The Book of the Night

The first version of the Book of the Night that we know of comes from the Osireion at Abydos, and only extends to the ninth hour of the night. There was a copy in the tomb !"#$ of %erneptah on the ceiling of the antechamber, but it is mostly gone now. &amesses '" included this book next to the Book of Nut on the ceiling of his sarcophagus chamber, though only as far as the fourth hour. (owever, the tomb !")$ of &amesses "' gives us two complete copies, one on the west side of the ceiling of the sarcophagus chamber while the second version is spread out through earlier chambers Both versions are complemented by representations of the Book of the *ay. +e also find scenes from the book in the tomb of&amesses ', 'n all of these instances, the book is depicted on the ceiling of the New !ingdom tombs, though at Tanis, they shifted to the walls. Osorkon '' combined it with the Book of the *ay, while -hoshen. ''' followed -eti '/s version.

*uring the 0ate 1eriod, we also find extracts from the book in several tombs, including TT22, 324 and 536, along with fragments from the Nilometer at &oda. 7ven as late as the 26th *ynasty we may also note examples on sarcophagi, where they are combined with hours from theAmduat. There are also text from the second hour of the night found in the solar sanctuaries of *eir el8Bahri, %edinet (abu and !arnak.

Again, 9hampollion provided the initial copies of the versions found in the tomb of &amesses "', and later 7ugene 0efebure added the &amesses '" version in 3##). 7douard Naville discovered the version of the Book of the Night in the cenotaph of -eti ' at Abydos in 3)35, which was published by (enri :rankfort in 3)22. Alexandre 1iankoff also published the Book of the Night in 3)54, but again did not take into account the versions found in the Tanis tombs. That version was replaced by one written by ;illes &oulin.

The Book of the Night is divided into twelve sections separated from each other by vertical line of text designated as <gates<. =nlike the Book of ;ates, these precede the hours of the night to which they belong. The arms and legs of Nut represent the first and last gate, though the first hour is not presented. :or each hour there is an introductory text which provides the most important details, though the remaining captions are brief.

The book is arranged in three registers that are staggered into five to seven registers due to space considerations. The sun bar.ue travelers through the center register. +ithin this boat, the sun god, who is in his shrine, is surrounded by the coils of the %ehen8serpent while another serpent protects him. The crew of his boat features -ia at the prow as the spokesman of the god, (u at the

stern, %a/at, and in the version at Abydos, the king. +ithin the upper registers are various deities while the lower register features various groups of deceased people, including the blessed and the damned. 'n front of the boat is a large group of towmen, sometimes as many as thirty, called the =nwearing Ones, who are led by the king. There is no descriptive text like that found in he Books of the Netherworld, and generally, the registers are not divided into scenes. At the end, a summary of the entire course of the sun is provided.

There must obviously be many similarities between this book and other Books of the Netherworld. 'nterestingly, however, the sun/s enemy Apophis does not appear in this book at all though he appears in the Neitherworld books. 'nstead, the repelling of -eth is mentioned several times. This book complements the Book of the *ay, beginning at the point where the sun god is swallowed by Nut and ending when she gives birth to him in the morning as a scarab. The sun god take the form of the &am8 headed nocturnal god, and is designated as flesh.

-ia takes an important role in this book, appearing as the spokesman of the sun god. The sun god has his own escort in the middle register of each hour, in place of the hour goddesses who accompany him in the Amduat and the Book of ;ates.

Only in the -eti ' version are remains of an introductory text. (ere, the sun god provides us with an explanation of the goal of his >ourney through the underworld, which has to do with >udging the damned and caring for the blessed. The primeval darkness is mentioned as a border area.

As in the Amduat and the Book of ;ates, the first hour is seen as interstitial, and thus is not presented. The book begins with the second hour, where in the upper register depicts both individual and groups of deities. These include the deities of the four cardinal points,

the bas of Buto and(ierakonpolis, and the two 7nneads, which stand for the all divine beings.

'n the upper register of the seventh hour, general forms also appear that represent existence and nonexistence. To their opposite are all of the deceased in the lower register, appearing as transfigured ones akhu$, mummies and the <dead<, who are damned.

%issing is the union of &e and Osiris, found in other funerary text, though the representation of bas and corpses in the lower register of the sixth hour indicates the longed for union in the depths of night, with which the regeneration in the seventh hour is connected. (ere, the critical moment re.uires the overcoming of various enemies. 'n the lower register of the seventh hour, another motif that first appears in the Book of ;ates 32th scene$ takes form. here, (orus looks upon both foreigners shown

as Asiatics, 0ibyans, %ed>a bedouins and Nubians$ and 7gyptians shown as dwellers in the fertile land and the desert$. The foreigners are depicted as bound enemies. The speech of the sun god also includes motifs from the 43st scene of the Book of ;ates.

On the lower register of the eighth hour we find an enthroned Osiris, with (orus and the other gods connected with him in attendance. (e is shown in victory over enemies, though only in 0ate 1eriod representations are they directly addressed as -eth. (ere, the groups of the blessed and damned are turned to Osiris is prayer, and their depiction continues into the ninth hour, when they are addressed by -ia. (e dictates their fate in the afterlife and their attachment to Osiris, but in the tenth hour, only the blessed appear in the lower register.

The towmen preceding the solar bar.ue are >oined by four >ackals designated <+estern bas< in the twelfth and last hour. (ere, the deities, including Osiris, in the lower register pray before the concluding representation which summari?es the entire course of the sun. The sun god, with the help of the primeval gods, is transformed into a scarab and a child. 'n the backdrop are the two boats of his daytime and nighttime passage, together with 'sis and Nephthys who were later depicted in the prow of the bar.ues, keeping the sun in motion between them. The text here refers to the total course of the sun god in the three cosmic realms consisting of the netherworld *uat$, the primeval waters Nun$ and the sky Nut$.

At the end is a description of the <+estern bas<. who tow the sun god into the sky.