Book from earth

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Scenes from Part A of the book
(burial chamber KV9 )

The Book of the Earth (more recently: the books of the earth ) is an ancient Egyptian collection of religious scenes, which is first depicted in the Osireion and on burial chamber walls and anthropomorphic coffins of some Ramessid kings of the 19th and 20th dynasties . The scenes describe aspects of the nocturnal sun's journey through the underworld.

In contrast to the older underworld books Amduat , Pfortenbuch and Höhlenbuch , no hour or cave division is recognizable. The scenes are probably not part of a closed composition.

A particularly extensive collection of scenes can be found in the burial chamber of Ramses V./VI. , furthermore in the burial chambers of Ramses VII. and Ramses IX. The first representations that are included in the collection can be found in the Osireion and in the sarcophagus halls of the tombs between Merenptah and Ramses III. Further evidence comes from the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period .

literature

• Relevant publication: Joshua A. Roberson: The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Earth (=  Wilbour Studies in Egypt and Ancient Western Asia . No. 1 ). Lockwood, Atlanta 2012, ISBN 978-1-937040-00-0 .
• Erik Hornung : The Egyptians' underworld books. Zurich, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-7608-1061-6 .

Web links

• Touregypt ( Memento from December 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Nicholas Reeves , Richard H. Wilkinson: The Valley of the Kings. Mysterious realm of the dead of the pharaohs. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2000, ISBN 3-8289-0739-3 , p. 37.
2. ^ Joshua A. Roberson: The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Earth (=  Wilbour Studies in Egypt and Ancient Western Asia . No. 1 ). Lockwood, Atlanta 2012, ISBN 978-1-937040-00-0 , pp. 464 f .