Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Underworld Books and Netherworld Maps
Egyptian underworld books and maps of the night journey, including the Amduat, Book of Gates, and Book of Two Ways.
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Texts
The Book of Gates — E. A. Wallis BudgeAn ancient Egyptian funerary text describing the passage of the deceased through the gates of the underworld during the twelve hours of the night. Each gate is guarded by fearsome serpents and deities who must be appeased with the correct words of power. Volume II of The Egyptian Heaven and Hell.The Book of the Am-Tuat — E. A. Wallis BudgeAn ancient Egyptian cosmological treatise describing the Tuat, the underworld traversed by the boat of the Sun God Ra during the twelve hours of the night. Each chapter details the gods, demons, and landscapes encountered in one hour of the nocturnal journey. Volume I of The Egyptian Heaven and Hell.The Book of Two WaysThe Book of Two Ways — the earliest map of the underworld. Coffin Text spells 1041–1129 from the inner floors of Middle Kingdom coffins at el-Bersha. The deceased navigates gates of fire and darkness, names guardians, and travels the roads of water and land through Rosetjau to the Fields of Offerings. First English translation from ancient Egyptian.The Book of Two Ways — Coffin Text Spells CT1041–CT1129First complete English translation of the Book of Two Ways (Coffin Text Spells CT1041–CT1129) — the ancient Egyptian underworld map, with 89 spells naming the gate-guardians, the two roads of Rosetau, and the ritual words for passing through the Duat to join Osiris and Re.The Egyptian Heaven and Hell, Volume III — E. A. Wallis BudgeThe concluding volume of Budge's study of Egyptian afterlife texts, containing the short versions of the Am-Tuat and the Book of Gates, together with comprehensive analysis of the Egyptian conceptions of paradise, the underworld, and the judgment of the dead.