he kings of the eleventh dynasty, about 2700
B.C.]

[Footnote 2: A high official of Tcheser, a king of the third dynasty.]

[Footnote 3: Son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid (fourth
dynasty.)]

CHAPTER XV

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE

In this chapter are given short notices of a series of works which the
limits of this book make it impossible to describe at greater length.

I. The BOOK OF THE TWO WAYS.--This is a very ancient funerary work,
which is found written in cursive hieroglyphs upon coffins of the
eleventh and twelfth dynasties, of which many fine examples are to be
seen in the British Museum. The object of the work is to provide the
souls of the dead with a guide that will enable them, when they leave
this world, to make a successful journey across the Tuat, _i.e._ the
Other World or Dead Land, to the region where Osiris lived and ruled
over the blessed dead. The work describes the roads that must be
travelled over, and names the places where opposition is to be expected,
and supplies the deceased with the words of power which he is to utter
when in difficulties. The abode of the blessed dead could be reached
either by water or by land, and the book affords the information
necessary for journeying thither by either route. The sections of the
book are often accompanied by coloured vignettes, which illustrate them,
and serve as maps of the various regions of the Other World, and
describe the exact positions of the streams and canals that have to be
crossed, and the Islands of the Blest, and the awful country of blazing
fire and boiling water in which the bodies, souls, and spirits of the
wicked were destroyed.

II. The BOOK "AM TUAT," or Guide to him that is in the Tuat.--This Book
has much in common with the Book of the Two Ways. According to it, the
region that lay between this world and the realm of Osiris was divided
into ten parts, which were traversed, once each night, by the Sun-god
in the form which he took during the night. At the western end was a
sort of vestibule, through which the god passed from the day sky into
the Tuat, and at the eastern end was another vestibule, through which he
passed on leaving the Tuat to re-enter the day sky. The two vestibules
were places of gloom and semi-darkness, and the ten divisions of the
Tuat were covered by black night. When the Sun-god set in the west in
the evening he was obliged to trav