The most detailed information about the Underworld and the underground journey of Ra in the Boat of Eternity is contained - along with the "Book of Day and Night" and the "Book of Gates", the texts of which are the basis for the retelling in the previous section - also in the book "Amduat" - "(The Book) of what is in the Duat." Here Ra is also represented floating in a Boat. Its shape, however, changes depending on the stages of the journey that we encounter during the twelve-hour night voyage. There are no images of the Gates in this "Book", although they are mentioned in the text. Throughout the composition there are symbols associated with the birth of the new Sun, depicted as Khepri, in the form of a scarab. It is placed between two images of Osiris, in a Boat, in front of which are three snakes, symbolizing the birth of the Sun in the most remote regions of the Underworld. In the scenes accompanying the description of the first hour of the Sun's stay in this Kingdom, there are also baboons who contribute to the appearance of the Sun. The Sun God addresses the gods:
- Open your arms, baboons, open your doors, baboons! My divine serpents, created in my soul [Ba], my gods, are you who arose for Khepri when he ruled the Underworld. Stand near underground waters, land on mysterious shores, help the inhabitants of the Underworld at the gates that belong to you. Your fields are on these banks.
At the fifth hour of the journey, Ra enters the sandy area - the domain of Sokar (the god of the Duat, the patron of the Memphis necropolis and one of the guardians of the entrance to the other world. Sokar was depicted as a mummified falcon or simply as a falcon; he was often identified with Ptah and Osirnes. As an underground god, Sokar was sometimes called the soul of Geb.) Sokar is depicted emerging from an oval (symbolizing the territory The Underworld), which is located on the shoulders of the two-headed sphinx - the god of the earth Aker. At the top of the composition is the scarab Khepri emerging from a sand hill. This hill personifies both night and the grave of Osiris, with whose image Khepri is identified here. His appearance from the hill symbolizes the birth of the Sun god from the darkness of the night. The scarab holds on to the rope with its paws. with the help of which the gods attract Ra's Rook. The inscription accompanying the image of this Rook, on behalf of the deities of the Underworld who address Ra, says:
"Peace to you, peace, Lord of life! Peace (to you), who pacifies the Western country. Peace to you, who is in the sky. Come, Ra, to Khepri. The rope brought by you gods pulling the Rook, we raise the gods, speaking to Khepri, so that he extends his hand to Ra and pave the secret roads for Ra-Horakhte.
On the sixth part of the path through the Underworld, the body of the god Khepri with a scarab on his head rests in the arms of a five-headed serpent named “Many-Faced,” “He Who Holds His Tail in His Mouth.” The ring formed by a snake holding its tail in its mouth is a symbol of the ever-regenerating world order, which is manifested in the daily rebirth of the sun contained in this ring. The mystery of the birth of the Sun takes place in the depths of the underworld, immersed in the waters of Nun.
On the twelfth section of the night's journey through the underworld, the triumph of the renewed Sun God over the forces of darkness, over death, ends. In the form of a scarab, he seems to emerge from the Underworld, pushing the solar ball in front of him. The introductory caption to the scenes depicting this part of the underworld with its main characters reads:
"The stay of this Great God in this cave of the edge of deep darkness. The renewal and birth of the Great God in the guise of Khepri in the cave. The emergence of Nut and Naunet, Huh and Khauchet in this cave at the birth of the Great God, when he emerges from the Underworld, takes a place in the Morning Boat and ascends between the thighs of Nut."
In another text accompanying the images of the gods worshiping Ra, on behalf of these gods it is said:
- The one who was born was born, the one who appeared appeared. Glory to the Earth! Your sky is for your soul, which remains in it, the earth is for your body. Lord of glory, you have embraced the horizon and dwell in your sanctuary. Hello to you, soul who is in heaven!
“The Book of the Underworld” does not contain detailed descriptions of the places through which Ra travels. It is limited mainly to the depiction of the very process of the birth of the new Sun, paying special attention to the scarab Khepri as a symbol of renewal."
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru