Amduat

Amduat of Tanetshedkhons

Amduat of Tanetshedkhons

This papyrus belonged to the Mistress of the House and Chantress of Amun, Tanetshedkhons, a Theban noblewoman of the 21st Dynasty. The scroll is inscribed with portions of two funerary texts known as the “Litany of Re” and the “Amduat,” or “Book of that which is in the Underworld.” The “Amduat”, like the “Book of...

Sarcophagus of Pa-nehem-isis

Sarcophagus of Pa-nehem-isis

The sarcophagus of the priest Pa-nehem-isis [Pnehmêse] is a remarkable example from the Ptolemaic Period, with its large face and its profusion of inscriptions and images, covering the whole surface. The figures have been carved in the hard stone with great precision. The deceased is wearing the tripartite wig and a broad collar. No other...

Funerary Papyrus of Djehutymes

Funerary Papyrus of Djehutymes

Vignette from the funerary papyrus of the scribe Djehutymes. In ancient Egypt, jackals and dogs were very common in the land between desert and urban areas, so they were associated with the world of necropolis and the dead. Specifically, their wandering among the tombs was interpreted as a perpetual guard service to the deceased. The...

Scene of the Amduat

Scenes of the Amduat, Tomb of Ramesses IX

Decorations show scenes from the Amduat or “Book of What is in the Underworld”, detail of a wall carving in the second corridor of the Tomb of Ramesses IX (KV6). “Amduat (What is in the Netherworld) was used in Ancient Egypt as a generic name for descriptions of the netherworld, but in modern Egyptology is reserved...

The burial chamber in the Tomb of Tutankhamun

Inside the Tomb of Tutankhamun

In the Tomb of Tutankhamun, the burial chamber’s west wall depicts an extract from the Book of Amduat or “What is in the Underworld”. Twelve baboon deities represent the twelve hours of the night through which the sun travels before its rebirth at dawn. On the main north wall, The King and his Ka before...