The Kingdom of Seker.
IN the scene that illustrates the FOURTH DIVISION of the Tuat, which is passed through by the Sun-god during the FOURTH HOUR Of the night, a region which is entirely different from anything seen previously is entered. We see that the general arrangement which makes each Division to contain three sections has been followed, but the actual path of the Boat of the Sun is different. Instead of passing along the middle section as before, the god is obliged to pass over the region of the kingdom of Seker. The course which was usually passed over by the dead runs from one side of the section to the other diagonally, and it may be thus described:--Starting from the upper side of the topmost division, the corridor, which is called RE-STAU, slants across to the lower side; at the point where it touches the line which divides the first and second section is a door, which is thrown open.
The door is called MATES-SMA-TA. The corridor runs
parallel with the line which divides the first and second section for some distance, and is described as the "road of the secret things of Re-stau; the god doth not pass through the leaves of the door, but they hear his voice." A sharp bend takes RE-STAU in a slanting direction across the middle section of the scene, and at the bottom of it is another door, which is called METES-MAU-AT, the corridor runs parallel with the line which divides the second and third section for some distance, when it crosses the section, again in a slanting direction, and at the end of it is a third door, which is called METES-EN-NEHEH. In the second slant of the corridor is an inscription which describes it as the road by which entereth the body of SEKER, who is on his sand, the image which is hidden, and is neither seen nor perceived,
[paragraph continues] As the further course of the corridor will be described under the Fifth Hour we may pass on to consider the Boat of the Sun, and the means by which the god makes his way onward.
Ra and the gods who formed his crew have left the boat in which they travelled until now, and have betaken themselves to one, each end of which terminates in the head of a serpent. This serpent-boat is drawn along by four gods, who are called TUN-EN-MAA, HER-UARFU, AR-NEFERTU, and SHETAI, Above the boat is written, "[Whilst] this great god journeyeth over those who are in this scene the flames which the mouth of his boat emit guide him through these pools; he seeth not their forms, but he crieth to them and to their places, and they hear his voice,
In front of those who tow the boat of Ra are:--
1. A form of Osiris called EM-ANKHTI, (see p. 71).
2. The crook of Osiris (see p. 75).
3, 4. Thoth, ibis-headed, and Horus, hawk-headed, standing facing each other, with the UTCHAT, above their outstretched hands and arms; the title of Thoth is UTHESU, i.e., "the Raiser," and that of Horus is AU-AU or, "the wide of hands." The Utchat is called SEKRI.
5. The god SETHEN-HAT, wearing the crown of the South.
6. The god HER-TEBAT-F, i.e., "He who is over his place of burial," having in the place of a head two curved objects, which M. Maspero identifies with mummy bandages (see, p. 79).
7. The god UATCH-HRA, i.e., "Green Face" (see p. 79).
8. The god HETEP, who carries the crook of Osiris mentioned above (No. 2) (see p. 79).
9-11. Three gods, each of whom carries an ankh in his
left hand, whose names are SEM-ANKH, AN-HER, and UT-MET, (see pp. 79, 83).
12. The goddess NEBT-ANKH, (see p. 80).
The text which refers to these beings reads:--
"Those who are in this picture, in their forms of their bodies, are the hidden [travellers] upon the way of the holy country whose secret things are hidden. They are the guardians of the way of the holy [land] for those who enter into the hidden place of the Tuat, and they keep ward over Anpu in his forms as he tows them along, when he entereth in by them in the holy land."
In the upper register are:--
1. A goddess, wearing the crown of the North, apparently a form of Neith (see p. 63).
2. A serpent, with a human head, and two pairs of human feet and legs (see p. 63).
3-5. Three serpents, which move side by side along the ground "upon their bellies". Of them it is said, "Those who are in this picture make their passage to every place each day" (see p. 67).
6. The scorpion ANKHET, and a large uraeus. Of these it is said, "Those who are in this picture stand in Re-stau at the head of the way [to guard it]." Behind these stands a god, who appears to be making an offering of two libation vases to the serpent. Of him it is said, "He who is in this picture is the guide of the holy way" (see p. 71).
7. A three-headed serpent, with a pair of hawk's wings, and two pairs of human legs, and of him it is said, "He who is in this picture in the Tuat is the warder of this holy way of Re-stau; he liveth upon the abundance [which cometh] from his wings, his body, [and] his heads,
[paragraph continues] (see pp. 71, 75).
8. The god AP-TUAT, who holds a sceptre, in his right hand, and stands before the serpent NEHEB-KAU, which has two heads on one end of its body, and one head, instead of a tail, at the other. Of the god AP-TUAT it is said, "He who is in this picture is in the form which Horus made, and he openeth [the way] for the two gods on this way." Of the serpent NEHEB-KAU it is said, "He who is in this picture is at his place NET-MU, by the holy way of passage of RE-STAU, and he journeyeth about to every place each day, and he liveth upon the abundance of that which issueth from his mouth," (see pp. 75, 79).
9. A god, who grasps the third head of NEHEB-KAU with his right hand, and a staff with a curled end in the left; facing him is a headless god called AB-TUAT (see pp. 79, 83).
10. A goddess of the South (NEKHEBET) and a goddess of the North. Of the last group of figures it is said, "Those who are in this picture are in the form wherein Horus hath made them; they are the warders of the serpent NEHEPU, who guide him to the hidden thing which is on this secret way," (see p. 83).
In the lower register are:--
1. A large boat, each end of which terminates in the head of a woman; lying along the bottom of the boat is the serpent HETCH-NAU, (see pp. 63, 67). Concerning him it is said, "He 1 who is in this picture . . . . in his boat great, is the [serpent] which guardeth the AHETH chamber; he standeth up at the mouth of the hidden passages of the AHET chamber, and he liveth upon the two voices of the heads of the boat."
[paragraph continues] Under the neck of this serpent is the emblem "life," (an ankh).
2. A woman called MUTHENITH, standing (see p. 67).
3. A woman called SHATHETH, standing (see p. 67).
4. The divine mummy form BENNI, seated (see p. 71).
5. A lion-headed goddess called HEN-KHERTH (?) (see p. 71).
6. A goddess, with a pair of horns on her head, in a sitting position, but with no throne to sit upon; her name is THEST-APT, (see p. 71). Of these beings it is said, "Those who are in this picture are in the forms wherein Horus made them, and they stand on the ground of Re-stau in the hidden place . . . . . . . ."
7. The male serpent AMEN, (see pp. 75, 77).
8. The female serpent HEKENT, which has a human head growing out of its body, a little distance from the tip of its tail; the human head faces the serpent AMEN. Of the male serpent it is said, "He
who is in this picture is the guardian of the secret passages which lead to the AHETH chamber; he journeyeth round to every place each day, and he liveth on the words of the gods who guard this road." The meaning of the legend which refers to the female serpent Hekent is not clear.
9. The three-headed serpent (see p. 79) MENMENUT, which is described as the "hidden image of the AHETH chamber [of Seker], which is illumined daily at the birth of KHEPERA by that which cometh forth from the faces of [the serpent] MENMENT." Over the back of this serpent are six stars and fourteen human heads, each of which is surmounted by a disk. These fourteen heads represent, as M. Maspero has well shown, the gods of the first fourteen days of the month, who are being carried by the three-headed serpent to
the Utchat, which Thoth and Horus are carrying to it; they appear again in the next Division of the Tuat, where they are seen drawing along the boat of the sun.
10. The winged disk of the god KHEPERA, Beneath stands the "envoy of heaven," with his right hand raised, and his left stretched out, and behind him is the goddess MAAT (see p. 83).
The Kingdom of Seker.
77:1 The text is in the plural.
Next: Chapter V: The Fifth Division of the Tuat, Which Is Called Ament
