Death as an Enemy 9
Jan. 10th, 2018 09:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ikhet_sekhmetMy last posting brought us to the end of Section A, "Death in Contrast With Life". Part B, "Dangers of the Hereafter", opens with a discussion of the location of the netherworld, then proceeds with a list of terms for afterlife hazards which in many ways repeat the contents of Part A. The deceased has to pass gates guarded by demons; may be deprived of their liberty, being bound or imprisoned; faces fire in numerous forms, and may even be cooked; may be cut or mutilated by demons, tortured, or slaughtered like a sacrifice; may be hunted or caught in a net; may be eaten; and journeys through dangerous places.
Section B.8 concerns "Dangers which threaten essential parts of the personality" - the b3, the k3, shadow, corpse, heka (magical power), name, and heart are all needed for the deceased's continued existence, and all are in danger in the netherworld.
B.12 - B.16 is a list of "beings to be feared". Dangerous animals include the crocodile, uraeus, lion, hippo, and snakes, and some surprising creatures, such as the grasshopper. Dead people could haunt the living and harm the dead. There's quite a roll-call of demons: torturers, various kinds of slaughterers, fighters; the messengers of Osiris, who try to seize the dead. The gods themselves may pose a hazard, amongst them Atum, Baba, Khonsu, Sekhmet, Set, Shu, Shesmu, and Thoth. Even Osiris has a "daemonical" side.
Sekhmet "is present in dangerous places in the realm of the dead, which the dead has to pass... About a fiery river near a gate... it is said: 'The third (river) is the fiery breath from the mouth of Śḫm.t [CT IV 329.k]... As raging lion-goddess she punishes the enemies of Re in the realm of the dead. 'You stand in the front of the boat of your father, felling the malicious one (Apophis) [which is so interesting that here's the entire footnote: BD 164; 415.4.11.12. See also H. Blok, AcOr VII, pp 98, 103, 108; Pl II]."
The term ḫfty "enemy" encompasses demons, "opponents in a law-suit", "opponents of Osiris", "Sinners as enemies of Re and Osiris", and a demon named Ḫfty.
Both the Book of Gates and the Amduat contain passages in which the drowned are restored. "They give the possibility that also for the drowned ones, who have not been buried ritually and for whom consequently the worst threatens, a favourable fate will still be possible in the realm of the dead." (pp 236-7)
Zandee, J. Death as an Enemy According to Ancient Egyptian Conceptions. (Studies in the Histories of Religions, Supplement to Numen, V). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1960.
Section B.8 concerns "Dangers which threaten essential parts of the personality" - the b3, the k3, shadow, corpse, heka (magical power), name, and heart are all needed for the deceased's continued existence, and all are in danger in the netherworld.
B.12 - B.16 is a list of "beings to be feared". Dangerous animals include the crocodile, uraeus, lion, hippo, and snakes, and some surprising creatures, such as the grasshopper. Dead people could haunt the living and harm the dead. There's quite a roll-call of demons: torturers, various kinds of slaughterers, fighters; the messengers of Osiris, who try to seize the dead. The gods themselves may pose a hazard, amongst them Atum, Baba, Khonsu, Sekhmet, Set, Shu, Shesmu, and Thoth. Even Osiris has a "daemonical" side.
Sekhmet "is present in dangerous places in the realm of the dead, which the dead has to pass... About a fiery river near a gate... it is said: 'The third (river) is the fiery breath from the mouth of Śḫm.t [CT IV 329.k]... As raging lion-goddess she punishes the enemies of Re in the realm of the dead. 'You stand in the front of the boat of your father, felling the malicious one (Apophis) [which is so interesting that here's the entire footnote: BD 164; 415.4.11.12. See also H. Blok, AcOr VII, pp 98, 103, 108; Pl II]."
The term ḫfty "enemy" encompasses demons, "opponents in a law-suit", "opponents of Osiris", "Sinners as enemies of Re and Osiris", and a demon named Ḫfty.
Both the Book of Gates and the Amduat contain passages in which the drowned are restored. "They give the possibility that also for the drowned ones, who have not been buried ritually and for whom consequently the worst threatens, a favourable fate will still be possible in the realm of the dead." (pp 236-7)
Zandee, J. Death as an Enemy According to Ancient Egyptian Conceptions. (Studies in the Histories of Religions, Supplement to Numen, V). Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1960.
