Book of Gates
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The Book of Gates is an Ancient Egyptian sacred text dating from the New Kingdom. It narrates the passage of a newly deceased soul into the next world, corresponding to the journey of the sun though the underworld during the hours of the night. The soul is required to pass though a series of 'gates' at different stages in the journey. Each gate is associated with a different goddess, and requires that the deceased recognise the particular character of that deity. The text implies that some people will pass through unharmed, but that others will suffer torment in a lake of fire.
The most famous part of the Book of Gates today refers to the different races of humanity known to the Egyptians, dividing them up into four categories that are now conventionally labelled "Egyptians", "Asiatics", "Libyans", and "Nubians". These are depicted in procession entering the next world.The text and images associated with the Book of Gates appear in many tombs of the New Kingdom, including all the pharaonic tombs between Horemheb and Ramses VII. They also appear in the tomb of Sennejam, a worker in the village of Deir el-Medina, the ancient village of artists and craftsmen who built pharonic tombs in the New Kingdom
The goddesses listed in the Book of Gates each have different titles, and wear different coloured clothes, but are identical in all other respects, wearing a five pointed star above their heads. Most of the goddesses are specific to the Book of Gates, and do not appear elsewhere in Egyptian mythology, and so it has been suggested that the Book of Gates originated merely as a system for determining the time at night, with the goddess at each gate being a representation of the main star appearing during the hour.
The titles of the goddesses are:
| Hour | Title | Explanation of the title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Splitter of the heads of the enemies of Ra | |
| 2 | Wise guard of the lord | |
| 3 | The one who cuts through Ba | |
| 4 | The one of great power | |
| 5 | She who is on her boat | |
| 6 | Successful leader | |
| 7 | The one who repels the serpent | |
| 8 | Lady of the night | |
| 9 | She who is in adoration | |
| 10 | The one who beheads rebels | |
| 11 | The star who repels rebels | |
| 12 | The witness to Ra's magnificence | Ra is the sun, and this is the dawn |
