- Life after death

Thoughts about the beyond
Death was for the old egyptians not the end of life, but a beginning of an other form of life. They believed that Cosmos (the created world) consists the earth, the heaven and the underworld. Humans live on earth, and the dead and the gods lived in heaven and in the underworld.

A human contains a Ka, Ba and a body. The body is home for the ka and ba until death apears. Then the body have to be mummified, to make it a perfect frame.

With Osiris in the land of the dead
This believe started in the 5. dynasty and was very strong in the middle kingdom. This land of the dead was under the ground, and to get there the ka had to go on a dangerous trip. The text on the sarcophagus was there to help the ka to get there. The underworld was full of surprises and the ka had to know the names of all the demons to overcome them. It also needed to know the names off the gates it had to pass. The goal was to stand before Osiris in the hall of pure truth. It was the god Thoth, that led the dead to this hall. In it Osiris was sitting on his throne and there was 42 judges there as well. In the middle there was a weighing mashine, on one side a feather from a ostrich, and on the other they put the heart. The feather was from the godess Maat, that was the godess of truth and justice. It was the god Anubis´job to  weight the heart and the dead had to say 40 sins he didnt commit in his life. All this ritual was meant to clear all sins. If the heart didnt weigh on the machine all sins were cleared and the dead was given eternal life.


In the suns land of dead
In the new kingdom there was text telling about Re´s journey through the underworld on the river from the west to the east. And that he was reborn every morning.These books wasfor pharaohs graves and there is diffenrent types. But all of them told the story about Res journey through chaos in the underworld.

Amduats 12 hours  - The sungod Re´s journey over the sky (Amduat= the underworld) In the following i am going to mention the events fromthe underworlds 12 hours. Described as Amduat. The middle of the picture is representing the road the solar boat has to follow (the river).



1. hour: Here Re arrives to the western horizon. He has a head from a ram, and have a hole retinue with him. He says hello to all the many shapes fromthe underworld -both in the top and the button off the picture - the both sides of the river through the underworld.








2. hour: Isis and Nephthys is now onboard the solar boat in the shapes of two snakes. The boat is escorted by other boats. The shapes from the underworld is wearing knifes, so they are prepared to fight aby danger.

3.hour: The cabin of the solar boat is not here, but the text tells that Re is still onboard. More shapes is wearing knifes.
Some of them is easy to tell apart - fx 3. from the left in the top is Anubis.
 

4. hour: The sungod Re is now getting closer to the spot where he is being united with Osiris. The landscape has changes, and the river is no longer straight ahead. There is sand here, so the boat have to be draged. In the middle of the picture Thoth is giving the magic eye Udjat to a god with a falconhead. Over the gate in the right down corner, there is a solar-disc with wings. This is a prodiction of the sunset soon to come. And the guard is the godess Maat.
 

5. hour: The solar boat is draged to the cave of Sokar. In the middle of the top two birds are sitting on a hill. This is Isis and Nephthys crying over the death of Osiris. From the button of this hill a scarabae is helping to drag the boat. In the button of the picture you see the cave of Sokar. Over the cave Isis have spreed her protecting wings. Under the cave there is a dangerous sea of flames (look at the small arrow).
 

6. hour: The union between Re and Osiris, and the sun is halfway on its journey. There is water again in the river. Shapes on invisible thrones is getting out of there mummies. The three boxes on the right top is graves. The grave has the scarabae body, head and wings.
 

7. hour: The suns biggest enemy the snake Apophis is here. Everybody tries to kill it. The godess of magic is in front of the boat and assistents is putting knifes in the snake. In the top of the picture other enemies of the sun is tied with there hands on the back and some is beheading. In the button 12 men and 12 women guds with stars on there heads is representing the hours of the day and night. All is joint together in front of Horus, sitting on his throne.
 

8. hour: This is 10 caves. All seperated with gates. The text to this picture is telling that the gates will open when the sungod Re wants to go through it. All these gates names is something with the word knife.
 

9. hour: The boat is getting near the horizon. In the front of the boat rower is standing and waiting for Re to give orders to the shapes from the underworld he meets here.
 

10. hour: The text describes this hour as the "place where Khepri (scarabae) is resting with Re". Soon Re will show himself on the horizon as a scarabae. In the button of the picture Horus is comforting those drowning in Nun. The one drowning in Nun getting divine.
 

11. hour: The stars in the top is a symbol of the hours already passed. In front of the boat 12 gods is fitting a big snake over there heads.



 

12. hour: The god of the sky is welcoming the sun and the shapes from the underworld is singing. In the button the mummy of Osiris is resting in the dark while the sun is continuing its trip into the land of light.

All illustrations is from the book:" Politikens bog om det gamle Egypter" by Torben Holm-Rasmussen.