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The Abode Of The Blessed.
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THE ABODE OF THE BLESSED.
The Egyptian heaven.
The gods of the Egyptians dwelt in a heaven with their ka's, and khu's, and shadows, and there they
received the blessed dead to dwell with them. This heaven was situated in the sky, which the Egyptians
believed to be like an iron ceiling, either flat or vaulted, and to correspond in extent and shape with the
earth beneath it. This ceiling was rectangular, and was supported at each corner by a pillar; in this idea,
we have, as M. Maspero has observed, a survival of the roof-tree of very primitive nations. At a very
early date the four pillars were identified with "the four ancient khu's who dwell in the hair of Horus,"[1]
who are also said to be "the four gods who stand by the pillar-sceptres of heaven."[2] These four gods are
"children of Horus,"[3] and their names are Amset, Hapi, Tuamautef, and Qebhsennuf.[4] They were
supposed to preside over the four quarters of the world, and subsequently were acknowledged to be the
gods of the cardinal points. The Egyptians named the sky or heaven pet. A less primitive view made the
heavens in the form of the goddess Nut who was represented as a woman with bowed body whose hands
and feet rest on the earth. In this case the two arms and the two
[1. ###. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 55 (l. 473); and compare ###. Ibid., t. v. p. 186 (l. 171).
2. Ibid., t. v., p. 27 (1. 233).
3. Ibid., p. 39 (l. 281).
4 Ibid., p. 10 (l. 60).]
{p. cii}
The Egyptian heaven.
legs form the four pillars upon which the heavens are supported. Nut, the sky goddess, was the wife of
Seb, the earth god, from whose embrace she was separated by Shu, the god of the air; when this
separation was effected, earth, air, and sky came into being. Signor Lanzone has collected a number of
illustrations of this event from papyri and other documents,[1] wherein we have Seb lying on the ground,
and Shu uplifting Nut with his outstretched hands. The feet of the goddess rested on the east, and her
hands on the west this is shown by the scene wherein Shu is accompanied by two females who have on
their heads "east" and, "west" respectively.[2] The child of the union of Seb and Nut was the Sun, who
was born in the east in the morning, and who made
[1. Dizionario di Mitologia Egizia, tavv. i 150 ff.
2. Ibid., tav. 158.]
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The Egyptian heaven.
his course along his mother's body, until he set in the west in the evening. The moon followed the sun's
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