Ancient Egyptian Afterlife

The 12 Gates of the Egyptian Underworld

   Ra rode through the sky on his golden sun chariot each day. The farther along his journey he went, the farther in the sky he would be. But each night, Ra would die and return to the Underworld to take “The Route of the Gods”, a journey to his rebirth in the morning. It had 12 gates, and each gate was exactly one hour long.

Gate 1:

The pharaoh (in the form of Ra) is greeted by the gods of the west

Gate 2:

The blessed and the cursed are separated. There are 3 levels: top, middle, and bottom. The souls who followed Ra’s teachings were on the top level, and those who committed crimes were sent to the cursed bottom section.

Gate 3:

It is here the lake of fire will be found. The condemned are burned while the blessed pass through unharmed. During that time, the Pharaoh must battle Apophis, the archenemy of Ra. (Apophis was the Egyptian equivalent of Satan. Apophis was the demon of Chaos, usually portrayed as a large snake.)

Gate 4:

This gate had three levels, too. On the top level, there were 2 lakes – the Lake of Life and the Lake of Uraei. On the middle level, there were shrines dedicated to the gods, and on the bottom level a show magical ceremony would be performed for Osiris.

Gate 5:

This is the Hall of Judgment. Here, the pharaoh’s heart would be weighed on Osiris’ magical scales against the feather of truth. If the heart was heavy, it was evil and would be devoured by the demon Ammit.

Gate 6:

Apophis is getting restless, and must be restrained by other gods.

Gate 7:

The blessed are given food and wine, while the evil are condemned.

Gate 8:

More blessings are given to the good, while the enemies are cursed.

Gate 9:

The cursed are devoured by a serpent called “The Fiery One” at Horus’ command.

Gate 10:

The Pharaoh must battle Apophis once again! The battle was treacherous, and many gods helped along the way. Eventually, magic helped the gods defeat Apophis.

Gate 11:

The gods tie up Apophis and disable him from further attack. The war is over! Hooray!

Gate 12… The Final Hour:

The horizon is in sight and the pharaoh prepares to be reborn as Ra. Basically, when Ra is reborn, he becomes the sun.