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Writings from the Ancient World #39
The Ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books
The first, complete English translation of the ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books The ancient Egyptian Netherworld Books are among the most extensive religious texts from pharaonic civilization and present humanity's oldest surviving attempts to provide a scientific map of the unseen realms beyond the visible cosmos. First attested during the middle of the second millennium BCE, the Netherworld Books decorate the walls of the New Kingdom royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The importance of these texts lies in their philosophical and theological speculations about the inner workings of the cosmos, particularly the events of the solar journey through the twelve hours of the night. These important texts describe one of the central mysteries of Egyptian religious belief, the union of the solar god Re with the underworldly god Osiris, and provide information on aspects of Egyptian theology and cosmography more thoroughly than what is presented in the more widely read Book of the Dead. Features
- GenresHistoryEgyptNonfiction
Paperback
Published March 1, 2018
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About the author
John Coleman Darnell
10 books49 followersAlso credited as: John Darnell, John C. Darnell, John and Colleen Darnell
John and Colleen Darnell are a husband-and-wife Egyptologist team. They have presented on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, the Science Channel, and Smithsonian, as well as appeared in National Geographic’s “Lost Treasures of Egypt.”
John is Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. His archaeological expeditions in Egypt have been covered by the New York Times. In 2017, his Eastern Desert expedition discovered the earliest monumental hieroglyphic inscription and was named one of the top ten discoveries of the year by Archaeology.
Colleen teaches art history at the University of Hartford and Naugatuck Valley Community College; she has curated a major museum exhibit on Egyptian revival art and design at the Yale Peabody Museum.
John and Colleen Darnell are a husband-and-wife Egyptologist team. They have presented on the Discovery Channel, History Channel, National Geographic, the Science Channel, and Smithsonian, as well as appeared in National Geographic’s “Lost Treasures of Egypt.”
John is Professor of Egyptology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Yale University. His archaeological expeditions in Egypt have been covered by the New York Times. In 2017, his Eastern Desert expedition discovered the earliest monumental hieroglyphic inscription and was named one of the top ten discoveries of the year by Archaeology.
Colleen teaches art history at the University of Hartford and Naugatuck Valley Community College; she has curated a major museum exhibit on Egyptian revival art and design at the Yale Peabody Museum.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 14, 2024
I'm reluctant to comment on translations, because I don't have the linguistic expertise to evaluate them. But the New Kingdom netherworld books are a topic close to my heart, as they are the premier examples of the baffling surrealism of the ancient Egyptian religious imagination. Moreover, this book is the first since the works of Alexandre Piankoff in the 1950s to translate multiple netherworld books into English in a single volume. Understanding of Egyptian writing has presumably improved since then, particularly the "cryptographic" writing found in some parts of the netherworld books (a form of writing in which Darnell specializes). So a new edition is much needed for the study of Egyptian religion.
The texts translated here are the Book of Adoring Re in the West (a.k.a. the Litany of Re), Book of the Hidden Chamber (Amduat), Book of Gates, Book of Caverns, Books of the Creation of the Solar Disk (Book of the Earth), and the Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity (but see below). Out of the other texts that are sometimes classified as New Kingdom netherworld books, the Spell of the Twelve Caves isn't included because it's arguably part of the Book of the Dead, and the Book of the Day, Book of the Night, Book of Nut, and Book of the Heavenly Cow are left out because they relate to the sky rather than the earth; the authors hope to translate the Book of the Day and Book of the Night in a companion volume.
The introduction discusses the major themes of the netherworld books, their understanding of space and time, the effort to date when they originated, the evolution of the New Kingdom tombs in which the texts were inscribed, the possible use of the books in non-funerary settings, and the copies of them that were made after the New Kingdom ended. In most cases, the views expressed in the introduction seem entirely reasonable and well-supported. For instance, some Egyptologists have argued that the earlier netherworld books date to the Middle or even the Old Kingdom, many centuries before the earliest known copies, but Darnell and Manassa Darnell say they probably originated in the early New Kingdom or, at most, the preceding Second Intermediate Period.
The netherworld books are more illustration than text, so copying the illustrations is essential. Line-drawings illustrating the full length of each composition are found in the plates at the end of the book. The text of the translations is interspersed with smaller line drawings showing particular figures or vignettes, with accompanying captions explaining what the figures are. The translations are written in a straightforward, readable way, with limited footnotes and no complex linguistic analysis. Those seeking linguistic detail can consult the more in-depth sources in the bibliography.
One problem gives me pause. Darnell and Manassa Darnell interpret a set of three enigmatic texts, from three different tombs, as "Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity", centering on a single deity created by the fusion of Osiris with the sun god Re. When Darnell first advocated this interpretation, in The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar Osirian Unity, a review by Joachim Friedrich Quack sharply criticized it, arguing that the text of the book doesn't support this interpretation and Osiris is rarely even mentioned in the text; Mark Smith repeats these criticisms in Following Osiris. Yet this book interprets these texts the same way as Darnell's previous work. That leads an amateur like me to ask: if he's wrong about this, what else is he wrong about? The other netherworld books have been studied more extensively than those of the "solar-Osirian unity", and I hope that in those cases Darnell and Manassa Darnell stay closer to the well-established interpretations of the texts, but there is reason to treat their work with some caution.
The texts translated here are the Book of Adoring Re in the West (a.k.a. the Litany of Re), Book of the Hidden Chamber (Amduat), Book of Gates, Book of Caverns, Books of the Creation of the Solar Disk (Book of the Earth), and the Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity (but see below). Out of the other texts that are sometimes classified as New Kingdom netherworld books, the Spell of the Twelve Caves isn't included because it's arguably part of the Book of the Dead, and the Book of the Day, Book of the Night, Book of Nut, and Book of the Heavenly Cow are left out because they relate to the sky rather than the earth; the authors hope to translate the Book of the Day and Book of the Night in a companion volume.
The introduction discusses the major themes of the netherworld books, their understanding of space and time, the effort to date when they originated, the evolution of the New Kingdom tombs in which the texts were inscribed, the possible use of the books in non-funerary settings, and the copies of them that were made after the New Kingdom ended. In most cases, the views expressed in the introduction seem entirely reasonable and well-supported. For instance, some Egyptologists have argued that the earlier netherworld books date to the Middle or even the Old Kingdom, many centuries before the earliest known copies, but Darnell and Manassa Darnell say they probably originated in the early New Kingdom or, at most, the preceding Second Intermediate Period.
The netherworld books are more illustration than text, so copying the illustrations is essential. Line-drawings illustrating the full length of each composition are found in the plates at the end of the book. The text of the translations is interspersed with smaller line drawings showing particular figures or vignettes, with accompanying captions explaining what the figures are. The translations are written in a straightforward, readable way, with limited footnotes and no complex linguistic analysis. Those seeking linguistic detail can consult the more in-depth sources in the bibliography.
One problem gives me pause. Darnell and Manassa Darnell interpret a set of three enigmatic texts, from three different tombs, as "Books of the Solar-Osirian Unity", centering on a single deity created by the fusion of Osiris with the sun god Re. When Darnell first advocated this interpretation, in The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar Osirian Unity, a review by Joachim Friedrich Quack sharply criticized it, arguing that the text of the book doesn't support this interpretation and Osiris is rarely even mentioned in the text; Mark Smith repeats these criticisms in Following Osiris. Yet this book interprets these texts the same way as Darnell's previous work. That leads an amateur like me to ask: if he's wrong about this, what else is he wrong about? The other netherworld books have been studied more extensively than those of the "solar-Osirian unity", and I hope that in those cases Darnell and Manassa Darnell stay closer to the well-established interpretations of the texts, but there is reason to treat their work with some caution.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews