Book of Caverns in Ancient Egypt Pharaonic Civilization | The facts of the Pharaonic Book of Egyptian Tombs and the secrets of the funerary book texts about the underworld with the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the Pharaohs, and more about Ancient Egypt History.
Book of Caverns in Ancient Egypt
What is the Egyptian Book of the Underworld?
The Book of Caves, or what is known as the Book of Tombs, is an Egyptian funerary book. The book talks about the underworld. This book appeared in the era of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the beginning of the rule of King Ahmose I and The New Kingdom period in ancient Egypt.
The texts of the book were engraved in the tombs of kings, believing that they would help them in their journey to the afterlife as in Ancient Egyptian religion.
- Book of Caverns describes a journey after death in which the dead goes to the sun God Ra “Egyptian deities“.
- The deceased passes through 6 caves, which are the underworld, and there is a relationship between the god “Ra” and the inhabitants of the underworld.
- The relationship comes from the way of giving reward to the righteous and punishments to the corrupt people.
- The deceased is going through the trial of the God Osiris, and the Book of Caverns dates back to the 13th century BC and this era is called The Ramesside Period, the beginning of the rule of the Pharaohs kings of the Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty and the rule of King Setnakhte “Egyptian Pharaohs kings“.
- The old copy of the book is found on one of the walls of the Osiris in Osireion Temple near The Temple of Abydos in , , which dates back to the reign of king Merneptah from Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.
- Texts have also been found On the walls of the Tomb of King Ramesses IV | KV2, within the tombs of the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, which was built by King Ramesses IV.
- The book was found by Egyptology archaeologist Flinders Petrie and also English Egyptologist Margaret Alice Murray during 1902 and 1903.
- The first person who inscribed the text of this Book of Caverns in his Tomb of King Ramesses IV | KV2, and almost the entire book is found in the tomb of King Ramses VI in the Valley of the Kings.
- Book of Caverns was translated for the first time by Egyptologist and archaeologist Ippolito Rosellini “Niccola Francesco Ippolito Baldassarre Rosellini”, and the Egyptian scholars did not care about the book until the full version of the book appeared.
- In 1933, Dutch Egyptologist and archaeologist Henri Frankfort “Hans” published a complete translation of the book for the first time, and it was translated into French by Alexander Biankov in 1942 and 1945.
- The book was translated into German by German-Swiss archaeologist and Egyptologist Dr. Erik Hornung in 1972.
Caves book content
- Book of Caverns includes important stations from man’s journey to the other world, and it also contains important landmarks that man goes through during his journey.
- Among the landmarks that the deceased passes through are the caves of the dead that come in a specific order in the other world.
- The cave of the corpse of Osiris and two corpses of “Ra”, the sun god.
- Exit from the underworld at sunrise, and during the journey of the deceased, the god passes over the cave of Hell and destroys any enemy.
- The Book of Caverns is not divided into night hours, unlike other books that talked about the other world, and the book contains approximately 7 panels as Book of Gates and The Book of the Dead.
- The total number of scenes in the book is 80 scenes, divided into three sections.
Who has the Book of Caverns in their tombs?
- The tomb of Ramses IV in the Valley of the Kings has the first and second panels, and it dates back to the middle of the twelfth century BC.
- The texts of the Book of Caverns come almost entirely from the tomb of Ramses VI in the Valley of the Kings, and the texts are in the upper part of the tomb.
- There are also stone blocks found on Al-Rawda Island that contain the first and second panels.
- Green Coffin “ Sarcophagus of Tjihorpto,” belonged to the priest Ankh-en-Maat also contains the first, second, fifth and sixth panels, dating back to the fourth century BC.
- Coffin of general Petiëse contains one scene from the Book of Caverns.
- The Mummy Cartonage has a cover and a scene from the book is engraved on it.
- The tomb of the priest Mentuemhat from Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, the High Priest of Amun, the temple of Amun IV, Tomb no. TT34 within the Tombs of Al-Assassif, known as Tombs of The Nobles in Luxor “Thebes” | The Pharaonic Tombs from Thebes also contain a group of texts that came in the Book of Caverns.
- The tomb of the priest Pediamenopet, the chief chanting priest in the tombs of Thebes during the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, known as the period of the Black Pharaohs, whose Tomb no. TT33 contains the texts of the entire book, and the texts are found in the rooms and the corridor bearing Nos. 18 and 19.
- Tomb of King Ramesses IX | KV6 Which it built by King Ramesses IX contains the first panel of the book until the fifth panel. The texts are found in the first and second corridors, as well as in the burial chamber.
- The papyrus of Queen Nodjmet, wife of King Herihor of the Twenty-first Egyptian Dynasty, contains the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. also contains parts from the first, second, fourth and seventh plates. The Papyrus dates back to the middle of the eleventh century.
- Funerary texts in the Ptah Amun papyrus comes in one scene, and the age of the incantation dates back to the eleventh century BC.
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