The royal scribe Ani would need to overcome a multitude of obstacles and tests to navigate successfully through the Duat or Underworld, to gain a place as a blessed spirit (akh) in the Field of Reeds and to ride with the sun god. To succeed, he would have to invoke a range of magic spells. In a number of chapters in his Book of the Dead, Ani asks to be transformed into various creatures, such as a snake, a crocodile, a benu-bird, a swallow, a golden falcon, and a divine falcon (all shown in beautiful detail in Plates 25 to 28). Most of these have some identification with creation on the primordial mound: for instance, the benu-bird is associated with Atum, the creator god.
He must also be able to pass through various gates or portals, and he can do this just by naming the deity or deities standing in his way. Plate 11 shows Ani and Tutu before a range of guardians or gatekeepers, using words which enable him to pass through and join Osiris in the Field of Reeds. The deities in the upper register of this plate are depicted in groups of three, all holding the feather of divinity. The first is called ‘The Gatekeeper’; the second, ‘The Watcher’; and the third, ‘The Herald’ or ‘Announcer’. Their names and associated epithets seem particularly difficult to understand: examples include ‘Upside-down Face’ and ‘He who Lives in Worms’.
Ani is able to arrive at the various gates declaring that he has special powers or knowledge. Sometimes he says he is carrying a particular body part, such as jaws or a backbone, and that he has collected the limbs of Osiris and put them together.
