death-afterlifeWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.
The Duat — the Underworld
A nighttime country of gates and guardians that both the sun and the dead must cross.
The Duat was the Egyptian underworld: a vast, complex region beneath or beyond the visible world through which the sun travelled each night and into which the dead descended. It held gates, guardians, dangers, and lakes of fire for the damned, but also the kingdom of Osiris and the path to the blessed afterlife. Funerary texts served partly as guidebooks to its geography.
Key passages(1)
The Pyramid Texts · 2350 BCE
High