Every evening the sun becomes old and weak and finally sets behind the Western horizon. Yet it
rises again in the morning rejuvenated. How is that possible? How could the sun -- for the
Ancient Egyptians the Sun god -- become young and revitalized during the night during his
night-journey? What happens during this time? Knowledge for the Afterlife is a guide to the
Amduat the earliest illustrated religious text about the world after death found in the
Egyptian tomb of Tuthmosis III. It helps the reader to understand its cryptic depiction and its
symbolic meaning. The Amduat is a description of the journey of the Sun god through the twelve
hours of the night-world to his renewal in the morning which is also the world of the
deceased. The knowledge contained in the Amduat was meant for the dead Pharaoh. But the
knowledge of the text and the images are also good for the people on earth -- a million times
proven as we read in the Amduat which was created 3500 years before our time. The authors
show that the journey of the Sun god can be seen as a symbolic representation of an inner
psychic process of transformation and renewal. Each of the twelve hours contains an enormous
amount of insight into the human psyche. As a first overall vision of humankind it describes or
maps the dangers but also the regenerative capabilities of the night-world that we call today
the unconscious world providing answers to basic human questions. The reader learns that --
symbolically speaking -- if an individual can consciously accompany the Sun god on his journey
through the netherworld he or she can learn from him how to relate to these both dangerous and
helpful forces. He or she would acquire an insight into the secret of eternal renewal and would
thus obtain a feeling of being close to the immortal Sun god. That is why the Amduat says
repeatedly: It is good for the dead to have this knowledge but also for a person on earth a
remedy -- a million times proven. The aim of the Amduat is for the reader to become conscious
of the guiding function of the inner Sun god or of the inner great human. The Amduat written
3500 years ago contains in a nutshell the knowledge necessary to reunite the individual soul
with this inner guiding light. This knowledge was later more clearly differentiated by all
great religions. This book is a kind of guide through the twelve hours of the nocturnal process
of the regeneration of the Sun god. It first presents the historical background and then the
journey of the Sun god through the twelve hours of the night. The descriptive parts are by Erik
Hornung Prof. Emeritus of Egyptology in Basle and well-known author of many books on
Egyptology. The psychological comments are by Theodor Abt and are based on lectures given at
the C.G. Jung Institute in 1988 and later in detail at the Centre for Depth Psychology
1998-2000.
