Cave book

4th / 5th Scene tableau of the cave book in the grave of Ramses VI.

The work, known in modern times as the cave book , is the youngest of the three great ancient Egyptian underworld books after the Amduat and the Port Book . The work itself does not contain an original title. The modern name is explained by the observation that the beings of the underworld in this work are located in caves and pits in particular. It is therefore sometimes confused with the so-called goth book . Originally, one had to imagine a long papyrus script which, in addition to colored pictorial scenes arranged in tableaus, also contained, in particular, italic hieroglyphic inscriptions and explanations.

Dating

The cave book is very likely in the 13th century BC. Chr. , D. H. originated during the reign of the 19th dynasty , more precisely in the late reign of Seti I, the reign of Ramses II or in the early reign of Merenptah.

content

Like the two older Great Underworld books , the cave book first of all describes the “journey of the sun god Re ” from the west to the east through the underworld - especially the divine beings he meets there and his interaction with these beings. Important milestones are the visit of the deified deceased, the visit of the body of Osiris and his own bodies, as well as the exit from the underworld to heaven, i.e. H. the sunrise. Furthermore, the sun god passes by regions of hell, in which the enemies of the order of creation are destroyed. In the approach, the imaginary topographical structure of the underworld is also reproduced in the cave book.

structure

The cave book is not divided into twelve hour segments like the two older Great Underworld books. Instead, it essentially consists of “seven scene tableaus” with a total of approx. 80 individual scenes. With the exception of the first two tableaus, identifying designations, explanatory inscriptions and verbatim speeches, especially those of the sun god, are included in and next to the scenes. Between the seven tableaux of scenes there are larger text blocks, the content of which usually relates to the preceding tableau and contains several litanies of invocation.

Scheme of the cave book

Fun reception and editing

Like the two older Great Underworld Books, the cave book was used secondarily in the grave context - specifically, initially in royal graves, later also in the graves of non-royal persons. As part of this reception, sentences were subsequently added to a copy of the text that was to serve as a decorative template for the royal tombs, evoking the king's hopes for him in the afterlife and explicitly naming him. Individual sentences have also been added for the reception of the cave book on the Tjihorptos sarcophagus.

supporting documents

Today 13 text witnesses from the cave book are known:

Text witnesses	Location	scope	Dating
Osireion of the Temple of Osiris at Abydos	Access corridor	Completely	late 13th century BC Chr.
Tomb of King Ramses IV ( KV 2 )	Third corridor; Annex	1st and 2nd panel	Mid-12th century BC Chr.
Tomb of King Ramses VI. ( KV 9 )	Upper part of the tomb	almost completely	Mid-12th century BC Chr.
Tomb of King Ramses VII ( KV 1 )	(First) corridor	1. Tableau	second half of the 12th century BC Chr.
Tomb of King Ramses IX. ( KV 6 )	First and Second Corridor; Sarcophagus chamber	1-5 Tableau in sections	late 12th century BC Chr.
Funeral papyrus of Queen Nedjmet (pBM EA 10490)		1st, 2nd, 4th and 7th panel in excerpts	Middle of the 11th century BC Chr.
Papyrus amulet of the official Butehamun (pTurin 1858)		a scene	Middle of the 11th century BC Chr.
Mummy boxes (Louvre [whereabouts unknown])		a scene	(probably 1st millennium BC)
Grave of the Mayor of Montemhet ( TT 34 )		probably completely (almost completely destroyed)	second half of 7th century BC Chr.
Tomb of the 'highest reading priest' Petamenophis ( TT 33 )	Sequence of rooms XVII – XIX	Completely	second half of 7th century BC Chr.
Text blocks from Roda		at least 1st and 2nd panel	(probably 1st millennium BC)
Sarcophagus of General Petiëse (Berlin No. 29)	Top of the lid	a scene	around the 4th century BC Chr.
Sarcophagus of the financial / agricultural manager Tjihorpto (Cairo CG 29306)	Outside; Top of the lid	1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th panel in sections	4th century BC Chr.

With the help of a text-critical analysis , the obvious assumption could be confirmed that on the one hand the copies in the royal tombs form a traditional group, on the other hand the two sarcophagi from the 4th century BC. BC, both of which were found in Saqqara. In addition, it could be proven that the text witnesses of the 7th – 4th Century BC Chr. Tradition related to the copy in the Osireion. The text witness in the tomb of Petamenophis proves that the Egyptian scribes of the 7th century v. Have collated two copies of the text - one copy of the Osireion version and one copy of the version in the tomb of Ramses VI.

Creative antique reception

Shortly after its creation, individual scenes in the cave book serve as inspiration for several other scenes: The final image inspires a scene for the decoration of the sarcophagus chambers of the royal tombs from Merenptah to Ramses III. (KV8, KV14, KV11). Several other scenes of the decoration of the royal burial chambers of the 12th century. v. B.C. , which are considered part of another work, the so-called Earth Book , resemble scenes in the Cave Book and are possibly inspired by it.

The text witnesses on the mummy boxes in the Louvre and on the sarcophagus lid of Tjihorpto differ significantly from the original in the cave book or expand it. These 'text witnesses' can therefore also be classified as examples of creative 'receptions' of the cave book.

literature

(sorted chronologically)

• Alexandre Piankoff : Le Livre des Quererts, Extraits du Bulletin de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale. Volumes XLI, XLII, XLIII, XLV, Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale du Caire, Cairo 1946 (summary publication of the individual contributions in the journal Bulletin de l'Institut français d'Archéologie orientale. No. XLI, XLII, XLIII and XLV; single items online ). (hieroglyphic texts, French translation)
• Friedrich Abitz: Pharaoh as god in the underworld books of the New Kingdom (= Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. Vol. 146). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995, ISBN 978-3-7278-1040-4 . Cape. VI.
• Erik Hornung : Ancient Egyptian afterlife books. An introductory overview. Reprint, Primus, Darmstadt 1997, ISBN 978-3-89678-043-0 , chapter: Das Höhlenbuch .
• Erik Hornung: The Egyptians' Underworld Books: Introduced, translated and explained. New edition, Artemis & Winkler, Zurich / Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-491-69046-2 , chapter: Das Höhlenbuch.
• Daniel A. Werning: The cave book. Text-critical edition and text grammar (=  Göttinger Orientforschungen, 4th row: Egypt . Volume 1 , no. 48 ). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-447-06635-8 .
• Daniel A. Werning: The cave book in the grave of Petamenophis (TT33): scenes, texts, blackboards (=  Berlin Studies of the Ancient World . No. 66 ). Edition Topoi, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-9820670-0-1 , doi : 10.17171 / 3-66 .

Web links

• Pictures of text witnesses in the Tombs of the Kings: Theban Mapping Project .
• Research project on the topography of the Egyptian underworld at the Cluster of Excellence 'Topoi. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations', Berlin.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ D. A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch , Volume I, Chap. V.
2. ↑ Daniel Werning is currently researching this as part of a project at the 'Topoi' Cluster of Excellence, Berlin .
3. ↑ D. A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch , Volume I, pp. 5-8. F. Abitz: Pharao als Gott , pp. 104–115.
4. ↑ D. A. Werning: An Interpretation of the Stemmata of the Books of the Netherworld in the New Kingdom - Tomb Decoration and the Text Additions for Osiris NN. In: Proceedings of the Ninth International Congress of Egyptologists, Grenoble, 6-12 September 2004 . Peeters, Leuven, Paris, Dudley 2007, ISBN 978-90-429-1717-0 . Pp. 1935-1949.
5. ↑ F. Abitz: Pharao als Gott , pp. 120-134. For the secondary position of the text additions, see D. A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch , Volume I, pp. 68–73.
6. ↑ D. A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch , Volume I, Chap. II
7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from March 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ [1]
12. ^ Daniel A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch im Grab des Petamenophis (TT33): scenes, texts, wall panels (=  Berlin Studies of the Ancient World . No. 66 ). Edition Topoi, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-9820670-0-1 , doi : 10.17171 / 3-66 .
13. ↑ [2]
14. ↑ D. A. Werning: Das Höhlenbuch , Volume I, Chap. III.
15. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 5, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
16. ↑ Cf. F. Abitz: Pharao als Gott , pp. 158–164.
17. ↑ Colleen Manassa: The Late Egyptian Underworld: sarcophagi and Related text from the Nectanebid Period , Volume I: Sacophagi and text . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008. Chap. V, 'lid'.