Barque of Millions
Solar barques were the vessels used by the sun god Ra in
ancient Egyptian mythology. During the day, Ra was said to use a vessel called
the Mandjet or the Boat of Millions of Years, and the vessel he used during the
night was known as the Mesektet.
Ra was said to travel through the sky on the barge,
providing light to the world. Each twelfth of his journey formed one of the
twelve Egyptian hours of the day, each overseen by a protective deity. Ra then
rode the barque through the underworld, with each hour of the night considered
a gate overseen by twelve more protective deities. Passing through all of these
while fending off various destructive monsters, Ra reappeared each day on the
eastern horizon. He was said to travel across the sky in the Mandjet Barque
through the hours of the day, and then switch to the Mesektet Barque to descend
into the underworld for the hours of the night.
The progress of Ra upon the Mandjet was sometimes conceived
as his daily growth, decline, death, and resurrection and it appears in the
symbology of Egyptian mortuary texts.
The Underworld Journey of Ra
1st gate: Sia, deification of perception, standing on the prow of the sun boat, invites
a snake called "Desert-Protector" to unlock the gate to the arrival
of Ra who, in the form of the god Atum (deification of the sunset sun ,
observes his enemies being massacred.
2nd gate: the guardian god is called "Swallower Of
Sinners" and his gate precedes a lake of fire.
3rd gate: its guardian snake is "Stinger" while
the portal itself is the goddess "Mistress Of Food"; some jackals
watch over the "Lake of Life" interdicted to the dead because it is
the place where Ra draws his breath.
4th gate: some deities carry ropes to measure the extension
of the netherworld fields — as well as, in the daily life of the Egyptians, the
measurement of the fields was carried out for tax purposes; this is also where
the four human ethnic groups (according to the Egyptians) were depicted: the
"cattle of Ra", i.e. Egyptians themselves, Levantines, Libyans and
Nubians.
5th gate: this gate is the goddess "Lady Of
Duration" while its guardian serpent is "Flame-Eyed"; this
access is inhabited by the perfidious demon Apep — embodiment of evil and chaos
(Isfet), bitter enemy of Ra — here
called "Evil Of Face". 20 deities manage to stem his devastating
power by continuing to dissect it, while the heads of those he devoured emerge
from his coils. The sun boat moves on and Ra leaves this dramatic region.
6th gate: Ra's boat approaches to seven jackal-headed poles
with two enemies bound to each one, waiting to be beheaded.
7th gate: this gate is the goddess "Shining One"
and beyond it there are 20 gods holding a rope ending in four whips, four
falcon heads and four human heads.
8th gate: this access is inhabited by a flaming snake who
burns up the enemies of Ausar.
9th gate: here stand Horus and Set on a hawk-headed lion.
10th gate: Apep appears again, but chained in order not to
harm Ra in his transit.
11th gate: this gate is called "Mysterious Of
Approaches" and is overseen by the cat-headed god Meeyuty (meow
onomatopoeia).
12th gate: here stand the goddesses Isis and Nephthys in the
form of snakes: the journey through the gates of the afterlife is finished and
the sun rises on the world in the form of a sacred scarab (Khepri, deification
of the morning sun.
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