The Kingdom of Seker.
IN the scene that illustrates the FIFTH Division of the Tuat, which is passed through by the Sun-god during the FIFTH HOUR Of the night, we see the boat of the sun being drawn along by seven gods and seven goddesses (see pp. 91, 95, 99, 103, 107). The legend over the seven gods is partly broken away, but what remains of it proves that it must have been similar in meaning to that which is over the heads of the goddesses, which reads, "These are the goddesses which tow RA along in the Tuat over this Circle, and they make this great god to advance so that he may rest in NU in the Tuat."
In front of the seven goddesses march four gods, who appear to be under the guidance of "Isis of Amentet," and who are described as the "great sovereign chiefs who provide food in this Circle,"
The first god is called HER-KHU, and holds a staff in his hand; the second is AN-HETEP, and holds the sceptre in his hand; the third is HERU-HEQUI, is hawk-headed, and holds the crook in his hand; the fourth is UT-METU, and holds a tree in his left hand.
The text containing the address of the Sun-god to the seven gods is broken away, and all that remains of it reads, "This great god maketh his journey by means of those who tow him over this Circle in [his] boat." A portion of the answer of the seven gods to him is also broken away, but what remains of it reads, "Is opened to thee the earth to such an extent that thou hast passed over the Beautiful Land, and the roads concerning which Ra hath spoken to thee, O Osiris. Thou criest out, O Ra, to the Land of Seker, and Horus hath life upon his sands. Come to Khepera, O Ra! Come to Khepera! Work ye with the cord, O ye who make Khepera to advance, so that it may give the hand (i.e., help) to Ra whilst he passeth over the hidden ways of Ra, in the horizon. [Come] in peace, in peace, O Ra of the Beautiful
[paragraph continues] Ament". In the middle of the scene we see that the ground rises (see p. 103) and forms a kind of hollow mound, the highest point of which terminates in the head of a woman, which faces to the right; immediately above her head is a scarab which is in the act of descending, but only one half of its body is visible. Concerning the beetle it is said, "Behold Khepera who, immediately the [boat of Ra] is towed to the top of this Circle, unites himself to the roads of the Tuat; when this god standeth on the head of the goddess he speaketh words to Seker every day." The short lines of text just above the mound read, "The majesty of this great god journeyeth on by being towed along, and these goddesses receive him,
words which are addressed to the god by the goddesses are, "Come, O Ra, in the peace of the Tuat! Let Ra advance on the road in the boat which is in the earth, in his own body, and let his enemies be destroyed. [The goddess] Ament crieth (?) to thee, O Ra, so that thou mayest join her, and mayest go forwards in the sky as the GREAT ONE who is in the horizon, and mayest be towed along by those who tow thee, and, verily, mayest destroy all thine enemies," this address Ra replies, saying, "O ye who have received your weapons, O ye who have grasped your sceptres, O ye who shake your spears, O ye who stand by your tchefau food, who sit down to your offerings, who are the warders of food and bread and are the lords of the provisions in Ament, Isis giveth herself unto you, and Ament joineth herself unto you, so that I may
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The Kingdom of Seker.
stand up by you for your protection when I pass by you in peace," The "Land of Sekri," which is mentioned by the seven gods who are towing the boat of Ra, lies immediately below the mound of earth, and forms, as it were, an oval island in the river of the Tuat; its shape is, as M. Maspero has said, an elongated ellipse,
, and it is formed wholly of sand. The "Land of Sekri" is described in the legend which is written at each end of the oval as "The horizon (?) of the hidden country of Sekri, which guardeth the hidden body (or, flesh)," This mysterious oval is supposed to rest upon the bodies of two man-headed lion sphinxes set tail to tail; of these, however, only the heads and fore quarters
appear, one at each end of the oval. Each sphinx is called AF, and he is said "to have his existence from the voice of the great god," and "his work is to keep ward over his image."
Within the oval already described is stretched out at almost full length on the ground a monster serpent (see pp. 99, 103), which has two snakes' heads at one end of his body, and a bearded human head at the other (see 99); the text above his snakes' heads is mutilated, and all that can be made out satisfactorily are the words neter aa, "great god." From the middle of his body springs a pair of wings, and between them, immediately under the female head at the top of the mound, stands the god SEKRI, in the form of a hawk-headed man. Of him it is said, "His work is to protect his own form," and of the serpent, "he liveth upon the magical protection which issueth from his mouth every day."
The text which refers to the oval reads:--
"The Image which is in this picture is in thick darkness. The dawn in the horizon which belongs to this god [cometh] from the eyes of the heads of the great god, whose flesh sendeth forth light, and whose legs are bent round, the great god who keepeth ward over the flesh of SEKRI, who is on his sand, his own image. The voice of this horizon is heard in this hour after this great god hath passed them by, like unto the sound of the roarings which are in the heights of heaven when they are disturbed by a storm."
On the left of the horizon (see p. 95) of SEKRI is the serpent TEPAN, who liveth by the voice of the primeval gods of the earth. He cometh forth and he goeth in, and he presenteth the offerings made to this great god every day unseeing [and unseen]." On
the right (see p. 107) of the horizon is the serpent ANKHAA-PAU, "who liveth upon the flames which issue from his mouth. His work is to protect the horizon, and he never entereth into any house of the Tuat."
Immediately in front of this serpent are four seated gods (see p. 111), of whom the heads of two are turned behind them; they are described as the "gods who hold the secret forms of SEKRI, who is on his sand." The first holds on his knees the White Crown, the second the Red Crown, the third the head of the ram of HERU-SHEFSHEFIT, and the fourth the plumes of Shu, or some other god of light and dryness. The legend above them reads, "Their forms are in the place among them in their own bodies. They follow after this great god unseeing and unseen."
Behind the serpent TEPAN (see pp. 87, 91) are four human bearded heads, each with a mass of fire upon
the top of it, which project from the long, narrow lake called NETU, these are called the "Blazing heads," Along the lake are written, in two methods of writing, "The gods who are in the Ammahet weep when the boat hath passed them by on its way to the . . . . . Tuat . . . . . and the waters which are here are like unto fire to those who are in them."
In the upper register are:--
1. The goddess AMENTIT, standing with her arms stretched out in front of her at right angles to her body, and wearing the feather of Maat on her head (see p. 87).
2. A group of nine large axes (four are broken away), the foremost surmounted by the Crown of the North, and the hindmost by the Crown of the South (see pp. 87, 91). The mutilated speech of the god written above them reads, "Give me thy hand (i.e., help me) Amentet! Good is this water which leadeth to the tomb [where] rest the gods. Hail, exist ye, O nine gods who have come into being from my flesh, and have not come
into being from your own forms, and who are firm in respect of your food, I avenge you, do ye avenge me."
3. The god who is the "guardian of those who are submerged," (see pp. 91, 95).
4. The god SATIU (?), (see p. 95).
5. The god ANKH-AB hawk-headed (see p. 95).
6. The god BATH-RESTH (?) crocodile-headed, (see p. 95).
7. The god ANP-HENI, jackal-headed (see p. 99). Of these five gods it is said, "They act as guardians of Tuat, and of those who are submerged in the Tuat, and they [protect] and make to pass on the boat." To these the Sun-god makes an address, which reads,
[paragraph continues] "This great god saith, O ye who stand by your waters, who keep ward over your lands, who go round about in the pool of those who are submerged in Nu, pilot ye these to the lands of the sea of the Tuat, unto your waters which never dry up, and rise ye up in your lands and let me travel over you in peace. This great god saith, O ye, lift ye up your weapons to your . . . . . image, and protect ye the foreheads of your maat, and perform ye your work, in order that I may be able to pass by you in peace,"
8. Immediately in front of the god ANP-HENI is an object which looks like a chamber with a rounded roof; but whatever it may be, it is filled with sand, and from the fact that the sign of "night" or "darkness," appears at the top, we may conclude that it represents
some form of the dark underworld of Seker. To each side of it a hawk clings by his claws, and from the lower part of it emerges the scarab, which has already been mentioned (see p. 103).
9. A huge serpent, the two heads facing the object described under No. 8. Of him it is said, "He liveth by Ra every day, he travelleth over every place of maat in the Tuat, and it is he who setteth himself in opposition to the scarab." To this serpent Ra saith, "Hail, thou serpent TER, whom I myself have fashioned, open thou to me thy folds, open thou thy folds wherewith thou hast doubly sealed the earth to protect me, and march thou against those who are in my following, in order that I may pass by thee in peace."
10. The god BAFERKHEFTIU, ram-headed (see p. 111).
11. The god IU-HER-APTESU, who holds a lasso in each hand (see p. 111).
12. The god AN-AT, wearing a feather of Maat (see p. 111).
13. The god ABUI, with his head turned behind him; he is provided with a shade, (see p. 111).
14. The god AMU, bull-headed (see p. 107).
15. The god SET, bull-headed (see p. 107).
16. The god SENT-NEF-AMENTIU, (see p. 107).
17. The god HETEP-NETERU, (see p. 107).
Of these eight gods it is said, "They stand by at the annihilation of the dead in the Tuat, and their work is to burn up with fire the bodies of the dead by the flames from their mouths in the course of every day."
18. A goddess, standing upright, with her hands stretched out to the top of the head of a man who is kneeling before her, and is cutting open his head with a hatchet; the goddess is called and lives upon the blood of the dead, and upon that which the gods give," (see p. 113).
The text of the speech which the god makes to the eight gods reads:--
"The Majesty of this great god saith unto them, Hail, ye who stand at the blocks of torture, and who keep ward at the destruction of the dead, ye whose voices have come into being for you, who have received your words of power, who are endowed with your souls, who sing hymns to the accompaniment of your sistra, who take vengeance on the enemies, who annihilate the dead, who hack in pieces shades [of men and women], who destroy and cut in pieces the
dead, who avenge Osiris and hearken unto words near Unnefer, provide ye yourselves with your slaughtering knives, fetter and bind with your hands [this] figure which is with you, so that I may journey past you in peace. Whosoever knoweth this shall pass by the goddess in peace."
The entrance into the Sixth Division of the Tuat is made through a door in the lower register, which is guarded by a serpent "who openeth it himself," here, too, appears the large five-rayed star which is the symbol of the planet VENUS, and is described as the "living god which journeyeth, and journeyeth, and travelleth."
Next: Chapter VI. The Sixth Division of the Tuat, Which Is Called Metchet-Mu-Nebt-Tuat.
