![Ram-headed demon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Ram-headed_demon.jpg)
The gate deities of the underworld were
ancient Egyptian minor
deities charged with guarding the gates of the
Egyptian underworld
The Duat ( egy, dwꜣt, Egyptological pronunciation "do-aht", cop, ⲧⲏ, also appearing as ''Tuat'', ''Tuaut'' or ''Akert'', ''Amenthes'', ''Amenti'', or ''Neter-khertet'') is the realm of the dead in ancient Egyptian mythology. It has been ...
.
[Hart 1986, pp. 68–72.][Wilkinson 2003, pp. 81–2.]
Description and partition
The Egyptians believed that in the
netherworld
Netherworld (''nether'', ″beneath, lower″) may refer to:
*Underworld, a region thought to be beneath the surface of the world in many religions and mythologies
Film and television
* ''Netherworld'' (film), a 1992 American horror film
*''Nethe ...
, the
Duat
The Duat ( egy, dwꜣt, Egyptological pronunciation "do-aht", cop, ⲧⲏ, also appearing as ''Tuat'', ''Tuaut'' or ''Akert'', ''Amenthes'', ''Amenti'', or ''Neter-khertet'') is the realm of the dead in ancient Egyptian mythology. It has been ...
, there were various gates, doors and
pylons
Pylon may refer to:
Structures and boundaries
* Pylon (architecture), the gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple or Christian cathedral
* Pylon, a support tower structure for suspension bridges or highways
* Pylon, an orange mar ...
crossed every night by the solar boat (
Atet) of the
sun-god Ra and by the
souls
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
directed to the world of the dead.
Ancient funerary texts provide many different descriptions of the
afterlife gates. Sometimes more than 1,000 guardian deities are listed.
According to a more general view, every gate was guarded by a minor god who allowed access only to the souls capable of pronouncing the secret name of the god himself, as a sort of "password".
The walls of many
Pharaonic
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
tombs in the
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings ( ar, وادي الملوك ; Late Coptic: ), also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings ( ar, وادي أبوا الملوك ), is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th ...
are decorated with the texts of the
Book of Gates
The Book of Gates is an ancient Egyptian funerary 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 through the underworld during the hours of the night ...
, which describes the twelve gates or pylons of the underworld: in spite of being imagined as architectural barriers to all intents and purposes, the gates were individually named as goddesses.
Chapter 144 of the
Book of the Dead mentions seven gates, each with its own God, a Doorkeeper and a Herald: for example, the 7th gate is guarded by the god "Sharpest Of Them All", by the doorkeeper "Strident Of Voice" and by the herald "Rejector Of Rebels".
Other funerary texts mention 21 "Secret Portals Of The Mansion Of
Osiris
Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...
In The Field Of Reeds" with their own names and epithets and protected by zoo-anthropomorfic deities often depicted crouched on the ground and holding large, threatening knives.
The names of these last accesses — still feminine — are from time to time disturbing as the 14th ("Mistress Of Anger – Dancing On Blood") or harmless as the 3rd ("Mistress Of The Altar"). The guardian-gods too were given names that inspired terror and, above all, evoked their fearful powers: for example "Swallower Of Sinners" and "Existing On Maggots" — even if some texts avoided directly indicating their names, adding these largely unnamed gate deities of the underworld to the group of Egyptian divinities known to scholars, but impossible to inventory.
Gates described in the wall paintings of the Valley of the Kings
According to the descriptions provided by the wall paintings in regal tombs of the Valley of the Kings, each gate or pylon consisted of three elements: a) a spitfire snake placed in front of the access, b) the gate itself, described both as a true architectural portal and as a goddess, c) and its guardian deities. The solar boat's travel through such gates can be described as follows.
![Enemies bound to jackal-headed pillar (KV11)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Enemies_bound_to_jackal-headed_pillar_%28KV11%29.jpg)
1st gate:
Sia
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...
, deification of
perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
, standing on the prow of the sun boat, invites a snake called "Desert-Protector" to unlock the gate to the arrival of Ra who, in the form of the god
Atum
Atum (, Egyptian: ''jtm(w)'' or ''tm(w)'', ''reconstructed'' ; Coptic ''Atoum''), sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology.
Name
Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb ''tm'' which means 'to c ...
(deification of the
sunset sun), observes his enemies being massacred.
2nd gate: the guardian god is called "Swallower Of Sinners" and his gate precedes a lake of fire.
3rd gate: its guardian snake is "Stinger" while the portal itself is the goddess "Mistress Of Food"; some jackals watch over the "Lake of Life" interdicted to the dead because it is the place where Ra draws his breath.
![Apep 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Apep_1.jpg)
4th gate: some deities carry ropes to measure the extension of the netherworld fields — as well as, in the daily life of the Egyptians, the measurement of the fields was carried out for tax purposes; this is also where the four human
ethnic groups (according to the Egyptians) were depicted: the "cattle of Ra", i.e. Egyptians themselves,
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
ines,
Libyans and
Nubians
Nubians () ( Nobiin: ''Nobī,'' ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the region which is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They originate from the early inhabitants of the central Nile valley, believed to be one of the earliest cradles of ...
.
5th gate: this gate is the goddess "Lady Of Duration" while its guardian serpent is "Flame-Eyed"; this access is inhabited by the perfidious demon
Apep — embodiment of
evil
Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
and
chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
(
Isfet
An ion-sensitive field-effect transistor (ISFET) is a field-effect transistor used for measuring ion concentrations in solution; when the ion concentration (such as H+, see pH scale) changes, the current through the transistor will change accord ...
), bitter enemy of Ra — here called "Evil Of Face". 20 deities manage to stem his devastating power by continuing to dissect it, while the heads of those he devoured emerge from his coils. The sun boat moves on and Ra leaves this dramatic region.
6th gate: Ra's boat approaches to seven jackal-headed poles with two enemies bound to each one, waiting to be beheaded.
7th gate: this gate is the goddess "Shining One" and beyond it there are 20 gods holding a rope ending in four
whips, four
falcon
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene.
Adult falcons ...
heads and four
human head
In human anatomy, the head is at the top of the human body. It supports the face and is maintained by the skull, which itself encloses the brain.
Structure
The human head consists of a fleshy outer portion, which surrounds the bony skull. Th ...
s. This is an enigmatic and barely understandable point.
8th gate: this access is inhabited by a flaming snake who burns up the enemies of Osiris.
9th gate: here stand
Horus and
Set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
on a
hawk-headed
lion.
10th gate: Apep appears again, but chained in order not to harm Ra in his transit.
11th gate: this gate is called "Mysterious Of Approaches" and is overseen by the cat-headed god Meeyuty (''
meow
A meow or miaow is a cat vocalization. ''Meows'' may have diverse tones and are sometimes chattered, murmured or whispered. Adult cats rarely meow to each other, so an adult cat meowing to human beings is probably a post-domestication exten ...
'' onomatopoeia).
12th gate: here stand the goddesses
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
and
Nephthys in the form of snakes: the journey through the gates of the afterlife is finished and the
sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...
rises on the world in the form of a
sacred scarab (
Khepri, deification of the
morning
Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning s ...
sun).
File:La tombe de Sethi 1er (KV.17) (Vallée des Rois, Thèbes ouest) -9.jpg, A crocodile-god guardian of the underworld — from the tomb (KV17) of Pharaoh Seti I.
File:P1060839 Louvre sarcophage de Djedhor cuve-détail rwk.jpg, The journey of the solar boat of Ra through the gates of the netherworld and its deities — from a 4th century BC sarcophagus. Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
File:Amdoeat.JPG, The journey of Ra among the underworld deities — from the tomb of Pharaoh Merneptah
Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, ...
(c. 1213–1203 BC).
File:The 11th hour of the book Amduat (5090498771).jpg, The 11th hour of the book Amduat.
Gates described in funerary papyri
The
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Egyptologist
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , '' -logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religiou ...
George Hart thus outlined, in his ''Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses'' (1986), the evocative names of these deities and their positions in the netherworld as described in the funeral
papyri known to scholars:
Gods of the Seven Gates
Deities of the Twenty-One Secret Portals Of The Mansion Of Osiris In The Field Of Rushes
File:Bookofthedead-144145.jpg, Two 'gate spells'. On the top register, Ani and his wife face the 'seven gates of the House of Osiris'. Below, they encounter ten of the 21 'mysterious portals of the House of Osiris in the Field of Reeds'. All are guarded by unpleasant protectors.[Taylor 2010, p.143]
File:Book of the Dead of Hori, about 1969-945 BC, New Kingdom, Dynasty 21, papyrus section 4 - Cleveland Museum of Art - DSC08665.JPG, Book of the Dead of Hori: supernatural creatures guarding the netherworld. Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
, Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
File:奈斯曼《亡灵书》.jpg, The deceased and the underworld monsters, from a Book of the Dead (N 3096). Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
.
File:Nectanebo I demons relief.JPG, Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
Nectanebo I
Nectanebo I ( Egyptian: ; grc-gre, Νεκτάνεβις ; died 361/60 BCE) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, founder of the last native dynasty of Egypt, the 30th.
Name
Nectanebo's Egyptian personal name was Nḫt-nb.f, which means "the stron ...
(c. 379–361 BC) adoring underworld demons. The Archaeological Civic Museum (MCA) of Bologna
The Archaeological Civic Museum of Bologna ( it, Museo Civico Archeologico di Bologna) is located in the fifteenth-century Palazzo Galvani building at Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 postal code 40124 Bologna, once known as ''the Hospital of Death''. F ...
.
In popular culture
In the film series
''Night at the Museum'', a group of underworld deities appears in ''
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian'' when Kahmunrah releases a falcon-headed army of gods from the gate to
underworld
The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
. The guardians appears from the underworld carrying spears ready to attack and join Kahmunrah's fight to take over the world.
See also
*
Cavern deities of the underworld
The Cavern deities of the underworld were ancient Egyptian minor Ancient Egyptian deities, deities charged with punishing the damned souls by beheading and devouring them.Hart 1986, pp. 62–3.
Description and partition
The Egyptians believed ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Hart, George, ''A Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses'', Routledge, 1986, .
*
Wilkinson, Richard H., ''The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt'', Thames & Hudson, 2003, .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gate Deities Of The Underworld
Groups of Egyptian deities
Egyptian underworld
Liminal deities
Underworld deities