Further Readings
Babynology. (n.d.).Baby Naming Ceremony Traditions
Across the Globe. Retrieved July 27, 2006, from
http://www.babynology.com/articles/baby_naming_cer
emony_traditions_across_the_globe.html
Fernandez, J. W. (n.d.).The Ibogaine Dossier.Bwiti:An
Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa.
Retrieved July 27, 2006, from http://www.ibogaine
.desk.nl/fernandez.html
Roy, C. D. (2002).The Art of Burkino Faso.Retrieved
July 27, 2006, from http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/
Art%20of%20Burkina%20Faso.html#Dolls
UNDERWORLD
The underworld was known as Tuat or Duat in
ancient Africa. It was the residence of the spirits
and the abode of souls belonging to the deceased.
Africans regarded the Tuat as the place that Ra
passed through after he, in the form of the sun, set
in the evening sky. The Tuat in the 18th dynasty
was personified as Ausar. It was one part of the
tripartite division of the cosmos by Africans:
Pet (Heaven), Ta (land), and Tuat (Underworld).
It was also a place where the unrighteous, those
whose souls were heavier than the feather of
Maat, could be banished to a terrible fate.
However, the Tuat was principally the place where
the ancestors enjoyed immortality.
A 19th-dynasty Kemetic text situates the location
of Tuat as beyond Earth and Heaven, separated by a
range of mountains, which provided an opening for
both the sun (Ra) and spirits. Every day Ra would
enter the underworld and reenter the world passing
through the mountains going and coming. As Ra
passed through on his way to the region of sunrise,
his light refreshed the strength of souls, making their
journeys enjoyable as they secured a place on a
divine boat, and when he went into the night, he also
brought blessings with him. The underworld is
bounded by Manu, the mountain of Sunset, and
Bakhau, the mountain of Sunrise. Like Kemet, the
Tuat had a celestial river that ran through it. Two
main texts describe the journey of souls through the
underworld. The book ofAmi Tuat, which was
favored by the nobles, and the Book of Gates,
favored by the common masses of people, were the
two main works on the Underworld.
The book ofAmi Tuatis divided into sections
calledhours. The oldest copies are found in the
tombs of Amenhotep, Thutmoses III, and
Amenhotep III of Thebes. The deceased sailed
in a boat from the mountains of Western Waset
until they reached the swamps in the Northeast
Delta. In theBook of Gates, the Tuat is divided
into 12 parts, beginning with the chamber of
night and the ending with the antechamber of
day. A serpent stands guard at each gate. It was
a challenging place full of perils and obstacles for
all spirits that entered. It had no illumination
save for the many strange creatures that inhab-
ited it. The Tuat contained several sections, each
with unique challenges and creatures obstructing
the path the souls traveled. African priests at
funerals would cast spells and incantations and
offer prayers to arm and assist the souls on their
journey through the Tuat. According to theBook
of the Coming Forth by Day, there was a special
domain of Ausar that contained seven halls, each
guarded by three gods: the first was the door-
keeper, the second a lookout, and the third an
announcer of visitors. Each god carried a knife.
Ausar rewarded his true and loyal followers with
estate farms or homesteads in his underworld
kingdom; moreover, they received everlasting
happiness upon Earth and were rewarded with a
seat in his Boat of Millions, sailing the heavens
for eternity.
The priests had exact knowledge of the various
sections of the Tuat, including the names of the
creatures and obstacles that stood to prevent souls
from completing their journey. Armed with spells,
the deceased then could find their way through
the Tuat avoiding its many challenges.Khonsura A. WilsonSeealsoAfterlife; DeathFurther Readings
Allen, T. G. (1974).The Book of the Dead:or,Going
Forth by Day:Ideas of the Ancient Egyptians
Concerning the Hereafter as Expressed in Their Own
Terms. Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago.
Champdor, A., & Bowers, F. (1966).The Book of the
Dead,Based on the Ani,Hunefer,and Anhaèi Papyri
in the British Museum. New York: Garrett.Underworld 683