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The Book of Caverns is an important Ancient Egyptian netherworld book of the New Kingdom.〔Hornung (1999) p.83〕 Like all other netherworld books, it is also attested on the inside of kings’ tombs for the benefit of the deceased. It describes the journey of the sun god Ra through the six caverns of the underworld, focusing on the interaction between the sun god and the inhabitants of the netherworld, including rewards for the righteous and punishments for the enemies of the worldly order, those who fail their judgment in the afterlife. The Book of Caverns is one of the best sources of information about the Egyptian concept of hell.〔(Ellison, ''The Book of Caverns'' )〕 The Book of Caverns originated in the 13th century BC in the Ramesside Period.〔Werning (2011), vol. I, ch. V, with English summary on p. 262.〕 The earliest known version of this work is on the left hand wall of the Osireion in Abydos.〔 Later it appears in the tomb of Ramesses IV in the Valley of the Kings. This appearance was already recorded by the founding father of Egyptology Jean François Champollion in his letters from Egypt. ==Content== Like the two earlier Great Netherworld Books, the Book of Caverns first of all describes the journey of the sun god (''Ra'') from the western horizon to the eastern horizon through the underworld, the divine creatures that he meets, and his interaction with them. Important landmarks on his journey are * the caverns of the "justified" deceased, now divine creatures (1st and 2nd tableau); * the cavern of Osiris’s corpse and the sun god's own two divine bodies (3rd tableau); and * the exit of the underworld for the sunrise (final tableau). During his journey, the sun god passes over the caverns of Hell, in which the enemies of the world order (the enemies of ''Ra'' and ''Osiris'') are being destroyed. The Book of Caverns also gives some hints on the imagined topographical structure of the underworld.〔The theology of the Book of Caverns and the imagined topography of the underworld are currently researched by Daniel Werning in a (projects at the Excellence Cluster ''Topoi. The Formation and Transformation of Space and Knowledge in Ancient Civilizations'', Berlin (Germany) ).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Book of Caverns」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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