THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
In the British Museum
The pyramid texts afford scanty information
about the fiends and devils with which the later Egyptians
peopled certain parts of the Tuat, wherein the night sun
pursued his course, and where the souls of the dead dwelt;
for this we must turn to the composition entitled the
" Book of what is in the Tuat," several copies of which
have come down to us inscribed upon tombs, coffins,
and papyri of the XVIIIth and following dynasties.
The Tuat was divided into twelve parts,
corresponding to the twelve hours of the night;
and this Book professed to afford to the deceased
the means whereby he might pass through them successfully.
In one of these divisions, which was under the rule
of the god Seker, the entrance was guarded by a serpent
on four legs with a human head, and within were a serpent
with three heads, scorpions, vipers,
and winged monsters of terrifying aspect;
a vast desert place was their abode, and seemingly
the darkness was so thick there that it might be felt.
In other divisions we find serpents spitting fire, lions,
crocodile-headed gods, a serpent that devours the dead,
a huge crocodile, and many other reptiles
of divers shapes and forms.
