the other round Rē, the sun-god. Unfortunately we can- not get from Egyptian sources any clear conception of these two cults prior to their amalgamation.[1] This is to be deplored, for if it were only possible to disentangle them, many problems in comparative study would immediately be solved. The Pyramid Texts are the work of the priesthood of Heliopolis, the headquarters of the Sun-cult, and they are mainly concerned with the sky, the abode of Re and his cycle of deities, to which the kings of the Pyramid Age believed themselves to go after death to live in the company of the sky-gods. In the description of this world it is said that the dead king goes, in company with the Morning Star, to seek the Tree of Life in the mysterious isle in the midst of the Field of Offerings. This place is also called the Field of Life, the birthplace of Rē, the sun-god, in the sky.[2] This, so far as I am aware, is the first historical reference to the Isles of the Blest. But it is possible that the idea is not directly associated with the sun-cult, but is part of the Osirian beliefs. There is much discussion as to whether the Osirian religion of Egypt is prior to the solar cult. At any rate the two were distinct to a great extent at the time of their amalgamation, whatever their original relationships. Osiris was associated with the Tuat, which was, apparently, ultimately believed to be situated to the north of Egypt and to be separated from it by a long mountain range which supported the sky. The Tuat was a long narrow valley with a river running through it.[3] Apparently the different nomes of Egypt had their own divisions of the Tuat. That associated with Osiris' kingdom was called the Sekhet-
- ↑ The study of Sumerian texts will probably be much more fruitful for this purpose.
- ↑ Breasted, J. H., Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt, London, 1912, 32, 33.
- ↑ Budge, E. A. Wallis, The Book of the Dead, The Papyrus of Ani, London, 1895, p. civ.
