The Book of Gates: Sailing the Heavens
Imagine going on a mystical journey that transcends the boundaries of life and death. This is the essence of The Book of Gates, an ancient Egyptian text that serves as a cosmic map for souls navigating the afterlife. Today we will examine this journey and see how it has influenced the YA fantasy novel, Treasures of Egypt: the Spear & the Scythe.
What is The Book of Gates?
The Book of Gates is an ancient Egyptian funerary text that served as a spiritual compass for the departed to aid them on their journey to the afterlife. This text is a collection of prayers, spells, and incantations, that show us in one hundred scenes the journey of the newly deceased soul as it wanders through the afterlife with Ra, the Egyptian sun god. During that journey, the soul is expected to pass with the god through different gates during the hours of the night with each gate offering its own challenges and dangers.
The Journey Through the Night
Within the heart of The Book of Gates lies the epic saga of Ra and his nightly voyage through Duat—the Egyptian afterlife. This journey mirrors the sun's disappearance at dusk, its passage through the hidden chambers of the night, and its triumphant resurgence at dawn. Each chapter of this journey corresponds to an hour of the night, with twelve gates representing the stages of this mystical journey. The narrative is rich with symbolism, depicting the challenges and adversaries that Ra encounters.
The core of The Book of Gates is its portrayal of the twelve gates with each being guarded by beings of immense power and wisdom. The guardians of the gates, either members of the pantheon or monstrous creatures, pose challenges Ra has to overcome to escort the traveling souls to safety.
The ultimate goal of this journey is for Ra to complete his journey safely and return back to the world of the living after having fulfilled his task of aiding the newly dead souls to find passage to the afterlife. The journey’s end is marked with the new rising of the sun where Ra sails the heaven of our world until the sun sets and the cycle repeats.
The Book of Gates in Treasures of Egypt
In the YA fantasy novel, Treasures of Egypt: the Spear & the Scythe, the Book of Gates isn’t directly mentioned. However, some of the details of Ra’s journey are referenced in the story. However, since this is the realm of mythology and this is a fantasy novel after all, some creative liberties were taken for the sake of the plot.
Conclusion
The Book of Gates is a wonderful meditation on the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Of course, given the sheer size and complexity of the text, it’s impossible to explain it in detail in this post. However, if you are interested in the details, I highly recommend The Egyptian Book of Gates episode of The History of Egypt Podcast where the host, Dominic Perry, explains the entire journey wonderfully in a very accessible way.
Remember to cast the spell of regular updates to be the first to know about new posts, novels, and get many behind-the-scenes exclusives. If you would like to sail the heavens with Ra in the realm of fiction, consider checking out my YA fantasy novel “Treasures of Egypt: the Spear & the Scythe.”
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