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Ani’s Book of the Dead papyrus concludes with Plate 37 (Chapter 186). This vignette depicts his tomb (bottom right), as revealed originally on Plate 6, but now tucked into the Theban hills and surrounded by a thicket of papyrus. Peeking out from the papyrus is the goddess Hathor wearing a menat-collar round her neck and, on her head, a sun disc with two feathers. Her eyes are those of the wadjet eye of Ra or Horus (probably Ra in this instance). In this form, and in these surroundings, she is normally known by her epithet Mehet Weret (‘Great Flood’).
Hathor became prominent at Deir el-Bahri, below the Western Hills, where, in Hatshepsut’s magnificent mortuary temple, her cult was established during the New Kingdom. She was a popular deity of the workmen’s village of Deir el-Medina, where a shrine was dedicated to her. Although not yet located, Ani’s tomb is probably in this area. Hathor or Mehet Weret was regarded as a goddess of rebirth, as she also supported Ra in his daily return from the underworld.
On the left of the vignette, there are two large offering tables and bouquets of flowers. In front is the figure of Opet, who stands on a plinth holding in one hand an ankh and a large sa sign to ward off evil, and in the other a flaming taper to provide warmth for the deceased. On her head, there is a modius (headdress), with the sun disc and cow horns seen on the Hathor cow’s head too. Opet is identical to Tawaret and, like Tawaret, she was a goddess of protection for women in childbirth, but here her role is connected to rebirth. She represents resurrection, and offers protection for the soul’s journey, offering the promise of renewal and continuity beyond death.
The text above the scene conveys the importance of Hathor:
Hathor Lady of the West, who is in the West, Lady of the Sacred Land. Eye of Ra which is on his forehead; beautiful face in the bark of millions of years; a place of peace for doing what is right within the boat of the favoured ones, who built the great bark of Osiris in order to sail the [waters of] truth [maat].
It is fitting that the papyrus ends with the word maat (in the right-hand column of text, above the figure of Opet), as it was against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth, that Ani’s heart had to be balanced and his entry into the afterlife assured. The final plate does indeed confirm that Ani has successfully passed through the underworld.
Ani’s Book of the Dead
This series of articles has attempted to give a flavour of the key parts of Ani’s papyrus and his journey through the underworld. There are many incomprehensible, and even abhorrent, elements which we are unlikely ever to understand. These include the nature of the demons that he encounters, the worship of gods in animal form, and the use of spells and incantations that give Ani the ability to get the better of various deities just by using their names.
On the other hand, the Books of the Dead undoubtedly had an important influence on subsequent religious beliefs. These include the concept of resurrection; the spiritual element to life beyond death; the judgement of the dead; the use of hymns in worshipping the supreme god(s); and, not least, the importance of being able to gain eternity through having led (or, in any case, claimed to have led) a moral life.
Perhaps the papyrus can best be summed up in the words of Chapter 72, which strangely appear on Plate 6 in the funerary procession and burial scene, as shown in my second feature (see AE 146):
If he knows this book on Earth [that is, while Ani is still alive] and puts it in writing on the coffin, it is my word that he shall go forth by day in any form that pleases him and not go into his place where he is repulsed. He shall be given bread and beer and plenty of meat on the altar of Osiris. He shall go in peace to the Field of Reeds in order to know the command of she who is in Busiris. Wheat and barley shall be given to him there and he shall flourish as he did on Earth. He will carry out what he wishes to do like those nine gods who are in the Duat – a million times true.
Andrew Fulton contributes regularly to AE magazine. You can read
his articles on the Heavenly Cow in AE 137 and Palmyra in AE 142.
His series on Ani’s Book of the Dead begins in AE 145.
