The Underworld, America, in the ancient Egyptian “Book of Two Ways”
The Book of Two Ways is an ancient Egyptian guide to the Underworld, America, which it calls Amentet Neferet, the Beautiful West. It contains an Underworld map, with the terrain labeled and with “spells”, i.e. utterances, which are to be addressed to various Underworld denizens.
Greenland contains the text: “The entrance [of the lake (?) …]. This is the gateway of darkness”, which fits Greenland as being the entrance to the Americas and a place which is dark most of the year, but more likely indicates the tradition about Re dying in the red sunset, killed by Apep, also called Apophis. Apep seems to be the same as Okeanos the Greek ocean-serpent, and the Midgard Serpent of Norse cosmology. After thus dying at sunset, Re is unable to shine until he is resurrected inside his shrine in the Underworld at midnight, 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 the Americas is a thick black line, and Greenland is solidly black, while the western coastline of the Americas 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. “The lake” probably refers to Hudson’s Bay, but might refer to the Pacific Ocean. Two straight-edged shapes to the north of North America that may represent glaciers, and which are white in early versions, are labeled “Fire”, which may, like the Lake/River of Fire that divides eastern and western America, represent an unfamiliar and/or dangerous locale. One extends from the eastern coast of Greenland to the eastern and northern edges of the map, and the other one is north of Alaska and Western Canada, and extends north to the edge of the map, and west to just shy of the end of the map. This supports the idea that “fire” indicates unfamiliar, uncharted zones.
A straight band runs through the middle of the Underworld, separating the dark eastern side from the bright western side. It is white in early versions and red in later ones. 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.” This may indicate that “fire” is 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. But it seems equally likely to relate to the passage of the sun, and fire gates at the north of the map could represent sunset and sunrise, with the path of the sun also including the River of Fire, to which they are both adjoined or adjacent. The word “lake” should probably be translated as “river”, since Egyptian terminology for various waterways is often vague, and Coptic Egyptians have a tradition about a “river of fire” which was an important feature of Hell, which they still call Amenti, meaning the West.
Baffin Island 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 text: “Look, this [traveler] has come in his dignity of Shu. This [traveler] has treated Osiris. Make way for this [traveler]! This [traveler] 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 [traveler] are the maces of Re! Withdraw yourself!”
Inside Canada is the text: “He whose face is great, who repels the aggressors. He is the guardian of this bend.” The last sentence of that is in eastern Canada, indicating that “this bend” is that coastline. Hudson’s Bay contains the text: “What is under him and this lake is the utterance for passing by him.” Beneath Hudson’s Bay and Newfoundland is the utterance, indicating that Newfoundland is “He whose face is great, who repels the aggressors”, the guardian of eastern Canada. The spell is: “Let this [traveler] pass safely! Make way for this [traveler] that he may sail the bark! His protection is the protection of this [traveler], and what will happen to this [traveler], the same will happen to him as soon as you act (against this [traveler]). This [traveler] 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 [traveler] reached it. He will appear and this [traveler] will see him. Delay is the abomination of this [traveler] since this [traveler] knows him. He will not live in the Akhet, he who will harm this [traveler] and the young god.”
Below what may be the location of the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay, a large southward-pointing peninsula with a sharp tip, is the text: “The Sharp one, the Guardian of the Lake. He is this guardian of this bend.” The fact that it says “this guardian” is likely because the text is right along the East Coast where the Chesapeake is.
The Yucatan 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.” That may refer to Florida helping the Yucatan enclose the Gulf of Mexico. The two gods might be Cuba and Hispaniola, or Re and Osiris, or Re and Thoth. The Gulf of Mexico contains the text: “It is in order that this [traveler] may announce Re at the gateways of the sky that this [person] has come today from the boundaries of the Akhet. The gods will rejoice in meeting this [traveler]. The god’s fragrance is attached to this [traveler]. (Therefore) the Evil ones will not attack this [traveler], and the gatekeepers will not harm him. This [traveler] 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 [traveler] has reached in the land of the Purification Places.” 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 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.” Above him is a spell: “This [traveler] is a Great Name, so (aid) (pl.) him on the road of Maat! The abomination of this [traveler] is the executioners. The protection of Horsemsu-Re is the protection of this [traveler], and this [traveler] is the one who belongs to his will. The leg of this [traveler] will not be seized. This [traveler] will not be opposed at the gates of the sky. This [traveler] is the one whom Ruti and Heqet equipped, (as well as) the gods and the living. You (masc. sing.) should not harm this [traveler]! This is the utterance for passing by him.” The fact the spell is addressed alternately to a plural audience and a masculine singular audience fits with the fact it is addressed to Cuba, an island which likely contained inhabitants zoomorphic male divinity.
Ayiti (Haiti), called Hispaniola by Spanish conquistadors, 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, although there’s nothing to indicate it’s a spell: “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 [traveler] like Re every day.”
In the Caribbean, off the coast of Honduras, where Jamaica is, there is the text: “It is the … of Messenger (?) of the marshy-basins.” Cuba and Haiti are each enclosed within geometric, straight-edged compartments, like those north of Canada, which suggests that in both cases, islands or something similar is implied, perhaps including floating glaciers, especially in the earliest maps.
Below Cuba and Hispaniola is: “An utterance for circulating by day because this [traveler] knows.” It goes: “It is because this [traveler] is the Lord-of-All that this [traveler] has inherited the Akhet of Re. This [traveler] is the one who surpasses what is said to him. This [traveler] is the heir of the Akhet, who makes way for Re that he may halt!” Again this shows we are not inside the earth but on the underside of it, and the word “circulating” probably relates to both the sun going around the planet and the deceased sailing around the planet.
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.” This seems to refer to the Falkland Islands, which are shown as a zoomorphic deity. The text continues: “This is the utterance for passing by him. This [traveler] is the one who conveys the word of a god to (another) god. Oh Re, this [traveler] has come that he may report the message to its owner! Be greeted Re! May you propitiate the face of Osiris for this [traveler], 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 [traveler], that he may attain providence like Re every day.”
The southern coast of Alaska 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.” This guard is clearly the Alaskan Peninsula. The text continues: “What is under him is the utterance for passing by him.” Below the peninsula is the spell: “This [traveler] is the one who was born in Rosetau. The akh-power has been given to this [traveler] by his lord, Re-Horakhti. The s’h-dignity of this [traveler] is in Pe, when he purified Osiris. It was while guiding the gods on their mounds that this [traveler] received respect in Rosetau, and this [traveler] is one of their leaders.” The peninsula probably acquired its title because it trails off at the end into a series of islands, like a shaky, broken, sad voice. Canada’s west coast 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.” Immediately to the left is the spell: “This [traveler] is an akh, a lord of akhs. The akh who this [traveler] makes, he is existent. The akh whom this [traveler] denounces, he is not existent. This [traveler] is one who goes around his lake in fire, the Lord of Light. This [traveler] circulates, the Eye of Horus being at the hand of this [traveler], while Thoth crosses the sky in presence of this [traveler], and this [traveler] passes safely.” Vancouver Island is probably indicated by text near that part of the northwest coast which says: “He whose face is invective, he is its guard.”
California’s coast contains the text: “An utterance for passing by the towns of the Knife-wielders, whose voice(s) are bellowing.” But there’s no spell there in extant versions. That district contains the text: “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.”
Mexico’s northwestern coast is labeled “He whose face is turtle-like, he is its guard.” And: “This is its road. You should not pass by it.” And yet there 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.” The injunction to avoid this road could relate to sailing hazards around Baja California, including along Cabo San Lucas and in the Gulf of California. That could relate to the Apophis reference, which may also relate to the fact the Colorado River empties into the Pacific here, as shown on the map, which makes it difficult to sail north within the Gulf. The guard of northwest Mexico, “He whose face is turtle-like”, is presumably Baja California, a large peninsula whose tip is bulbous and shaped like the head of a turtle. 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.”
The Rio Grande river, known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte, is labeled: “He whose tongue and face are dreadful (?).” The Conchos River which flows into it is labeled: “The Flesh of the enemy (?).” The place where the Santiago River (Río Grande de Santiago) flows into the Pacific Ocean is labeled: “He who lives beside the fledgling of the lake (?).” The river itself, and the lake it’s fed by, are labeled with the fragmented text: “He … in beauty.”
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.”
The western coast of the Isthmus of Panama is 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.” And: “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 [traveler] is the assistant of Thoth. This [traveler] 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.”
Near South America’s western coast is the spell: “An utterance for being a god; {twice} a companion of Osiris without dying forever. The one who sees Osiris (illegitimately) is dead.” And “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.” Western South America contains the text: “The guardian of the gateway, who gains through robbery.” This likely refers to Isabela Island, which is by far the largest island near that coast.
Source:
Through Hermopolitan Lenses: Studies on the So-called Book of Two Ways in Ancient Egypt
Series: Probleme der Ägyptologie, Volume: 33
Author: Wael Sherbiny
Hardback, 2017
