The Mysteries of the Ancient Egyptian Underworld: The Book of Am-Tuat, a Book on The Ancient Egyptian Underworld

The book of Am-Tuat, which literary means the ‘underworld’ forms as a part of the important funerary texts of the ancient Egyptians, from the time of the New Kingdom and was first found on the inside of the Pharaoh’s tomb and was in fact a text that was reserved for the Pharoah’s until at least the time of the 21st Dynasty. It contains the story of the ancient Egyptian sun god, Ra who goes on his travels through the underworld from, starting at the time of sunset on the west and then rises again on the east – during the dark of the night. This journey took place for attaining immortality. Each of the 12 parts of the night, which it is divided into, there are allies and enemies encountered, and the Am-Tuat names these monsters and gods to the soul of the dead pharaoh in order that hey may call upon them for help. The illustrations of these scriptures shows the various different scenes of the underworld and the earliest completed version of the Am-Tuat was found in the tomb of Thutmose III located in the Valley of the Kings. The book of Am-Tuat is a part of a short series of three books, called ‘Egyptian Heaven and Hell’ and you can purchase an exclusive illustrated book of the Am-Tuat on Amazon here!