The texts from which we gather knowledge of the Egyptian Underworld (Duat) include the various funerary texts which also served as guides to the underworld.
Tag: Underworld
Charon: Old Man and the River
Charon, the ferryman of the Greco-Roman underworld, was born from a union of the primordial embodiments of night (Nyx) and darkness (Erebus). Charon’s many siblings included Aether… Read more “Charon: Old Man and the River”
Got Pandemics? We’ve Got Panaceas! Mithridate, Pt. 1
First, a few etymologies: Pandemic comes from pandēmos (Greek) = pan ‘all’) + dēmos ‘people’; therefore “all people”, as opposed to epidemic (epi=upon, hence “upon people”). Panacea… Read more “Got Pandemics? We’ve Got Panaceas! Mithridate, Pt. 1”
An Account of Ancient Matters: A Shinto Creation Story
Izanagi (He Who Invites) and Izanami (She Who Invites) were the eighth pair of primeval Kami (deities) and were tasked with creating the world. They were given… Read more “An Account of Ancient Matters: A Shinto Creation Story”
I Will Raise the Dead to Feed on the Living: Inanna/Ishtar in the Underworld, Pt. 2
We left Inanna/Ishtar banging on the gates of the Underworld, where the Goddess made an undeniable, zombie-apocalypse threat: Gatekeeper, Lo! open thy gate! Open thy gate that… Read more “I Will Raise the Dead to Feed on the Living: Inanna/Ishtar in the Underworld, Pt. 2”
Hades and the Helm of Darkness
The Helm of Darkness…sounds awesome right? Also known by the less impressive title of The Cap of Invisibility, this powerful object rendered anyone who wore it completely… Read more “Hades and the Helm of Darkness”
I Will Raise the Dead to Feed on the Living: Inanna/Ishtar in the Underworld, Pt. 1
There are as many reasons to descend into the Underworld as there are Underworlds: some go to recover love, others to find guidance, while others still are… Read more “I Will Raise the Dead to Feed on the Living: Inanna/Ishtar in the Underworld, Pt. 1”
Guidebook to the Underworld: Xibalba
Thank you, Friar Ximénez. * When the Spanish Conquistadors washed up on what we now call South America, they initiated one of the more thorough and widespread acts… Read more “Guidebook to the Underworld: Xibalba”
Reincarnation in Ancient Greece: Plato and the Myth of Er.
The idea of re-incarnation was not unknown to the ancient Greeks. The eminent philosopher Plato was a major exponent of this belief (as was Pythagoras and the… Read more “Reincarnation in Ancient Greece: Plato and the Myth of Er.”
The Greco-Roman Underworld
The Greco-Roman underworld is the realm of the dead, where Hades reigns with Persephone by his side, and the place that all must pass once they have shed their… Read more “The Greco-Roman Underworld”
