Book of Caverns

• Oct 04, 2022

BOOK OF CAVERNS A funerary text written in the Nineteenth Dynasty, the Book of Caverns chronicles in gory detail the perils of the sun god's journey through the 12 hours of the night.

Each of the six parts of the Book of Caverns takes place in a cave or cavern where RE is hailed as the bringer of light and life and as the executioner of enemies. The Book of Caverns contrasts the rewards of goodness with Re's punishment of his enemies. When the book opens, Re is descending into the Duat, where he encounters various gods and goddesses. Each one is enclosed in an oval shape.

Upon reaching the First Cavern, Re shouts the secret names of the guardian deities so they will let him pass without harm. Now, feeling strong and asserting himself, Re reaches the Second Cavern, where he punishes his enemies by hanging them from their feet or tearing their hearts from their bodies. Upon reaching the Third Cavern, Re greets AKER, a two-headed lion god, and Osiris, god of the dead, who appears with an erect phallus, demonstrating that he is rejuvenated by the light of the sun. The Fourth Cavern repeats the theme of goodness and light as the sun god's boat travels through.

Punishment is the theme of the Fifth Cavern. Huge cauldrons are filled with decapitated corpses and body parts. He admonishes, Look, I destroy my enemies. You will stay in your caverns! Your fires will heat my cauldrons. As he travels past the Fifth Cavern, Re meets The Secret One, a manifestation of NUT, the sky goddess. She is surrounded by solar disks and resurrected souls of the dead. Upon entering the Sixth Cavern, the last of Re's enemies are slaughtered. The scene changes and the great god prepares for his rebirth and the first light of the new day. At dawn, Re first appears as KHEPRI the CARAB BEETLE, rolling the sun disk toward the eastern horizon. When the first light appears upon the horizon, the sun god is reborn and will make his daily journey across the sky.

A complete version of the Book of Caverns can be seen in the tomb of Ramses VI in the VALLEY OF THE KINGS.