greek mythology and both may have a shared origin in ancient Proto-Indo-European religion. The Otherworld is elusive, but various mythical heroes — such as Cúchulainn, Fionn and Bran — visit it either through chance or after being invited by one of its residents. In Irish myth and later folklore, the festivals of Samhain and Beltane are liminal times, when contact with the Otherworld was more likely.
In the tales, the Otherworld is often reached by entering ancient burial mounds, such as those at Brú na Bóinne and Cnoc Meadha. These were known as sídhe (“Otherworld dwellings”) and were the dwellings of the gods, later called the aos sí or daoine sí (“Otherworld folk”). Irish mythology says that the gods retreated into the sídhe when the Gaels (Milesians) took Ireland from them. In some tales, the Otherworld is reached by going under the waters of pools, lakes, or the sea, or else by crossing the western sea. In Irish Immrama (“voyage”) tales, a beautiful young Otherworld woman often approaches the hero and sings to him of this happy land. Sometimes she offers him an apple, or the promise of her love in exchange for his help in battle. He follows her, and they journey over the sea together and are seen no more. Their journey may be in a boat of glass, in a chariot, or on horseback (usually upon a white horse, as in the case of the goddess Niamh of the Golden Hair). Sometimes the hero returns after what he believes is a short time, only to find that all his companions are dead and he has actually been away for hundreds of years. Sometimes the hero sets out on a quest, and a magic mist descends upon him. He may find himself before an unusual palace and enter to find a warrior or a beautiful woman who makes him welcome. The woman may be the goddess Fand, the warrior may be Manannán mac Lir or Lugh, and after strange adventures the hero may return successfully. However, even when the mortal manages to return to his own time and place, he is forever changed by his contact with the Otherworld.
The Otherworld was also seen as a source of authority. In the tale Baile in Scáil (“the phantom’s ecstatic vision”), Conn of the Hundred Battles visits an Otherworld hall, where the god Lugh legitimizes his kingship and that of his successors.
In Irish myth there is another otherworldly realm called Tech Duinn (the “House of Donn” or “House of the Dark One”). It was believed that the souls of the dead travelled to Tech Duinn; perhaps to remain there forever, or perhaps before reaching their final destination in the Otherworld, or before being reincarnated. Donn is portrayed as a god of the dead and ancestor of the Gaels. Tech Duinn is commonly identified with Bull Rock, an islet off the west coast of Ireland which resembles a portal tomb. In Ireland there was a belief that the souls of the dead departed westwards over the sea with the setting sun. West-ward also being the location of the phantom island, anglicized as, Hy-Brasil.
***
The Gauls divided the universe into three parts: Albios (“heaven, white-world, upper-world”), Bitu (“world of the living beings”), and Dubnos (“hell, lower-world, dark-world”). According to Lucan, the Gaulish druids believed that the soul went to an Otherworld, which he calls by the Latin name Orbis alius, before being reincarnated.
***
Byzantine scholar Procopius of Caesarea described the Otherworld of the ancient Gauls. He said it was thought that the land of the dead lay west of Great Britain. The Continental Celtic myths told that once the souls of the dead had left their bodies, they travelled to the northwestern coast of Gaul and took a boat towards Britain. When they crossed the Channel, the souls went to the homes of the fishermen, and knocked desperately at their doors. The fishermen then went out of their houses and led the souls to their destination in ghostly ships.
There are still remains of those beliefs in the Breton and Galician traditions. In Brittany, the name Bag an Noz is used to denote those ships who carry the dead to their goal: Anatole Le Braz describes in his book La légende de la mort chez les Bretons armoricains the existence of souls’ processions which make their way toward coastal places like Laoual, to start their last travel from there. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_Otherworld>
Wikipedia: “Many Celtic Immrams or “voyage stories” and other medieval texts provide evidence of a Celtic belief in an otherworld. One example which helps the reader understand the Celtic concept of the otherworld is The Voyage of Saint Brendan. Another Classic example of a Celtic “otherworld” is the Voyage of Bran. Because Celtic life largely was based upon nourishment from the sea and around the wet and foggy weather of Northern Europe the otherworld is often portrayed as an island to the west in Celtic oral tradition and even shown on some maps of Ireland during the medieval era. The otherworld in the idea of Celtic people became hard to distinguish and sometimes overlapped with the Christian idea of hell or heaven as this was often an analogy made to the Celtic idea of an otherworld or Scandinavian idea of a world tree.” <12>
The Germanic Askr Yggdrassil, or Tree of the World, is described in the Grimnismal: “Hel dwells under one root, the frost-giants under the second, and the race of men under the third.” <1p204> The Prose Edda book Gylfaginning describes that journey to Hell of Hermóðr the Bold. <11p82> When Hermóðr reaches a body of water named Gjöll, he approaches a bridge, guarded by Móðguðr. She tells Hermóðr that “the road to Hel lies downwards and northwards” <11p83>, which is indeed the fastest route to America from Scandinavia, with “downwards” describing the curvature of the Earth.
Wikipedia’s “Hell” page says:
The modern English word hell is derived from Old English hel, helle (first attested around 725 AD to refer to a nether world of the dead) reaching into the Anglo-Saxon pagan period. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, including Old Norse hel (which refers to both a location and goddess-like being in Norse mythology), Old Frisian helle, Old Saxon hellia, Old High German hella, and Gothic halja. All forms ultimately derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic feminine noun *xaljō or *haljō (‘concealed place, the underworld’). In turn, the Proto-Germanic form derives from the o-grade form of the Proto-Indo-European root *kel-, *kol-: ‘to cover, conceal, save’. Indo-European cognates including Latin cēlāre (“to hide”, related to the English word cellar) and early Irish ceilid (“hides”). Upon the Christianization of the Germanic peoples, extension of Porto-Germanic *xaljō were reinterpreted to denote the underworld in Christian mythology, for which see Gehenna.
Related early Germanic terms and concepts include Proto-Germanic *xalja-rūnō(n), a feminine compound noun, and *xalja-wītjan, a neutral compound noun. This form is reconstructed from the Latinized Gothic plural noun *haliurunnae (attested by Jordanes; according to philologist Vladimir Orel, meaning ‘witches’), Old English helle-rúne (‘sorceress, necromancer’, according to Orel), and Old High German helli-rūna ‘magic’. The compound is composed of two elements: *xaljō (*haljō) and *rūnō, the Proto-Germanic precursor to Modern English rune. The second element in the Gothic haliurunnae may however instead be an agent noun from the verb rinnan (“to run, go”), which would make its literal meaning “one who travels to the netherworld”. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell>
Hilda Roderick Ellis writes:
For evidence about Othin’s dwelling at Valhöll, we must first consult the Eddic poems. The Edda contains a number of poems of the ‘question and answer’ type, in which one character, god, giant or dwarf, tries to outdo another in his knowledge of cosmology and the future of the human and divine worlds, but these poems contain little information about the fate of mankind after death. In Vafþrúðnismál, a dialogue between Othin and the wise giant, Vafþrúðnir is asked who do battle each day in the courts of Othin. He replies that it is the einherjar — that is, single, or out-standing champions — who after choosing the slain and riding home from the battle sit at peace together. It is from Grímnismál, a monologue supposed to be spoken by Othin in as he sits in torment between the fires in the hail of Geirröðr, that we learn more of these einherjar.
Here the word is used more than once to describe the warriors who dwell with Othin, who, we are told, chooses certain of those killed in battle on earth to dwell with him in Valhöll, his bright dwelling in Glaðsheimr. The life they lead there is one of joy and feasting with no mention of the eternal conflict. However the hall is full of shields and mailcoats, it is haunted by wolf and eagle, the creatures of battle, and is large enough to hold mighty hosts. There are over six hundred doors to the hall, and through each doorway will pour hundreds of to fight the wolf The poet goes on to give an account of the feasting in Valhöll; he tells of the boar Saehrímnir whose flesh feeds the warriors forever, and of the bright mead from the goat Heiðrún, which will never give out. Eleven maidens, whose names are given, bear the cups to the warriors, and two more carry the horn to Othin, who himself needs no meat, and lives by wine alone. From verse 21 we assume that the host of the slain reaches Valhöll by wading the strong river Þund, and enters by the gate Valgrind, which is never closed. <6p66>
Ellis: “Another account of the visit to the Underworld is given in the story of Hadingus; this however is only given in Saxo, so that the word Hel is not used. During Hadingus’ visit there he sees the ever-lasting battle taking place, a fair land where green herbs grow when it is winter on earth, and finally a wall which shuts in a strange land, about which no more is told us than that the woman herself could not pass the barrier into it, and that when she cut off the head of a cock she had with her and flung it over the wall it came to life again immediately, and could be heard to crow.” <6p85> Ellis says the Irish Netherworld was called the Land of Promise. <6p109>
Ellis: “Another account of the journey to Hel is found in the Edda poem Vegtamskviða or Baldrs Draumar, which was discussed in the previous chapter. Here it is Othin himself who makes the journey, and again it is Sleipnir who is chosen to carry him. We are told little about the route they follow, except that it was downwards; that a dog with a bloodstained breast met Othin and barked at him as he went by; and that the earth resounded beneath the rider. Othin’s goal is apparently the ‘high hail of Hel’, so that no distinction seems to be made here between Hel and Niflhel, to which Othin in the first verse is said to be riding. The völva’s grave is on the east side of Hel.” <6p172>
Bailey: “We have already noticed that the Canary Islands provided bases for ships using the currents to voyage to South America and in Guanch, the language of the Canary Islanders, eheide means ‘the ancient islanders in Hell or Hades,’ i.e. to the remote west of the Canary Islands.” <8p243>
Wikipedia: “The Early Slavs believed in a mythical place where birds flew for the winter and souls went after death; this realm was often identified with paradise and it is called Vyraj. It was also said that spring arrived on Earth from Vyraj. The gates of Vyraj stopped mortals from entering. They were guarded by Veles, who sometimes took the animal form of a raróg, grasping in its claws the keys to the otherworlds. Vyraj was sometimes also connected to the deity known as Rod — it was apparently located far beyond the sea, at the end of the Milky Way. It was usually imagined as a garden, located in the crown of the cosmic tree. Whereas the branches were said to be nested by the birds, who were usually identified as human souls. When the Slavic populations were gradually turning to Christianity (e.g. during the Christianization of Kievan Rus’ and the Baptism of Poland), a new version of this belief became widespread in which there were two of these realms — one analogous to the original myth, a heavenly place where birds departed, and the other an underworld for snakes and zmeys, often associated with the Christian idea of hell. This second variant bears many similarities to Nav, another representation of the Slavonic underworld.” <12>
Jevons says the indigenous Vancouver Islanders had an underworld called Chay-her. Jevons:
In the Tonga Islands it is only aristocratic souls that go to Bolotu, the western and fortunate isle, “full of all finest fruits and loveliest flowers, that fill the air with fragrance, and come anew the moment they are plucked ; birds of beauteous plumage are there, and hogs in plenty, all immortal save when killed” to be eaten, and even then “new living ones appear immediately to fill their places.”
There was, then, in the west, at the entrance of the sun’s nether domains, a happy other-world to which the souls of the valiant and the virtuous went ; and there was the old, cheerless, unhappy other-world to which went the cowards and the bad.” <4p308>
Jevons writes that funeral dirges of the Dayaks described the spirits of the dead traveling with the sun westward and down to the underworld. <4p310>
Warren: “Dante’s heavens are those of Ptolemy, and Ptolemy’s are those of the ancient worshipers of Anu and Sin. Their music is still audible, their form still visible, in Milton’s Ode to the Nativity.” <1p40> Warren: “Finally, if we may trust the exegesis of the apostle Paul, his countrymen, like the Babylonians, considered a passage across the ocean the same thing as a descent to the deep abodes of the dead. A comparison of Deut. 30. 11–13, with Rom. 10. 6–8, shows that he interprets the one transit as the perfect equivalent of the other.” <1p44>
Deuteronomy 30:11–13
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Romans 10:6–8
6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; <KingJamesBible>
Warren: “Passing to authentic Rabbinical literature we find the counterpart to all this; that is to say, a clear recognition of the sevenfold division of the space below the earth. And, as in the Babylonian conception, so also in the Rabbinical, each underworld as one descends is vaster than the last.” <1p49> The Jalkut Rubeni says: “The seven abodes of Sheol are very spacious; and in each there are seven rivers of fire and seven rivers of hail. The uppermost abode is sixty times less than the second, and thus the second is sixty times larger than the first, and every abode is sixty times larger than that which precedes it.” Warren: “It hardly need be added that the heavens of Rabbinical tradition were seven”. <1p50> Warren: “In the Rabbinical descriptions of the heavens and hells one striking feature has often caused remark. The two regions are said to ‘adjoin or touch each other’ (Jewish Encyclopædia, ix, 517).” <1p51> Warren writes that Islam also has seven underworlds <1p52–3> and seven heavens. <1p53>
Bailey: “The English have a phrase for dying, in emulation of the dying sun, ‘going west.’” <8p374plate231description>
Bailey: “If we accept the importance of the hierogamy we can solve a small puzzle in Christian doctrine: what was Christ doing in hell during the thirty-odd hours he spent there after his death? As the Anglican creed puts it: ‘He was crucified, dead and buried. He descended into Hell. On the third day he rose again….’ Now, quite obviously Christ was not being punished, nor did he go down to liberate the souls of the damned from the devil’s power: in the Christian hell they were to remain in torment for all eternity, including Plato and Aristotle, if they had not received Christian baptism. The answer is that ‘hell’ is here being used in a different sense. It is the Netherworld of the Earth Mother, Christ’s mother, and he went there to pay his respects to her before ascending to the home of his Sky Father.” <8p331>
Meghan MacRae writes: “In the misty forests of Sintra, Portugal, lies a weird and mysterious place called Quinta da Regaleira. It is home to a spectacular palace built in 1904 by a man named António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, who embedded his fascination with the occult, masonry and alchemy into its walls and wells. Symbols of Rosicrucianism, the Knights Templar and the Masons are hidden throughout its spectacular architecture. The wells are two tunnels dug into the earth, the largest almost 30 meters deep, ending in a tiled floor depicting a compass and Templar cross. A spiral staircase runs down the well walls, with nine levels of 15 steps, signifying the nine levels of Hell from Dante’s Inferno. It’s believed these ‘initiation wells’ were used to perform Mason initiation rites and rituals, although nothing is known for sure about their purpose. From the top of the well, one stares into the pits of the earth; from the bottom, one sees the glimmering sunlight of the surface. Returning to the earth from whence we came, and re-emerging into the light from the cold embrace of darkness.” <https://cvltnation.com/masonic-initiation-wells-quinta-da-regaleira/>
Sorcha O’Higgins writes:
Palacio Barolo is perhaps the most overtly Masonic building that does not serve the order in all of Buenos Aires. Its developer, textile tycoon Luis Barolo and architect Mario Palanti were both Italian Masons, and Dante Allighieri, the literary inspiration for the building, was a member of Fede Santa, an order which went on to become Masonic. The office building’s design is based on Dante’s “Divine Comedy” and was inaugurated in 1923. It was one of the first skyscrapers in South America and was constructed over the course of four years, with every single element fabricated in Italy and shipped to Argentina for assembly. Divided into three sections that correspond to the poem’s structure over its 22 floors, the two basement levels and ground floor represent Hell, floors 1–14 equate to Purgatory and floors 15–22 correlate to Paradise. The ornate ground floor is inset with 9 glass circles and there are 9 arches which serve as entrances to Hell. The number 9 not only relates to Dante’s poem, but also to Freemasonry, being the result of 3 times 3, a number sacred to the Masons.
There are many aspects of the building’s decoration and organization that relate to Freemasonry, with most being centred around the elevator as it represents ascension, in both physical and figurative senses, a fundamental Masonic theme signifying enlightenment. The most obvious Freemason symbol is the compass within the A of “Ascensor”. Another is that the arrow indicating the floors ends in a Fleur de Lis, an emblem synonymous with secrecy, and used by Masons to show the path that should be followed, in this case rising through the floors of purgatory to get to heaven. The floor of the lift lobby is also laid with black and white checkerboard tiles, a typical Masonic reference meaning the duality of god and evil. There are 7 lifts that serve the 22 floors, and the division of the latter by the former gives Pi, which is used to calculate the area and circumference of a circle. In Freemasonry, the circle represents perfect order, and many elements in Palacio Barolo are circular, such as the elevator cars, balconies, windows, arches over doors and of course, the internal dome on the 3rd floor. Directly under the dome on the ground floor, a series of squares are inset into each other, again reinforcing the themes of ascension and enlightenment.
The crowning moment of the Barolo is the lighthouse at the top of the central tower. It serves not only to represent the arrival to God as The Divine Comedy, but also signifies the Masonic traits of illumination and enlightenment. A Fleur de Lis also graces the very top of the lighthouse, which aligns with the Southern Cross constellation every year at the start of June. Legend has it that this alignment creates a direct passage to heaven. <https://therealargentina.com/en/freemasonry-and-buenos-aires-most-important-buildings/>
In “The Essence and Task of Freemasonry”, Rudolf Steiner described the initiation to enter craft masonry, saying the initiate in the lodge “is deprived of all metal he has about him, such as gold, silver, and other metals”. Steiner: “Then a kind of frame is held in front of the candidate, through which he is thrown, while at the same time an unpleasant noise is produced, so that he flies through the frame with the worst of feelings. In addition to this, they shout to him that he is being thrown into hell. At that same instant a trap door is closed with a bang, and he is given the impression of being in very peculiar surroundings. His skin is then scratched slightly, so that blood is made to flow, and at the same time a gurgling sound is made by those around him, giving him the impression that he is losing a great deal of blood. After that three hammer blows are struck by the worshipful master. *** After these proceedings, he is led to a flight of stairs in a room which is very dimly lit. This staircase is so constructed that it moves, and thereby gives the impression that one has descended a long way, whereas one has really only descended a short distance. It is the same when the candidate falls. When he thinks he has fallen into a deep well, he has in reality only fallen a very short way. At this point it is explained to him that he has arrived at a decisive moment. In addition to this, he is blindfolded again, when he is by the staircase. Then the brother warden is asked: ‘brother senior warden, deem you the candidate worthy of forming part of our society?’ If the answer is yes, he is then further asked: ‘What do you ask for him?’ He is obliged to answer: ‘Light.’ Then the bandage is removed from the candidate’s eyes, and he sees himself in an illuminated chamber.” The bloodletting aspect may be related to Mesoamerican and other bloodletting rituals, and the final chamber may be the “Hall of Judgement” scene of Egyptian and Mesoamerican cosmology. As the Australian Museum says on its article “The underworld and the afterlife in ancient Egypt”: “Throughout the underworld journey, the deceased’s spirit would have to contend with gods, strange creatures and gatekeepers to reach Osiris and the Hall of Final Judgment. Here they plead their case for entry into the afterlife.” <https://australian.museum/learn/cultures/international-collection/ancient-egyptian/the-underworld-and-the-afterlife-in-ancient-egypt/> Stonemasonry was passed down from the ancient temple-builders, whose temples had been designed around such purposes, being models of the World and the Underworld. This seems to be the meaning of the foremost masonic emblem, the Square and Compasses, being the Underworld and the World and/or Heaven. It is similar to depictions of Geb and Nut.
Albert G. Mackey’s “Symbolism of Freemasonry” says: “Faber, who, notwithstanding the predominance in his mind of a theory which referred every rite and symbol of the ancient world to the traditions of Noah, the ark, and the deluge, has given a generally correct view of the systems of ancient religion, describes the initiation into the Mysteries as a scenic representation of the mythic descent into Hades, or the grave, and the return from thence to the light of day.” Mackey:
In Phoenicia similar Mysteries were celebrated in honor of Adonis, the favorite lover of Venus, who, having, while hunting, been slain by a wild boar on Mount Lebanon, was restored to life by Proserpine. The mythological story is familiar to every classical scholar. In the popular theology, Adonis was the son of Cinyras, king of Cyrus, whose untimely death was wept by Venus and her attendant nymphs: in the physical theology of the philosophers,22 he was a symbol of the sun, alternately present to and absent from the earth; but in the initiation into the Mysteries of his worship, his resurrection and return from Hades were adopted as a type of the immortality of the soul. The ceremonies of initiation in the Adonia began with lamentation for his loss, — or, as the prophet Ezekiel expresses it, “Behold, there sat women weeping for Thammuz,” — for such was the name under which his worship was introduced among the Jews; and they ended with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy at the representation of his return to life,23 while the hierophant exclaimed, in a congratulatory strain, —
“Trust, ye initiates; the god is safe,
And from our grief salvation shall arise.”
Mackey: “MITHRAS. He was the god worshipped by the ancient Persians, and celebrated in their Mysteries as the symbol of the sun. In the initiation in these Mysteries, the candidate passed through many terrible trials, and his courage and fortitude were exposed to the most rigorous tests. Among others, after ascending the mystical ladder of seven steps, he passed through a scenic representation of Hades, or the infernal regions; out of this and the surrounding darkness he was admitted into the full light of Elysium, where he was obligated by an oath of secrecy, and invested by the Archimagus, or High Priest, with the secret instructions of the rite, among which was a knowledge of the Ineffable Name.” Mackey:
Now, the myth or legend of a grave is a legitimate deduction from the symbolism of the ancient Spurious Masonry. It is the analogue of the Pastos, Couch, or Coffin, which was to be found in the ritual of all the pagan Mysteries. In all these initiations, the aspirant was placed in a cell or upon a couch, in darkness, and for a period varying, in the different rites, from the three days of the Grecian Mysteries to the fifty of the Persian. This cell or couch, technically called the “pastos,” was adopted as a symbol of the being whose death and resurrection or apotheosis, was represented in the legend.
The learned Faber says that this ceremony was doubtless the same as the descent into Hades, and that, when the aspirant entered into the mystic cell, he was directed to lay himself down upon the bed which shadowed out the tomb of the Great Father, or Noah, to whom, it will be recollected, that Faber refers all the ancient rites. “While stretched upon the holy couch,” he continues to remark, “in imitation of his figurative deceased prototype, he was said to be wrapped in the deep sleep of death. His resurrection from the bed was his restoration to life or his regeneration into a new world.” <30>
Mackey:
“The initiation into the Mysteries,” he says, “scenically represented the mythic descent into Hades and the return from thence to the light of day; by which was meant the entrance into the Ark and the subsequent liberation from its dark enclosure. Such Mysteries were established in almost every part of the pagan world; and those of Ceres were substantially the same as the Orgies of Adonis, Osiris, Hu, Mithras, and the Cabiri. They all equally related to the allegorical disappearance, or death, or descent of the great father at their commencement, and to his invention, or revival, or return from Hades, at their conclusion.” — Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. iv. b. iv. ch. v. p. 384 — But this Arkite theory, as it is called, has not met with the general approbation of subsequent writers.” <30>
Mackey: “Asgard, the abode of the gods, is shaded by the ash tree, Ydrasil, where the gods assemble every day to do justice. The branches of this tree extend themselves over the whole world, and reach above the heavens. It hath three roots, extremely distant from each other: one of them is among the gods; the second is among the giants, where the abyss formerly was; the third covers Niflheim, or hell, and under this root is the fountain Vergelmer, whence flow the infernal rivers. — Edda, Fab. 8.”
Albert Pike writes: “The initiates in these [Dionysian] Mysteries had preserved the ritual and ceremonies that accorded with the simplicity of the earliest ages, and the manners of the first men. The rules of Pythagoras were followed there. Like the Egyptians, who held wool unclean, they buried no initiate in woollen garments. They abstained from bloody sacrifices, and lived on fruits or vegetables. They imitated the life of the contemplative sects of the Orient. One of the most precious advantages promised by their initiation was to put man in communion with the gods by purifying his soul of all the passions that interfere with that enjoyment, and dim the rays of divine light that are communicated to every soul capable of receiving them. The sacred gates of the temple, where the ceremonies of initiation were performed, were opened but once in each year, and no stranger was allowed to enter. Night threw her veil over these august Mysteries. There the sufferings of Dionysus were represented, who, like Osiris, died, descended to hell, and rose to life again; and raw flesh was distributed to the initiates, which each ate in memory of the death of the deity torn in pieces by the Titans.” <30>
A. T. C. Pierson writes: “Even the golden twig or staff of Eneas, constituted a symbol of protection in his fearful descent into Hades, or, in other words, his initiation into the mysteries.” Pierson: “The legend of the voyage of Æneas to the infernal regions in search of his father, is now universally admitted to be a mythical representation of the ceremonies of initiation in the Elusinian mysteries. The legend is contained in the Sixth Book of Virgil, Æneid. A part of the legend is, that Anchises had been dead for some time, and Æneas, his son, professed so much duty to his departed father, that he consulted with the Cumaean sibyl whether it were possible for him to descend into the shades below in order to speak with him. The prophetess encouraged him to go, but told him he could not succeed unless he went into a certain place and plucked a golden bough or shrub, which he should carry in his hand, and by that means obtain directions where he should find his father. Here the shrub constituted a symbol of protection.” Pierson: “The Mussulmans reckon seven worlds, seven climates, seven seas, seven holy temples, seven heavens, and as many hells.” <https://www.scgrandlodgeafm.org/uploads/1/9/0/8/19088243/traditionsoffreemasonry-pierson-1870_4th_ed.pdf>
George Oliver writes, in Signs and Symbols Illustrated and Explained:
In all the ancient mysteries, before an aspirant could claim to participate in the higher secrets of the institution, he was placed within the Pastos, or Bed, or Coffin; or in other words, was subjected to a solitary confinement for a prescribed period of time <26p117> might reflect seriously, in seclusion and darkness, on what he was about to undertake; and be reduced to a proper state of mind for the reception of great and important truths, by a course of fasting and mortification. This was the symbolic death of the mysteries, and his deliverance from confinement was the act of regeneration or being born again; or, as it was also termed, being raised from the dead. “Clement of Alexandria tells us, that in the formulary used by one who had been initiated he was taught to say, I have descended into the bed chamber. The ceremony here alluded to was doubtless the same as the descent into Hades; and I am inclined to think, that when the aspirant entered into the mystic cell, he was directed to lay himself down upon the bed, which shadowed out the tomb or coffin of the Great Father. This process was equivalent to his entering into the infernal ship; and while stretched upon the holy couch, in imitation of his figurative deceased prototype, he was said to be wrapped in the deep sleep of death. His resurrection from the bed was his restoration to life, or his regeneration into a new world; and it was virtually the same as his return from Hades, or his emerging from the gloomy cavern, or his liberation from the womb of the ship-goddess.” [“Fab. Pag. Idol. b. v. c. 7.” <26p118n>]
The candidate was made to undergo these changes <26p118> in scenic representation; and was placed under the Pastos in perfect Darkness, generally for the space of three days and three nights. The time of this solitary confinement however varied in different nations. In Britain nine days and nights was the specified period; in Greece three times nine days; while in Persia it extended to fifty days and nights of darkness, want of rest, and fasting! <26p119>
George Oliver:
Thus the dark clouds of divine wrath are dissipated, the heavens are opened ; and we enjoy a ray of his glory in the celestial covering of the Lodge. And more than this ; the same divine Being has taught us how to attain the summit of the same, by means which are emblematically depicted by a Ladder consisting of three principal Rounds or Staves, which point to the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Charity. Let us consider the origin and application of this symbol, by which a communication is opened between the creature and his Creator, with the gracious design of restoring to man that supreme happiness which was forfeited by Adam’s transgression. <27p42>
The application of this emblem is said to be derived from the vision of Jacob ; an idea of which the artist has presented in the accompanying engraving. When the Patriarch, to avoid the wrath of his brother Esau, fled to Padanaram, benighted and asleep, with the earth for his bed, a stone for his pillow, and the cloudy canopy of heaven for his covering, he beheld a Ladder, whose foot was placed on the spot where he lay, and its summit lost in the subtile ether. On this Ladder, angels continually ascended and descended to receive communications from the Most High, who visibly appeared above the uppermost round of the Ladder, and to disseminate their divine commissions over the face of the earth. Here God graciously condescended to enter into a specific covenant with the sleeping Patriarch, who was hence so impressed with the feelings of gratitude and devotion, that when he awoke he pronounced this consecrated spot “the house of God, and the gate of heaven.”
The history of an event of this importance, connected with a very significant emblem, which was probably a square pyramid, with steps on every side, might with unequivocal effect be introduced by Jacob into the system of Masonry which he taught to his children, and from them he transplanted into the mysteries of Egypt, whence it might spread into other countries, until the symbol became common to the mysteries of all. <27p43>
Oliver: “The ascent to the summit of the paradisiacal mount of God, by means of a pyramid consisting of seven steps, was an old notion certainly entertained before the vision of Jacob, for it prevailed amongst the Mexican [natives]”. <27p44>
“In the midst of a thick forest,” says Humboldt, “called Tajin, near the gulf of Mexico, rises the pyramid of Papantla. It had seven stories ; was built of hewn stone, and was very beautifully and regularly shaped. Three staircases led to the top. The covering of its steps was decorated with hieroglyphical sculpture and small niches, which were arranged with great symmetry. The number of these niches seems to allude to the three hundred and eighteen simple and compound signs of the days of the Compohualilhuitl, or civil calendar of the Toltecks.” Researches in America, vol. i. r 80. <27p44n>
Oliver:
Amongst the heathen this Ladder always consisted of seven steps or gradations ; probably as a memorial of the seven magnificent stories of the tower of Babel ; or it might have been derived from a tradition respecting the establishment of the Sabbath, in commemoration of the great day of rest which followed the creation, and received the peculiar benediction of the Most High. This division of time and consecration of the seventh day was known to the sons of Noah, as we may gather from our own scriptures, for it was practically enforced by the patriarch while he continued in the Ark. Hence the sacred nature of the seventh day was universally acknowledged by all nations of their posterity ; and subsequently many mysterious properties were ascribed to the number itself. The extreme probability that the number seven was applied to the Theological Ladder with this reference may be deduced from the fact, that each gradation was appropriated to a <27p45> day in the week, and also to a particular planet ; and it is observable that the seven days, and the seven planets, were made to correspond in almost every country in the world. Our own names of both may be referred to as a corroboration of the system. Thus, Sunday is so called from the Sun ; Monday from the Moon ; Tuesday and Wednesday from Tuisco and Woden, the Gothic Mercury and Mars ; Thursday from Thor, the Jupiter of the same people;
Friday from the goddess Friga, who amongst the Getæ corresponds with the Grecian Venus ; and Saturday from the idol Seater, who represented Saturn among the northern nations of Europe.
The Ladder with seven steps was used in the Indian mysteries to designate the approach of the soul to perfection. The steps were usually denominated gates. The meaning is undoubtedly the same, for it is observable that Jacob, in reference to the lower stave of his Ladder, exclaimed, “this is the house of God, and the gate of heaven.” Here we find the notion of ascending to heaven, by means of the practice of moral virtue, depicted by the Hebrew patriarchs and by a remote idolatrous nation under the idea of a Ladder ; which we may hence conclude was a masonic symbol much earlier than the time of Jacob.
These gates were said to be composed of different metals, of gradually increasing purity ; each being dignified with the name of its protecting planet. The first and lowest was composed of lead, and dedicated to Saturn ; the second of quicksilver, sacred to Mercury; the third of copper, under the protection of Venus ; the fourth of tin, typical <27p46> of Jupiter ; the fifth of iron, sacred to Mars ; the sixth of silver, dedicated to the Moon ; and the uppermost stave, which constituted the summit of perfection, and opened a
way to the residence of the celestial deities, was composed of the pure and imperishable substance of gold, and was under the protection of their most high god, the sun.
In these mysteries, during the ceremony of initiation, the candidate was passed successively through seven dark and winding caverns, which progress was mystically denominated the ascent of the Ladder. Each cavern terminated in a narrow stone orifice, which formed an entrance into its successor. Through these gates of purification the mortified aspirant was compelled to squeeze his body with considerable labor ; and when he had attained the summit, he was said to have passed through the transmigration of
the spheres, to have accomplished the ascent of the soul, and to merit the favor of the celestial deities. These seven stages of initiation, emblematical of the seven worlds, are thus explained : “ The place where all beings, whether
fixed or moveable, exist, is called earth, which is the First World. That in which beings exist a second time, but without sensation, again to become sensible at the close of the period appointed for the duration of the present
universe, is the World of Re-existence. The abode of the good, where cold, heat, and light are perpetually produced, is named Heaven. The intermediate region between the upper and lower worlds, is denominated the Middle World. The heaven, where animals, destroyed in a general conflagration, at the close of the appointed period are born, is <27p47> thence called the World of Births. That, in which Sanaca, and other sons of Brahma, justified by austere devotion, reside exempt from all dominion, is thence named the Mansion of the Blessed, Truth, the Seventh World, and the abode of Brahma, is placed on the summit above other worlds. It is attained by true knowledge, by the regular discharge of duties, and by veracity ; once attained, it is never lost. Truth is indeed the Seventh World, therefore called the Sublime Abode.
In the Persian mysteries, the candidate, by a similar process, was passed through seven spacious caverns, connected by winding passages, each opening with a narrow portal, and each the scene of some perilous adventure to try his courage and fortitude before he was admitted into the splendid Sacellum, which, being illuminated with a thousand torches, reflected every shade of color from rich gems and amulets, with which the walls were copiously bedecked. The dangerous progress was denominated, ascending the Ladder of perfection.
From this doctrine has arisen the tale of Rustam, who was the Persian Hercules, and Dive Sepid, or the White Giant.
“Cai-Caus, the successor of Cai-Cobab, the first monarch of the Caianian dynasty, is instigated by the song of a minstrel to attempt the conquest of Mazenderaun, which is celebrated as a perfect earthly Paradise.”
This celestial abode refers to the splendid sacellum of the Persian Epoptae, which was an emblematical representation of heaven.
“It lies in the region of Aspruz, at the foot of which, <27p48> with respect to Persia, the sun sets ; and in literal geography it is determined to be a province bordering on the Caspian Sea. Hence it is part of that high tract of country denominated the Tabaric or Gordyean range, within the limits of which the groves of Eden were planted, and the Ark rested after the Deluge. Cai-Caus fails in his enterprise ; for the sacred country is guarded by the White Giant, who smites him and all his troops with blindness, and makes them his prisoners.”
This is a literal account of the first stage of initiation, which, in the mysteries, always commenced with darkness. In those of Britain, the candidate is designated as a blind man. He is commanded to prepare the cauldron of Ceridwen, three drops of whose contents, properly concocted, were said to possess the faculty of restoring the sight, and infusing a knowledge of futurity. Being unsuccessful, Ceridwen (the giantess) strikes the unfortunate aspirant a violent blow over his head with an oar, and causes one of his eyeballs to fall from the socket. And the captivity of Cai-Caus and his Persians in the cavern, under the rigid guardianship of the Dive, is but a figurative representation of the candidate’s inclosure under the Pastes; and this place of penance in the Celtic mysteries, which had many ceremonies in common with those of Persia, was said to be guarded by the gigantic deity Buanawr, armed with a drawn sword, who is represented as a most powerful and vindictive being, capable in his fury of making heaven, earth, and hell to tremble. In the Gothic mysteries, the same place of captivity and penance is fabled to be guarded <27p49> by Heimdall, whose trumpet emits so loud a blast, that the sound is heard through all the worlds.
“In this emergency the king sends a messenger to Zaul, the father of the hero Rustam, begging his immediate assistance. For the greater despatch, Rustam takes the shorter, though more dangerous road, and departs alone, mounted on his charger Rakesh.”
Here Rustam enters upon the dreadful and dangerous business of initiation, mounted, says the legend, upon the charger Rakesh, or more properly Rakshi. This was a horrible winged animal, whose common food is said to have
been serpents and dragons. Now these reptiles, together with monsters compounded of two or more animals, were the ordinary machinery used in the mysteries to prove the courage and fortitude of the aspirant, during his progress through the seven stages of regeneration.
“The course which he chooses is styled, The Road of the Seven Stages ; and at each of the first six he meets with a different adventure by which his persevering courage is severely tried.”
At each of the seven stages the candidate really encountered many dangers, and vanquished a multitude of dives, dragons and enchanters, who in succession opposed his progress to perfection. Being pantomimically enacted during the process of initiation, and the reiterated attacks prosecuted with unrelenting severity, instances have occurred where the poor affrighted wretch has absolutely expired through excess of fear.
“Having at length, however, fought his way to the sev- <27p50> enth, he discovers his prince and the captive Persians ; when he learns from Cai-Cuus, that nothing will restore his sight but the application of three drops of blood from the heart of the White Giant.”
The symbolical three drops of blood had its counterpart in all the mysteries of the ancient world ; for the number three was ineffable, and the conservator of many virtues. In Britain, the emblem was three drops of water ; in Mexico, as in this legend, three drops of blood ; in India, it was a belt composed of three triple threads ; in China, three strokes of the letter Y, &c. &c.
“Upon this, he attacks his formidable enemy in the cavern where he was accustomed to dwell ; and having torn out his heart, after an obstinate combat, he infuses the prescribed three drops into the eyes of Cai-Caus, who immediately regains his powers of vision.”
In this tale we have the theological Ladder connected with the system of Persian initiation transferred from mythology to romance ; and the coincidence is sufficiently striking to impress the most ordinary observer with the strict propriety of the application. The candidate comes off conqueror, and is regularly restored to light, after having given full proof of his courage and fortitude, by surmounting all opposing dangers. Father Angelo, who went
out as a missionary into the East about 1663, says, that in the midst of a vast plain between Shiraz and Shuster, he saw a quadrangular monument of stupendous size, which was said to have been erected in memory of this great enterprise of the hero Rustam. The fact is that this quadrangu- <27p51> lar inclosure was an ancient place of initiation ; and from a confused remembrance of the scenes of mimic adventure which were represented within its seven secret caverns, the fabulous labors of Rustaui had doubtless their origin.
It is not the least singular part of this inquiry, that the followers of Mahomet still use the same form of expression to convey an idea of the progressive state of torment in the infernal regions. This is only a continuation of the doctrine of the mysteries, which taught, that the initiation of candidates was in reality a representation of the descent of the soul into Hades, and of its passage through the seven stages of purification preparatory to its admission into the
abode of light and purity. They say that hell has seven gates, each containing a different degree of punishment. The first and least severe they call Gehennem, which is prepared for all Mussulmen who are sinners. The second called Ladha, is for the Christians. The third is the Jewish hell, and called Hothama. Sair, the fourth, is for Sabians ; and Sacar, the fifth, for Magians. Pagans and idolaters occupy the sixth, which they call Gehim ; and the lowest and most horrible depth of hell they assign to hypocrites, who pretend to more religion than their neighbors, and set themselves up as patterns of perfection, while inwardly they are full of all kinds of wickedness and impiety. This dreadful gate, or place of eternal punishment, is called Haoviath.
The reader will wonder at these very extraordinary coincidences, which are exceedingly valuable, because undesigned, and render the conjecture highly probable that they <27p52> were but an imitation of the Masonic Ladder, as used in our science before the mysteries had a being. But I have yet to introduce to notice a coincidence still more remarkable, because proceeding from a country where such a tradition could scarcely be expected to exist. Yet it is no less true that distinct traces of this Ladder, attended by the very same references, are found in the inhospitable regions of Scandinavia, which have been indubitably preserved in the Gothic mysteries, though the application is somewhat more obscure.
“The court of the gods,” says the Edda, “is ordinarily kept under a great ash tree called Ydrasil, where they distribute justice. This ash is the greatest of all trees ; its branches cover the surface of the earth ; its top reaches to the highest heavens ; and it is supported by three vast roots, one of which extends to the ninth world or hell. An eagle, whose piercing eye discovers all things, perches upon its uppermost branches. A squirrel is continually running up and down to bring news ; while a parcel of serpents, fastened to the trunk, endeavor to destroy him. The serpent Nidhogger continually gnaws at its root. From under one of the roots runs a fountain, wherein wisdom lies concealed. From a neighboring spring (the fountain of past things), three virgins are continually drawing a precious water, with which they irrigate the ash tree ; this water keeps up the beauty of its foliage, and after having refreshed its leaves falls back again to the earth, where it forms the dew of which the bees make their honey.”
Mr. Mallet offers no conjecture on this mysterious tree, <27p53> and Mr. Cottle fairly gives it up. I pronounce it, however, to have been the Theological Ladder of the Gothic mysteries. Mr. Cottle, in the preface to his interesting version of the Edda of Saemund, says, “The symbolical purport of this tree is inexplicable amidst the dearth of information respecting the ancient religion of Scandinavia.” And without a reference to the various systems of initiation into the religious mysteries of other nations, I should incline to that gentleman’s opinion. But by comparing the qualities and characteristics of this sacred tree with the ladder of the mysteries, the difficulty vanishes, and the solution appears at once simple and natural.
The basis of Ydrasil, like that of Jacob’s Ladder, was the earth, where it was firmly established by three vast roots ; one of which extended to the central abyss. These roots evidently referred to the three lower gates or chambers of initiation ; the last of which was Hades, or the region of the dead. Its branches covered the earth and its top reached to the heavens, where sat enthroned an eagle, the representative of the Supreme God. The court of the inferior gods was said to be under this tree; and Jacob said of the place where the foot of his ladder was situated, this is the house of God and the gate of heaven. On its summit sat the emblematical eagle, as Jehovah appeared on the Ladder of Jacob, or on the paradisiacal mountain ; and this bird, as we have already seen, was actually a component part of the visible symbol of the true God, as exhibited in the Jewish Cherubim, and the universal representation of the Deity in almost every nation under heaven.<27p64>
A squirrel, or messenger, continually ascended and descended to carry celestial commissions from the eagle-deity, to the council of inferior gods seated below ; whence they were supposed to be disseminated over the face of the earth. And the same subordinate deities were said to take cognizance of the actions of mortals, and to convey an impartial account thereof by the squirrel to the Deity seated on the summit of the tree ; which was also the office of the angelic messengers on Jacob’s Ladder. A parcel of serpents,
symbols of the evil power, unceasingly endeavored to intercept the communication between God and man, by the destruction of the messenger. The monstrous serpent, Nidhogger, who is the representation of the prince of darkness himself, we are further told, continually gnaws its root for the same purpose, willing to sever the connection between the Creator and his fallen creature, by the total demolition of the medium through which the benevolent communication is carried on. In the Hindu mythology, the prince of evil demons is represented as a large serpent, whose name is Naga. And the Hebrew name for the tempter of Eve in Paradise, translated in our version o the Bible, “the serpent,” was Nachash. These were both the Nidhogger of the Gothic mysteries. In the Essenian mysteries, the Holy Bible was figuratively said to be the consecrated foundation of Jacob’s Ladder, because the covenants and promises of God are permanently recorded in that sacred book ; and this basis the old serpent who deceived Eve, is continually endeavoring to destroy, by subverting the faith of mankind in its contents. <27p55>
The three roots are emblems of Faith, Hope and Charity, because it is by the exercise of these virtues alone that man can enjoy a well-grounded expectation of ascending from earth to heaven. Three virgins, symbols of Past, Present, and Future, continually watered this Tree from the fountain of Past Things ; which is expressive of the solemn truth, that tho deeds of men shall be kept in perpetual remembrance until the last day, when they shall bo rewarded or punished according to their works. From the surplus of this water which fell to the earth after having refreshed the leaves of the Ash, the bees made their honey. In all the ancient mysteries, Honey was an acknowledged symbol of death ; and is said in this case to have been produced from the refuse of the water, which, being rejected by the sacred Tree, referred unquestionably to the evil deeds contained in the water of Past Things (the good actions having been absorbed by the Ash, and consequently accepted by the supreme Being, personified by the eagle) ; and hence the honey which was concocted from it was emblematical of that second death, which forms the eternal punishment of sin.
In illustration of the contents of this article, I here introduce the following table, which will exhibit the Seven-Stepped Ladder of the Mysteries in all its various and extensive application. <27p56>
Oliver sees to have misidentified some of the weekday gods. Sunday is the goddess Sun, Monday is her brother Moon, Tuesday is Mars, Wednesday is Merdury, Thursday is Jupiter, Friday is Venus, and Saturday is from Saturn directly, not from “Seater”. The “Gothic” (Germanic) name for Saturn may be Loki.Also his description of the Hindu heavens may be erroneous. For instance, the seventh heaven is said to be that of Brahma, rather than the sun.
The mythology Oliver describes describing the removal of the heart of a giant, may be the basis for those Mesoamerican myths which Christians have conveniently interpreted as describing human sacrifice, nevermind the fact that actually removing a heart from a body is virtually impossible without an electric saw to cut through the ribcage. The bigotry of European anthropologists and those they’ve trained is undeniable when they consistently interpret gruesome Amerindian mythology as history, even though they can distinguish mythology from history in a European context.
The removal of the masonic initiate’s precious metals before entering the Underworld mirrors the Underworld-guard Neti’s removal of Inanna’s emblems of authority at each Underworld-gate:
Upon her entering the first gate,
The shugurra, the “crown of the plain” of her head, was removed.
“What, pray, is this?”
“Extraordinarily, O Inanna, have the decrees of the nether world been perfected,
O Inanna, do not question the rites of the nether world.” <7p91>
Upon her entering the second gate,
The . . . rod of lapis lazuli was removed.
***
Upon her entering the third gate,
The small lapis lazuli stones of her neck were removed.
***
Upon her entering the fourth gate,
The sparkling . . . stones of her breast were removed.
***
Upon her entering the fifth gate,
The gold ring of her hand was removed.
***
Upon her entering the sixth gate,
The . . . breastplate of her breast was removed.
***
Upon her entering the seventh gate,
All the garments of ladyship of her body were removed. <7p92>
Oliver: “In every country under heaven the initiations were performed in caverns either natural or artificial. Several of the former are still in existence in this country [England]. There is a remarkable one in Somersetshire, called Wokey hole ; which is described as a very dark and dismal cavern consisting of various apartments, amongst which one is now called a hall, another the kitchen, others the ball room, cellar, &c. There are also resemblances of a man’s head, a monument or tombstone, a dog, the statue of a woman (in white stone), called the old witch, a table, and many other artificial things in the natural rock. There are two cisterns always full of clear water, which trickles from the top of the rock, but never runs over in great quantities. A huge stone, which when lifted from, and let fall to the ground, makes a noise like the report of a cannon, has for that reason got the appellation of the great gun. There are also two rivulets abounding in trout and eels, which run through this cave making a tremendous noise ; one of them turns several mills after it is out. The inside of this cave is rocky <26p154n> and uneven, the surface ascending and descending, as is the case in most other subterranean places. It is in some places, eight fathoms, or forty-eight feet, high, and in others not above six. Its length is computed to be about six hundred and forty feet ; in some parts the water dripping from the rock, hangs down like icicles, which has a very beautiful effect. The rock inside is of different colours, being in some parts of a silvery hue, while in others it glitters like diamonds.” <26p155n>
It has been said that “that funerals are very particular events, but they are also rites [of] hell.” <25>
Many thanks to Chuck Millar, Laila Millar, BK Kana Gopal, Venkata Ramanan, Alan Abramowitz, Maia Magalashvili, Terry Spikes, Paul Brock, and others, for assistance in this research.
My Sources:
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Lazarovici Gh., Lazarovici C.-M., Merlini M. (eds.), Tărtăria and the sacred tablets, Editura Mega, Cluj-Napoca, 2011, page 295, footnote 1315
16: This is an excerpt from the upcoming book, “Pyramidomania, a World of Pyramids”, written by Ivan Petricevic, [https://curiosmos.com/37-kilograms-of-mica-used-today-in-electronics-has-been-found-in-the-ancient-city-of-teotihuacan/?fbclid=IwAR1V1SxHzR8W2-MN4fYgsaEvZ36jxrC1cdqg8PF4pbzwlkHONx1twS3jOGA]
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19: Nadine GUILHOU: Les deux morts d’Osiris, d’après les textes des Pyramides.
Extracted from the magazine “Egypte”, N°10, August 1998, with the agreeable authorisation of editor-in-chief Thierry-Louis Bergerot
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Chapter · January 2008
author:
Carolyn Graves-Brown
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Dr.Guy Darshan
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2000
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Blake as Byron’s Biographer: An Anthroposophic Reading of “The Ghost of Abel”
Peter J. Sorensen
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This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Symbolism of Freemasonry
Author: Albert G. Mackey
Release Date: April 7, 2004 [EBook #11937]
