The book of Amduat , Am-Duat ( Egyptian translit. M-dwAt - “About that in the Duat ”, doc. “About that in the glorified land / afterlife”) - an ancient Egyptian memorial literary work, known from the period of the New Kingdom . One of the most important religious texts, used as part of the obligatory decoration of the walls of the tombs of the pharaohs , and from the end of the New Kingdom in private burials.
Also, the texts of the book were applied to the papyrus accompanying the deceased during the burial, sarcophagi, amulets, etc. According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, these texts contributed to the successful passage of the underground path to the deceased, the successful overcoming of the court of Osiris and the revival of a new life. The texts in a peculiar fantastic manner narrate about the twelve caves of the underworld traversed by the Sun-Ra during twelve hours of the night. Egyptologist James Henry Brasted called the Book of Amduat "the monstrous creation of a perverse priestly fantasy."
The very first version of the Book of Amduat, known to modern scholars, is fixed on the wall of the burial chamber of Thutmose I ( XV century BC ), however, the contents of the book probably go back to the older “Texts of sarcophagi” of the Middle Kingdom period. The last fragments of the Book of Amduat date from the 3rd century. BC e. [1] . The full text of the Book of Amduat was first discovered in the tomb of Thutmose III .
See also
- Abesh
Notes
- ↑ The Path to Immortality / Scientific Editorial: A. G. Suschevsky. - M .: "Eastern Literature" RAS , 2002. - S. 69.
Literature
- Lavrentieva N.V. About one of the early lists of the book of Am-Duat: the case of User-Amon. // Petersburg Egyptological Readings 2007-2008 / Editor A. Bolshakov. - SPb. : Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum, 2009. - S. 148-158. - 360 p. - (Proceedings of the State Hermitage Museum XLV). - ISBN 978-5-93572-341-5 . (inaccessible link)
- Lavrentieva N.V. Book of Am-Duat on the “Anonymous Papyrus” from the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin // Petersburg Egyptological Readings 2007-2008 / Editor A. Bolshakov. - SPb. : Publishing House of the State Hermitage Museum, 2009. - S. 159-163. - 360 p. - (Proceedings of the State Hermitage Museum XLV). - ISBN 978-5-93572-341-5 . (inaccessible link)