Hi all,
Wallis Budge regarded the hieroglyphic hand sign as having a phonetic value of ‘t’, but since at least Gardiner, the hand sign has been regarded as having a value of ‘d’. This is why Budge called it the amtuat and why it is now called the amduat.
In volume 3 of Heaven and Hell, Budge says the first hour of the journey through the amtuat begins on the eastern side of upper Egypt and the direction of travel is west. In the second and third hours the direction of travel is north. After reaching the kingdom of Osiris on the western side of the delta, the direction of travel in hours 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 is east. During the tenth hour the direction of travel changes to south:
“when the Boat of Aru-RA entered this (tenth) Division the god would have to alter his course from east to south. As the Kingdom of Osiris marked the limit of his journey northwards, and the Boat then turned eastwards, so the northern end of AKERT marked the limit of his journey eastwards, and the Boat then turned southwards.”
[archive.org]
Hour seven is close to the middle of the journey from the west side to the east side of the delta, or close to the middle of the delta. While hours 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are all described as being in the kingdom of Osiris, hour seven is described as the abode of Osiris. Here is a hand copy of a vignette in the seventh hour:
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Here is a link to volume 1 of Budge’s series, where this vignette appears:
[archive.org]
Budge translates this vignette as traveling through what he calls a district in the seventh hour, with a length of 440 cubits and a width of 440 cubits (the fourth and fifth columns from the left give the length and width as four coils of 100 each plus four hobbles of 10 each). This is not one of several square measures in the amduat. I have looked at a few different texts and this is the only square measure I found.
Based on the seventh hour being about half way between the west side and the east side, or near the apex, of the delta, or in close proximity to Giza, I wonder about a relation between the district of 440 x 440 cubits and the 440 x 440 base lengths of Khufu’s pyramid. As I understand it, the oldest surviving copy of the amduat is around 2000 b.c., or later than the pyramid was built, but who knows when the text was originated. Was the size in the text based on the size of the pyramid? Was the size of the pyramid based on the size in the text? Is it just a coincidence?
Wallis Budge regarded the hieroglyphic hand sign as having a phonetic value of ‘t’, but since at least Gardiner, the hand sign has been regarded as having a value of ‘d’. This is why Budge called it the amtuat and why it is now called the amduat.
In volume 3 of Heaven and Hell, Budge says the first hour of the journey through the amtuat begins on the eastern side of upper Egypt and the direction of travel is west. In the second and third hours the direction of travel is north. After reaching the kingdom of Osiris on the western side of the delta, the direction of travel in hours 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 is east. During the tenth hour the direction of travel changes to south:
“when the Boat of Aru-RA entered this (tenth) Division the god would have to alter his course from east to south. As the Kingdom of Osiris marked the limit of his journey northwards, and the Boat then turned eastwards, so the northern end of AKERT marked the limit of his journey eastwards, and the Boat then turned southwards.”
[archive.org]
Hour seven is close to the middle of the journey from the west side to the east side of the delta, or close to the middle of the delta. While hours 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are all described as being in the kingdom of Osiris, hour seven is described as the abode of Osiris. Here is a hand copy of a vignette in the seventh hour:
Here is a link to volume 1 of Budge’s series, where this vignette appears:
[archive.org]
Budge translates this vignette as traveling through what he calls a district in the seventh hour, with a length of 440 cubits and a width of 440 cubits (the fourth and fifth columns from the left give the length and width as four coils of 100 each plus four hobbles of 10 each). This is not one of several square measures in the amduat. I have looked at a few different texts and this is the only square measure I found.
Based on the seventh hour being about half way between the west side and the east side, or near the apex, of the delta, or in close proximity to Giza, I wonder about a relation between the district of 440 x 440 cubits and the 440 x 440 base lengths of Khufu’s pyramid. As I understand it, the oldest surviving copy of the amduat is around 2000 b.c., or later than the pyramid was built, but who knows when the text was originated. Was the size in the text based on the size of the pyramid? Was the size of the pyramid based on the size in the text? Is it just a coincidence?