The Amduat and its Relationship to the Architecture of Early New Kingdom Royal Burial Chambers (original) (raw)

The Amduat, a new genre of funerary literature chosen by the Thutmoside kings to decorate their tombs, describes the journey through the twelve hours of the night by the sun god Ra, arising reborn at sunrise. Few studies have examined the ways in which the texts and pictures of this composition work together with the architecture of the tombs to create a synthetic whole. Following Roehrig’s suggestion that the layout of the tomb of Thutmose III (KV 34) reflects concepts from the Amduat itself, this paper delves more deeply into the decorative and architectural relationships of the burial chamber of KV 34 and also examines the other two pre-Amarna tombs with complete versions of the Amduat (KV 35 and KV 22) to see the ways in which succeeding kings utilized this Netherworld text. The investigation revealed that KV 34 represents a true synthesis of decoration and architecture, transforming the burial chamber into a working microcosm of the Netherworld and emphasizing the identification of the king with the unified Ra-Osiris in order to ensure his potential for rebirth. In addition, it was discovered that the Litany of Ra’s textual and pictorial decoration works together with the most critical section of the Amduat to reinforce this important identification. Succeeding kings elaborated and expanded the architecture and decoration of their tombs in order to describe ever more fully the afterlife in both its solar and Osirian aspects, striving to guarantee their protection, regeneration, and ascent to the sky for eternity.