Egyptian religious poetry

INTRODUCTION 49

There were several theories of the Hereafter. The most simple was that the dead went into the Kingdom of Osiris, which was the realm of bliss, where they lived a happy life. In another theory, which is elaborated in the Book of the Dead, the dead could come out of the Underworld in the daytime and enter into their old homes and enjoy the same pleasures that they had had in life. This is summed up in the prayers for a man of the xviiith dynasty (circa 1501-1450 B.C.).

Mayest thou wander as thou listest in the beautiful margin of thy garden-pond, may thy heart have pleasance in thy plantation, mayest thou have refreshment under thy trees, may thy desire be appeased with water from the well which thou didst make, mayest thou see thy house of the living and hear the sound of singing and music in thy hall that is on earth, and mayest thou be a protection unto thy children for ever. [c.T.A., p. 101]

Yet a third theory of the life after death belonged originally to the Pharaoh only ; but in and after the xviiith dynasty (circa 1500 B.C.) lesser folk were eligible for the same existence. This was to join the Boat of the Sun as it sank to rest in the West, and to continue with the dead Sun through the darkness and dangers of that grim land through which the sun passed during the hours of the night, emerging joyously at sunrise in the Boat of the Morning.

As the West was the place where all the heavenly luminaries died, ie. disappeared, it was regarded as the place to which the dead also went. To “go to the West”, or to “ walk on the beautiful roads of the West”, are euphemisms for death ; the dead are therefore often called “‘ Westerners”, of whom Osiris was the Chief.

The horizon, which figures largely in all hymns to the Sungod, was not the whole boundary of the earth and sky, but was

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