In the decoration of the large shaft tombs at Abusir, dated to the late Twenty-sixth/early Twenty-seventh Dynasty, several series of the underworld demons can be found. They appear in different positions—either separately, as on the inner sarcophagus of Iufaa and on the outer wooden coffin of Nekau (buried in one of the lesser burial chambers in the tomb of Iufaa), or as part of the Book of the Dead chapter 144 on the side of the burial chamber of Menekhibnekau. Another series of demons—for technical reasons mostly inaccessible—seems to exist on the inner sarcophagus of Menekhibnekau. In this paper, each of those series of demons is treated in respect to its position in the decoration of the entire burial chamber. In addition to that, several question connected to their position and use in the tombs are discussed.
Book of the Dead; burial chamber; gates (netherworld); Iufaa; Late Period; Menekhibnekau; Nekau; sarcophagus; shaft tomb
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(Pages 5-19)