Literature ReviewThe notion of Duat is a major component of the ancient Egyptian afterlife belief system, as it refers to the realm of the dead.
1) Yet, scholars do not agree on a proper definition of what the Egyptians meant as Duat.
2 )The term is mostly translated as “underworld” or “netherworld,” but a portrayal of the Duat as such is found only in the funerary compositions preserved in the New Kingdom royal tombs. The creation of a chthonic netherworld, in fact, represents the culmination in the evolution of the concept, reached after thousands of years of develop ment, and is therefore not necessarily applicable to older periods. Even during the New Kingdom, it is only one of multiple scenarios encountered when analyzing funerary documents and depictions relating to the afterlife. In fact, on the one hand, the Underworld Books primarily portray the Duat as a subterranean region; on the other, the Books of the Sky represent it as a regenerating, hidden space within Nut.
3) The complementarity of many notions intertwined in the conceptualization of the Duat is the reason why a single delineation of it cannot be achieved without having to sacrifice a plethora of meanings and layers of tradition nested within one another. The notion of Duat is a major component of the ancient Egyptian afterlife belief system, as it refers to the realm of the dead.1 Yet, scholars do not agree on a proper definition of what the Egyptians meant as Duat.2 The term is mostly translated as “underworld” or “netherworld,” but a portrayal of the Duat as such is found only in the funerary compositions preserved in the New Kingdom royal tombs. The creation of a chthonic netherworld, in fact, represents the culmination in the evolution of the concept, reached after thousands of years of develop ment, and is therefore not necessarily applicable to older periods. Even during the New Kingdom, it is only one of multiple scenarios encountered when analyzing funerary documents and depictions relating to the afterlife. In fact, on the one hand, the Underworld Books primarily portray the Duat as a subterranean region; on the other, the Books of the Sky represent it as a regenerating, hidden space within Nut.3 The complementarity of many notions intertwined in the conceptualization of the Duat is the reason why a single delineation of it cannot be achieved without having to sacrifice a plethora of meanings and layers of tradition nested within one another.
As a consequence, the Duat seems to have been imagined as a celestial domain or part thereof, lying somewhere above the earth, and possibly identifiable with the night sky. The physical element pt, “sky” could also be personified in the goddess Nut, who was believed to conceive the sun each night and to give birth to him again in the morning. In the Pyramid Texts, she additionally appears in the role of mother of the king, of the stars, and of other celestial beings, to which she also gives birth, and which travel along her belly in their barques, the Day Barque (manDt) and the Night Barque (msktt). In one spell, Nut is said to receive (Szp) or swallow (am) the deceased king, in what is the only known attestation before the New Kingdom of the motif found in the so-called Dramatic Text, which concludes the Book of Nut in the cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos. There is therefore some ambiguity also in the portrayal of the sun, who is cosmogonic ally self-created and born, and yet, on the other hand, astronomically rises and sets, with his mother Nut perpetually swallowing him to then give birth to him again. This goddess could be also identified with the coffin, the sarcophagus, and the tomb, hence the connotation of her celestial body as an enclosing space welcoming the deceased and activating their rebirth process.
https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3060937/6/Zago_JARCE%2054.pdf
The Duat exists simultaneously on different cosmic planes encompassed by the diurnal and nocturnal paths of the sun (east to west and backwards) and of the stars (to the north and south of the celestial sphere). Starting with the non-royal Coffin Texts, dating mostly to the Middle Kingdom (~2055–1650 BCE), the Duat evolves into a better-defined locale within the cosmos, distinct from both earth and sky.
The deceased needed to possess information on the otherworld, such as the names of its denizens, guardians, and various features (e.g., doors), if they wished to live there successfully. Collections of spells such as the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead
When the body died, the Egyptians believed, two parts of the soul would split apart. The life essence that made up a man’s spark and energy would get up and move, free to roam around its tomb and to make its journey up into the afterlife. But the other part of the soul, the part that carried the personality, was left behind, trapped in the lifeless and motionless body that stayed on the earth.
The dead’s only hope for eternal life and a reunited soul was to travel through hell and face judgement. If the essence of their soul could make its way through Duat, the Egyptian netherworld, and pass judgement before the gods, their souls would be reunited – but this was no simple journey, and the clock was ticking. If the body crumbled into decay before their essence made it through the netherworld, the part of the soul trapped inside would die. It would all be for nothing.