The Secret One.

An Analysis of a Core Motif in the Books of the Netherworld

Author(s): Nils Billing
Source: Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, Bd. 34 (2006), pp. 51-71
Published by: Helmut Buske Verlag GmbH
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25157745
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 The Secret One.
An analysis of a core motif in the Books of the Netherworld

Nils Billing

Abstract
The repertoire of the ancient Egyptian canon of art is constructed around a comprehensive number of
iconographic cores which serve as raw models from which numerous variants can be formulated. In certain
cases one can likewise notice how two or more such core motifs have been fused in a specific iconographic
realization. In order to demonstrate some of the workings in this often complex process, the article ventures
an analysis and interpretation of the origin and meaning of the conspicuous scene of the Secret One as
found in the ?chthonic" compositions of the netherworld, the Book of the Earth and Book of Caverns.

I Introduction
A characteristic trait of the traditional Egyptian canon of art is its comprehensive yet limited
number of distinctive motifs. These motifs can be said to function as cores within a system,
maintaining their individual bounds through distinctive sets of motif-defining icono
graphical elements. Constituting the cores from which the repertoire of Egyptian art
emanates, W. Davis has spoken of them in terms of ?core motifs":

?Egyptian canonical iconographic programs seem to expand and contract. However, each program
maintained a ?core" motif, often historically the most archaic element, which invariably appears in
every context of use in a highly invariant form. Expansion and contraction occurs through the
manipulation of a cluster of available details modifying this core. Additive modification of a core
element is the most common source of iconographic variability and flexibility in Egyptian art and was
probably the most stable of the canonical iconographic principles. It could nevertheless be
supplemented by other principles of establishing and transforming meaning, which were often used
simultaneously by an artist in a single work."1

Among the core motifs given particular treatment by Davis are the king-smiting-the
enemy and the traditional hunting scene2. In the present article, I intend to analyze another
conspicuous core: the deity that often pictured en face, holds a reptile of some sort in both
hands. The discussion will then focus on the versions of the motif as found in the New
Kingdom ?Books of the Netherworld", where it was used to provide an image for a goddess
named ?The Secret One". The aim of the analysis is to reveal the range of signification
inherent in its different elements, set against its historical background. Apart from giving
an insight into the great potential variation offered by the general concept of the core motif,
it will also show the decisive dialectic process operating between the specific motif and its
context. Finally, at the end of the paper, I will demonstrate how one core motif, in a specific
context, might be formulated under a decisive influence from another.

1 W. Davis, The Canonical Tradition in Ancient Egyptian Art, 1989, 64.

2 Davis, Canonical Tradition, 64-93.

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 52 N. Billing SAK 34

// The core
The present core motif could be said to originate within the realms of magic and fertility.
It can be traced back at least as far as the Middle Kingdom, where we find statuettes of nude
women holding serpents in their hands3. Likewise the so-called
magical wands of the period include within their programs of
decoration an en face representation of the god Aha, who,
sometimes with clearly female attributes, is seen holding a snake
in each hand (Fig. I)4. The motif provides the core for the Shed
and Horus stelae from the New Kingdom and later as these
protective gods are similarly represented frontally with, inter
alia, snakes in their hands5. The snake element is thus exchange
able with other reptiles carrying the same signification, like
Fig. 1: Aha
(after: H. Altenmiiller, in: lizards or scorpions, but also with flower arrangements6. Another
SAK 13, 1986, 3, Fig. 1) carrier of the motif is Qudshu, a goddess of fertility and protec
tion, who likewise appears in the Egyptian pantheon during the
New Kingdom. Represented en face and nude, she often stands on a lion and holds snakes
and lotus flowers in her hands. This goddess has, due to her appearance as well as name,
been considered to be of western Semitic origin7. This non-Egyptian origin could thus per
haps count for the core motif itself. Later in the subsequent periods we commonly find pro
tective genii with various external appearances that are cast in the same mould of the
general core8.

3 See e.g. J. Baines, in: B.E. Shafer (ed.), Religion in Ancient Egypt. Gods, Myths, and Personal Practice,
1991, 167, Fig. 61.
4 H. Altenmtiller, in: SAK 13,1986,15-16. In other versions of the deity, which are standard elements
on these magical wands, the female attributes are not emphasized in the same degree. H. Altenmuller,
in: WO 14,1983,33-35, speaks of ?der besgestaltige Damon (Aha) und sein weibliches Komplement".
Bes, the generic name for this dwarf deity, can also in his protective role be seen holding a snake in
each hand (see J.F. Romano, in: BES 2,1980,39-56 w. Fig. 1; V. Dasen, Dwarfs in Ancient Egypt and
Greece, 1993,55-83). The magical function of the wand is emphasized by its general iconographic pro
grams, reproducing various mythological ?Mischwesen" (E. Hornung, in: Ch. Uehlinger (ed.), Images
as Media. Sources for the cultural history of the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean (1st
millennium BCE), OBO 175, 2000, 1^; see also Altenmuller, in: WO 14, 1983, 31, Fig. 1-5). They
were primarily used as instruments of protection in connection with birth, but the possession of them
was likewise considered useful in the Hereafter (Altenmuller, in: WO 14, 1983, 37-39).
5 For a comprehensive discussion on the Shed- and Horus stelae, see H. Stemberg-El Hotabi, Unter
suchungen zur Uberlieferungsgeschichte der Horusstelen I, AA 62, 1999, 2Iff.
6 Stemberg-El Hotabi, Horusstelen, 18.
7 R. Stadelmann, Syrisch-Palastinensische Gottheiten in Agypten, PA 5,1967,110-123; U. Winter, Frau
und Gottin. Exegetische und ikonographische Studien zum weiblichen Gottesbild im Alten Israel und
in dessen Umwelt, OBO 53,1983,110-114 w, Figs. 36-43; Y. Volokhine, La frontalite dans l'icono
graphie de l'Egypte ancienne, CSEG 6, 2000, 65-67.
8 See for instance the vignette of BD 182 (E. Homung, Das Totenbuch der Agypter, 1979,389, Fig. 90)
or the goddesses of protection and birth as richly represented on the Metternich stele (W. Golenischeff,
Die Metternichstele in der Originalgrosse, 1877, PL 1-2 = H. Stemberg-El Hotabi, in: GM 97, 1987,
30-31).

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 2006 The Secret One 53

ill [m t ?0If ^f^fj

m
If? l# I Tk p
2^r? JR / O I?
pap 5 ? I 1/ ^^ 11
Fig. 2. Book of the Earth (Tomb of Ram
(after: E. Lefebure, Les hypogees royaux
Thebes, 1889 (1890),
I jp j W PL
mi mi im58)
Im // \\l

Fig. 4. Book of Caverns (Osireion) (after: H. Frankfort,

The Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos, Vol. II, 1933, PL 37)
^1 a ^ ^ ^g AP/ JL ^
So == 2,

f? in js^ ^ \\

lit ]Js/TOjo\ w*mA*[\ Xi I??,

gi| Saf7 jjfe] *2
^ffm))^f\ \9l Kill tj^. ess S r~~\ \ H '

?i)JV vr+ / * ,n\g J

Ai?B?s if ?? ? nj u / j pi js|

Fig. 3. Book of the Earth (Tomb of Ramesses VI) Fig. 5. Book of Caverns (Tomb of Ramesses VI)
(drawn by the author from: A. Piankoff, The Tomb (drawn by the author from: A. Piankoff, The Tomb
of Ramesses VI, Part II, 1954, PL 133) of Ramesses VI, Part II, 1954, PL 27)

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 54 N. Billing SAK 34

4 al fi - P^V\ K?h^f Mfr K=? /S\ ?

lw,!i 10 'if
&/ ;Sii i i ' ?
Im ' i ^ "

1 f,,^^: |^;s p\ ^gf. &

it Im ?1 *-
1j a-
Fig. 6. Book of Caverns (Tomb of Ramesses IX)
(after: F. Guilmant, Le tombeau de Ramses IX,
MIFAO 15, 1907, PL 89)
^= Will I W ft *='

$^no
/lii
v3 Ml ?
1\\!?t
n \\ n
2 n n\

(l\n Fig. 7. Book of Caverns (Berlin 29) (after: H. B

Receuil de monuments egyptiens, 1862, 47, P

SWA
Fig. 8. Book of Caverns (pTurin
Cat. 1858) (after: L. Morenz, in:
DE 56,2003, 65, Fig. 1)
Fig. 9. The snake-seizing goddess (Tomb of Ramesses IX)
(after: E. Lefebure, Les hypogees royaux de Thebes, 1889
(1890), PL 10)

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 2006 The Secret One 55

During the New Kingdom, the motif is also adopted into the Book of Caverns9 and the
Book of the Earth10. Among their great number of images describing a world beyond human
perception, a scene is included that in an unparalleled way describes the sun's movement
in relation to a regenerating female body that is flanked by two erect snakes. The goddess
is called the Secret One {Stiyt\ a name that among scholars traditionally has been inter
preted as an epithet of the sky goddess Nut11. Included within this new context, the core
motif had thus been turned into a manifestation of the great mother goddess from whom all
life emanated12. The scene in the Book of the Earth is found in the decoration programs of
the tombs of Ramesses III (Fig. 2) and Ramesses VI (Fig. 3), whereas the versions from the
Book of Caverns illustrated here are taken from the Osireion of Seti I at Abydos (Fig. 4),
the tombs of Ramesses VI (Fig. 5) and Ramesses IX (Fig. 6), the lid of the 30th Dynasty
sarcophagus of Petisis (Berlin 29) (Fig. 7)13 and the papyrus amulet pTurin Cat. 1858 dated
to the T.I.P. (Fig. 8)14. In addition, the latter version of the scene is found on the bottom of
another 30th Dynasty sarcophagus, Tjaiherpata (CGC 29306)15, and in the Sai'te tomb of
Petamenophis16.
A comparison between the scenes of the two compositions reveals a shared set of icono
graphic elements. The goddess is clothed and consistently faces the general reading direc
tion of the compositions. In the Book of the Earth, where her body is oriented to the right,
she has turned her head completely around in order to maintain this orientation. In the
Ramesses VI version of the Book of Caverns, a transparent dress results in a stronger
emphasis on her female appearance17. On the goddess's raised hands one recognizes a sun
disc and a ram, both common manifestations of the sun god in the books of the netherworld.
The ram, positioned on her front side, is given a human body in the Book of Caverns,
whereas the Book of the Earth pictures him as a ba-bird. Two erect snakes with male human

9 A. Piankoff, Le Livre des Quererts, 1946.

10 Conventional denomination by E. Hornung, Agyptische Unterweltsbticher, 1972, 22, on the
composition published by A. Piankoff as ?La creation du disque solaire" (BdE 19, 1953).
11 E.g. Piankoff, Quererts, 63-64; idem., Creation, 44?46; Hornung, Agyptische Unterweltsbticher,
373-375, 463-464; D. Meeks/Ch. Favard-Meeks, La vie quotidienne des dieux egyptiens, 1993,
232-233. Whether as a name or an epithet, the Secret One can be found in a number of different con
texts without any connection to the core motif discussed here (see Ch. Leitz et al., Lexikon der
agyptischen Gotter und Gotterbezeichnungen 7, OLA 116,2002,140-141). For the Egyptian concept
of $filwl9 ?secret/s/", see K.T. Rydstrom, in: DE 28,1994, 56-61.
12 The manufacture of a figure (rpyt) similar to the Secret One is also described in the Book of the
Heavenly Cow (the version of Seti I) (E. Hornung et al., Der agyptische Mythos von der Himmelskuh.
Eine Atiologie des Unvollkommenen, OBO 46,1982, 28 [300-305], 71, n. 208).
13 P.-M., Chevereau, Prosopographie des cadres militaires egyptiens de la basse epoque. Carrieres mili
taires et carrieres sacerdotales en Egypte du Xle au He siecle avant J.C., 1985, 158-160.
14 S. Demichelis, in: BIFAO 100,2000,267-273. The image here is found together with BD 100, a spell
which describes the deceased's aspiration to join the solar bark.
15 G. Maspero, Sarcophages des epoques persane et ptolemaique I, CGC, 1914, 313-314.
16 The texts are published by Piankoff, Quererts, Pis. LIX-LXII.
17 On the sarcophagus of Tjaiherpata (CGC 29306), she is, according to Maspero, Sarcophages, 313,
actually depicted nude.

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 56 N. Billing SAK 34

heads flank the goddess's body. In the Book of the Earth, the heads of these snakes are also
given a human upper body, the arms of which are held in a gesture of adoration. The arms
of the goddess are brought into contact with the flanking snakes, and a conspicuous link to
the core motif of the Middle Kingdom is revealed in a similar scene in the sarcophagus
chamber of Ramesses IX (Fig. 9) where the goddess actually seizes them.
A distinctive iconographic difference between the scenes of the two compositions is
found among the elements arranged along the body of the Secret One. Whereas in the Book
of the Earth she has an erect snake and a crocodile reaching up to her knees, the scene in the
Book of Caverns presents a more complex arrangement. A sequence of representations on
both sides reproduces the trajectory of the sun god. Behind the goddess, the single crocodile
in the Book of the Earth has become four in number, accompanying the sun in the mani
festation of ram, beetle and sound eye (wdit)1*. In front of the last crocodile one also notices
a sun-disc. On the opposite side the series of solar transformations (hprw) begins with a
beetle, being followed by a full-bodied ram, a human-bodied ram and finally the sun-child,
who is received by a pair of arms. In pTurin Cat. 1858 (Fig. 8), this series of the sun's trans
formations seems reflected in the name given him above the image of the goddess: ?Earth
- beetle - sun-disc is truly your name" (S-hpr-itn rn=k m3rt)19.
Different texts connected to the image provide further information concerning the
meaning of the composition. The main descriptions of the scene focus on the goddess, the
sun god and the flanking snakes and crocodiles. Some of these legends are also given a
cryptographic form as a complement to the normal writing20. In the Osireion (Fig. 4), a text
written on the image of the goddess even seems to confer on the scene the status of an
individual composition: ?The Book of the Secret One, first form of the great edition" (mdit
Stlyt hprw tpy sip r3).

Ill The elements

A core is constructed from a basic set of distinctive elements, which, although subjected to
various manipulations, always remain the signifiers of the core. The following analysis will
compare the different formulations of the same core elements of the Secret One in the ver
sions of the Book of the Earth and Book of Caverns, namely the goddess and her reptiles.

18 The solar symbols are missing in Petisis (Fig. 7) except for the sun-disc in front of the last crocodile.
19 Demichelis, in: BIFAO 100,2000,270, n. 45, considered this to be the name of the goddess, although,
as she admitted, ?on s'attendrait a un suffixe feminin". L. Morenz, in: DE 56,2003,57-68, recognizes
in these signs an acrophonic cryptogram where the signs of the earth, beetle and sun transmit the
morphemes i+t+m, i.e. the name of the Heliopolitan sun- and creator god Atum.
20 Noticed already by Th. Deveria, Memoires et fragments II, BE 5, 1897, 62. See also Hornung, in: J.
Osing/G. Dreyer (eds.), Form und Mass. Beitrage zur Literatur, Sprache und Kunst des alten Agypten.
Festschrift fur Gerhard Fecht, AAT 12, 1987, 226: ?es handelt sich daher nicht urn eine eigentliche
?Geheimschrift", sondem urn den Ausdruck der gleichen Information mit anderen Mitteln, wobei man
sich alle Moglichkeiten des hieroglyphischen Schriftsystems zunutze macht. Der Zweck ist offenbar
eine Hervorhebung gewisser Textpassagen".

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 2006 The Secret One 57

III.l The goddess

The central image of the goddess with related texts offers no great interpretational problems
concerning its general import. Here is given a description of the Dat as a nocturnal world
of darkness and concealment in which the
AWWM* _e=; ?=?.
sun god joins with his mother, i.e. an adquate
i i i ^^ _h_ ?ra ?. J J ?=. ?c-3 -o 11 ?? \ j\ Ua-^^j summary of the contemporary conception
of the netherworld. The text from the Book
of Caverns, found behind the goddess in
the version of the Osireion (Fig. 4), has
been considered lost as for its beginning
Fig. 10: Legend of the Secret One and middle section21. It can, however, be
on CGC 29306
completely complemented from the
(after: G. Maspero, Sarcophages des epoques
persane et ptolemaique I, CGC, 1914,314) parallel on the sarcophagus of Tjaiherpata
(CGC 29306) (Fig. 10)22:

He (sic!) is in this fashion: wnn-fm shrwpn

Her head is in the upper Dat, tp=s m dit hrt
her feet in the lower Dat. rdwy=s m dit hrt13
The gods who make this great god ntrw skdd ntr pn rl
travel
upon the cavern, upon the hands/arms hr krrt hr rwy
of the Secret One. n Stlyt
This great god enters the cavern, rk ntr pn rl hr krrt
the One who conceals himself ship r tpw
from the heads
of the gods, the ihw and the dead ntrw ihw mtw
who are in the Dat, in darkness, tmyw dit m kkw
this god not being seen vwty mil ntr pn tp rwy=s
upon her hands/arms.
Her hands/arms ... (?)24 the sun-disc cwy=s ... itn
resting on his hill25. htp hr klt=f
This text finds its approximate parallel in the first of a series of litanies that opens the s
and last section of the same composition, here compared with the similar text found ab
the goddess in the Book of the Earth:

21 Piankoff, Quererts, 64; Hornung, Agyptische Unterweltsbucher, 510, n. 40.

22 The last part of the same text is also found on the sarcophagus of Petisis (Fig. 7).
23 Instead of the restoration by Frankfort, reading it as hrr.
24 Cf. the different texts in the Osireion (Fig. 4) and on CGC 29306 (Fig. 10).
25 See the Osireion and Petisis. Maspero has read kit on CGC 29306 as dStyw.

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 58 N. Billing SAK 34

It is upon her hands/arms cpp ntr pn hr rwy=s

that this god travels
when he passes her cavern. snn=f krrt=s
This Secret One, her head is in darkness, wnn Stlyt tn tp=s m kkw
her feet are in darkness. rdwy-s m kkw
Those secret of face Stiyw hrw
are united with her arms. hnm m rwy=s
Neither the gods, the ihw9 nor the dead n rpp ntrw ihw mtw
travel upon her cavern, hr krrt=s
except for the great god and his sun-disc wpw-hr ntr r3 itn=f
and the ones who follow him. imyw-ht=f
(Piankoff, Quererts, PI. LXXX, 1-3)

The goddess is in this fashion: ntrt m shrw pn

It is upon her hands cpp ntr pn ri hr drty=sy
that this great god travels;
The one with head to the right tpy imnty Stiyt
of the Secret One,
he praises the great god. hkn=fn ntr c3
The head of the Secret One tp Stlyt m dlt hrt
is in the upper Dat,
her feet in the lower Dat. rdwy=sy m dit hrt
The double ba, he travels her body. biwy rp=fh3t=s
(Fig. 3; Piankoff, Creation, PL XXV, VI: 1-8)

The Book of Caverns describes the journey of the sun god through a number of caverns lain
under the auspices of different gods, among whom we find the Secret One. She manifests
the nocturnal region in its dominant conceptualization of the progenitive female body, with
which gods and humans alike unite in order to be reborn. The periodical presence of the sun
god and his followers is in the Book of Caverns contrasted to the permanent residence of
the gods, 3hw and the dead. ?Those secret of face" appear also in the second section of the
same composition where they represent the mourning dead that live from the light that the
passing sun god dispenses every night. When his rays disperse the darkness that prevails
over them, they rejoice26. This distinction between a periodical and permanent presence in
the netherworld could be reflected in the conception of an upper and lower Dat. According
to the later Khoiak theology, Osiris's mummy resided in the upper Dat for one year before
being brought to its final resting place in the lower Dat27.

26 Piankoff, Quererts, 20.

27 Ch. Leitz, in: ZAS 116,1989,55-57. As pointed out by Leitz, the scene of the Secret One in the Book
of the Earth is made to correspond with another scene in the same register in the tomb of Ramesses VI,
the latter of which most probably provides an iconographic realization of these two Osirian regions.
However, in the light of the text in CGC 29306, one should also consider the Secret One of the Book
of Caverns as dividing the space in front of her in an upper and lower section of the Dat. In the Book

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 2006 The Secret One 59

Due to the introduction to the sixth section of the Book of Caverns of Ramesses VI, a
text similar to the ones cited above might have appeared superfluous in connection with the
scene itself, which is found at the beginning of the fifth section. Instead another legend,
found also in front of the goddess in the Osireion, succinctly describes the solar journey in
cryptographic as well as ordinary writing. Here the sun god attends his righteous servants
in the netherworld as he overcomes the nightly subversive force par excellence, Apophis:

Re sets in the western mountain htp Rr m dw imnty

to order the affairs r irt shrw
of the ones who are in the earth. imyw tl
He shines in the eastern mountain psd-fm dw ilbty
to drive off that one, Unenty-Apophis, r dr pf Wnnty-Cpp
Evil of eye dwirt
(Fig. 4 & 5; Piankoff, Quererts, PL LXII-LXIII)

The body of the Secret One thus effects the nocturnal transformation of the sun god, a pr
cess fully exposed on her sides in the Book of Caverns. The more detailed series of ma
festations on her front adequately lays out the transformation as a movement from the head
end to foot-end of the goddess, all in ac
cordance with the cosmic paradigm where
she swallows the celestial bodies in the
evening in order to give birth to them in
the morning28. The apparent reversed order
of manifestations on the other side of the
body has brought suggestions that it should
be considered as relating a corresponding
diurnal phase29. This proposition does in
fact find support from the short text in
Fig. 11: The birth of the sun god Petisis (Fig. 7), which speaks of both the
(after: E. Hornung, Tal der Konige, 1982,109)ascension (pri) and setting (htp) of the sun.

of the Day, the sun god is said to attend the inhabitants of the West as they are found in both the upp
and lower Dat (A. Piankoff, Le livre du jour et de la nuit, BdE 13,1942,25). For a further discussio
on this division of the Dat, see now J.C. Darnell, The Enigmatic Netherworld Books of the Solar
Osirian Unity. Cryptographic Compositions in the Tombs of Tutankhamun, Ramesses VI and Ramesse
DC, OBO 198,2004,375-381. Among other things, Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books, 376-378,
identifies the lower Dat in the Book of the Earth with the punishing Place of Destruction (htmyt\
theme fully in accordance with the division of scenes as found in relation to the Secret One both in the
Book of the Earth and in the Book of Caverns.
28 A motif given its classical formulation in the Nut-book in the Osireion at Abydos (H. Frankfort, Th
Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos n, 1933, PL 84, L. 2-5). Even in the Pyramid Texts one reference is foun
to the scene where Nut swallows the sun god (Pyr. 1417b [563]). For a general discussion on this motif
see N. Billing, Nut - The Goddess of Life in Text and Iconography, Uppsala studies in Egyptology 5
2002,18-21.
29 E. Brunner-Traut, in: W. Helck (ed.), Festschrift fur S. Schott zu seinem 70. Geburtstag, 1968, 33.

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 60 N. Billing SAK 34

The iconographical exposition of the nocturnal transformation in this scene turns it into
an obvious variant to the final scene of the Book of Caverns (Fig. II)30. The pair of
receiving arms, coming forth from the feet of the goddess, i.e. the birth-giving region of her
body, corresponds to the same element at the end of the composition31. The arms and the
series of transformations of the sun are notably absent in the version of the Book of the
Earth that lacks a similar end-scene.

III. 2 The reptiles

The reptiles in ancient Egypt were considered to have a most ambivalent character,
occurring in the mythology as potentially both beneficent and hostile32. Thus, as contrasted
to the central image of the goddess, whose status within the core remained rather unaltered,
a pair of snakes could easily be elaborated in various ways.
In the Book of the Earth the snakes are presented in most positive terms, being icono
graphically as well as textually turned into adorers of the sun. They are also used to
visualize the division between the upper and lower Dat in reference to the goddess33, as a
distinctive curve on the body of the left snake keeps another snake in the lower region
(Fig. 3). The same also applies to the crocodile on the opposite side34. The texts are partly
illegible and not particularly informative. Piankoff even considered them ?disposees au
hasard"35:

In front of the goddess:

They/Their (?)... in their place ?=sn m st=sn
due to the fire, n-cl-n nsr
the heat which is in the goddess rkh imy ntrt
Behind the goddess:
The Secret One, she is upon Stiyt wnn=s tp
Nehaher-Mehen Nhl-hr Mhn
who is in the earth imy tl
of She who is secret, concealed and dark Stit imnt kkt

30 Concerning the beetle as the first element of the sequence, cf. the first hour of A
Book of the Gates where this morning aspect of the sun god already at sunset ?rem
that the ultimate consequence of death is, nevertheless, life.
31 These receiving arms of the end-scene are included in the version of Tauseret (
obviously not an obligatory element as seen from their absence in other versions.
32 This inherent ambivalent nature turned them into powerful apotropaic vehicles in th
In the case of the Horus-stelae, Stemberg-El Hotabi, Horusstelen, 18, has for instan
Tiere, die auf der Vorderseite der Horusstelen auftreten, so wohl schtitzende und u
auch regenerative Krafte symbolisieren".
33 Ch. Leitz, in: ZAS 116,1989, 55-57.
34 A similar curve is absent in the version of Ramesses III (Fig. 2).
35 Piankoff, Creation, 44, n. 3.

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 2006 The Secret One 61

In front of the snake:

This Nehaher is in this fashion: pn Nhl-hr m
He rears up beneath the feet nhp=f hr rdw
of the Secret One
- Nehaher Nhl-hr
(Fig. 3; Piankoff, Creation, 44-45)

Whether the snake and the crocodile, obv

lower Dat, should be regarded as inimical
hard to decide from these legends36. E. B
to them the same role as the crocodiles in
of Caverns, namely as protectors of the s
can appear both as an enemy and protecto
snake/crocodile couple represents a
dispelled in Book of the Dead 31 and 33, s
a unit already in the manuscripts of the
and crocodile are likewise found as a
opening scene of the Litany of Re, where
in the horizon (Fig. 1240). Although lacki
Hornung considered them also here as
inimical forces driven away by the sun g
however, Darnell has pointed to the fact
are depicted as though rushing into th
difficult to imagine that an Egyptian t
have thought of allowing noxious beas
unpunished toward the royal burial cha
is nevertheless his observation of th
Fig. 12: The sarcophagus
snake (CGC 29316), where the cro
and the crocodile
textually referred to as protectors of the

36 For the ambivalent role of the crocodile as enemy, protec

Brunner-Traut, in: LA III, 795-797; idem., in: Fs Schott, 1968
see e.g. E. Hornung, in: Studium Generale 20,1967, 81.
37 Brunner-Traut, in: LA III, 797. In another scene in the Book
cribed in clearly positive terms as protectors of the ?body of t
PI. 120).
38 R. el-Sayed, in: BIFAO 81 (Supplement: Bulletin du centenaire), 1981, 119-132.
39 G. Lapp, The Papyrus of Nu (BM EA 10477), 1997, 36.
40 After: E. Hornung, Das Buch der Anbetung des Re im Westen (Sonnenlitanei) II, AH 3, 1976, 55.
41 Hornung, Sonnenlitanei II, 29-30.
42 Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books, 273-274.

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 62 N. Billing SAK 34

The question concerning the status of the snakes flanking the goddess in the Book of
Caverns is more problematic. The texts apparently connected to their images read:
He is in this fashion upon the hand/arm of wnn=fm shrwpn hrcn
She who is secret of form, Sti{t) irw
being in their darkness as a flame wnn m kkw=sn m sdt
to which the gods cannot ascend; iwtt cr ntrw
Nepai, the enemy of Re Nply hfty Rc
(Fig. 4, 5 & 7; Piankoff, Quererts, PL LIX-LX)

Shepai; he is in this fashion Sply/hply43 wnn=fm shrwpn

upon the hands/arms of hr cwy n
She who is secret of form, &tit irw
being (in) their darkness (as) a flame wnn (m) kkw=sn im) sdt
Fig. 4, 5 & 7; Piankoff, Quererts, PI. LXIII)

Shepai can be translated ?He of the naval cord"44, Nepai ?He of the bowel"45. This made
Barguet see in them an expression for the equilibrium of forces operating in the world, as
integrated in the great goddess:

?L'aspect destructeur est symbolise par le serpent-boyau et les crocodiles, l'aspect createur etant figure
par le cordon ombilical et les symboles solaires de renaissance; Pharmonie universelle est representee
par la deesse, qui contient en elle les forces de destruction et de renaissance, en un equilibre parfait"4

Meeks and Favard-Meeks have considered Nepai to be the name of both snakes whereas
?He of the naval cord" should be recognized as referring to the image of the sun-child47. The
alternative reference to ?the arms" could, considering the corresponding pair of arms
actually represented, lend some support to this hypothesis. Hornung, on the other hand, has
expressed some doubts as to whether these names refer to the snakes at all and not to the
crocodiles48.
With the image and related texts here reconsidered, one can in any case notice that a
shared phraseology between the legends and the similarity of the names of Nepai and
Shepai render them plausible as a pair and as enemies of the sun god49. Their hostile nature

43 hply in the late versions of Petamenophis and Petisis. For the possible interchange of ? and h already
in the Old Kingdom, see Edel, Altag. Gramm., 52-54.
44 Wb III, 365: hpl.
45 Wb II, 247-248: np/npl.
46 P. Barguet, in: RdE 28, 1976, 32.
47 Meeks/Favard-Meeks, La vie quotidienne, 233.
48 ?Der gleiche Text steht im Osireion auch bei der zweiten Schlange, so dass man ihn auch auf die beiden
Schlangen beziehen konnte, obgleich der Name (vgl. Wb II247,13ff: npl - ?benetzen" [my remark])
besser fur ein Krokodil als Wasserbewohner passt" (Hornung, Agyptische Unterweltsbticher, 507-508,
n. 41).
49 Nepai becomes an epithet of Apophis in the Ptolemaic period (see Barguet, in: RdE 28, 1976, 32, n.
51 w.ref).

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 2006 The Secret One 63

is also reflected in the passage that completes the description of the scene in the sixth
division:
Re speaks to this goddess: tw Rc mdw-fn ntrt tn
0 Goddess of the West, Secret One, / Imnt Stiyt
Fighting of hands/arms in her rh3t rwy hr siw=s
protection!
Behold you, I travel her cavern. mtn wi cp krrt=s
Give (your) arms to me, imi rwy(=t) r=i
you Secret of fashion! $ti(t) shrw
(Piankoff, Quererts, PL LXXX, 3-4)

/&? ffi-h ^ 1111111 A ? 11 II I"1" 111911

Fig. 13: The 5th division of the Book of Caverns

(after: A. Piankoff, Tomb of Ramesses VI, vol. 1: Texts. Bollingen Series XL, 1954, 88, Fig. 14)

The arms of the Secret One (here actually identified as the Western Goddess) serve the
important function of holding the forces represented by the snakes under control. Their
hostile character seems moreover to be corroborated in the adjacent scene in front of the
Secret One, where an image of Osiris is followed by four erect snakes (Fig. 13). Besides
from being iconographically cast in the same mould as Nepai and Shepai, two of them are
given similar body-centred denominations: ?He who has come forth from Re" and ?The
flesh in Re"50. A third one is called ?He who cries". These four snakes are probably the ones
who the sun god is said to pass in the text written behind them, and where the corporeal link
with him is once more reflected. This text also leaves no doubt concerning their hostile
nature:

Behold, I have travelled the Shetit, mk wi sbi=i Styt

1 pass upon these ones, rp=t hr nn
they who are in front of her, tpyw rwy=s

50 There is, it should be stated, nothing inimical in itself conveyed by these names which both can be
connected with a number of well-known ?beneficent" deities (cf. Leitz et al., Lexikon der agyptischen
Gotter m, 2002, 71-72 and V, 30).

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 64 N. Billing SAK 34

they who emanated from (my) body, hpr m hrw(=i)

who ? through/in me. ? im=i
The evil ones, iw dww
these who destroy my flesh; nn drw iwf=i
they create evil kml=sn dw
(Piankoff, Quererts, PI. LXIV, 111:2-4)

IV Formulating one core motif in reference to another - The prostrating goddess

The books of the netherworld feature a multitude of deities, many of which are in one way
or another involved in the nocturnal regeneration of the sun god. In a recent note on the
Amduat, W. Westendorf has asserted that some of the names and epithets found in these
compositions actually epitomize particular aspects of gods from the official pantheon51. As
an example he mentions the Secret One, communicating central aspects of the sky goddess
Nut in reference to the netherworld environment52. This brings the discussion back to the
head issue laid out at the beginning, concerning the reasons for the adoption and specific
formulation of a core motif in the different contexts.

IV. 1 Constitutional qualities: Space, duality, resurrection and protection

In the case of the Secret One, one notices a decisive influence from

\JkJ
yet another core motif: the prostrating sky goddess, here exemplified
by an early version on the coffin of Ah-hotep Tanedjemet (MMA
12.181.303) (Fig. 1453). The contact between the two motifs can be
recognized as a set of shared constitutional qualities. These mutual
qualities have been delineated in terms of space, duality, resurrection
and protection.

IV. 1.1 Space

A cardinal aspect of Nut is her role as the manifestation of the
Fig. 14: The pros operative space where death is transformed into life. Her spatial
trating goddess
quality could metaphorically be configured in a number of ways,
although by far the most common configuration was the sarcophagus chamber or the
sarcophagus54. Many passages picture Nut as prostrating or falling over her son; from the
pyramid of Pepy I onwards, such texts are included among the Pyramid Texts exclusively
reserved for the walls of the sarcophagus chamber:

51 See W. Westendorf, in: N. Kloth/K. Martin/E. Pardey (eds.), Es werde niedergelegt als Schriftstiick.
Festschrift fur H. Altenmuller, BSAK 9,2003,471-472.
52 Hornung has emphasized the conceptual link between the sky goddess and the Dat (Das Amduat. Die
Schrift des verborgenen Raumes II: Ubersetzung und Kommentar, AA 7,1963,195, n. 2).
53 Drawn by the author from: B. Liischer, Untersuchungen zu Totenbuch Spruch 151, Studien zum
Altagyptischen Totenbuch 2,1998, 339, PL 23.
54 See Billing, Nut, 163-184.

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 2006 The Secret One 65

Your mother Nut pM-n s(t) mwt-k Nwt

has spread herself over you
in her name of St-pt. mrn-s St-pt
She has caused you to be a god rdi.n=s wn-k m ntr
to your enemy/your enemy is not n hfty-k
in your name of ?God" m rn=k ntr
(Pyr. 638a-b [368] =Pyr. 1607a-b [588])

From the New Kingdom, this text is realized pictorially, leaving us with innumerable
coffins and sarcophagi where the goddess, in the same manner as the Secret One, spreads
out her arms to manifest the maternal body of the tomb. The images of the Secret One on
the lid of Petisis (Fig. 7) and on the bottom of Tjaiherpata (CGC 29306) illustrate this
spatial quality in reference to the monument, totally in accordance with the normal role of
the goddess Nut. The common epithet St-pt of Nut, as a pun on the space-defining verb pSS,
gives another connection to the Secret One. Although its original import is uncertain, St-pt
could be interpreted as the ?secrecy of the sky" (Stlpt) from at least the early Middle King
dom55. The process of rebirth took place in a space beyond human perception.
The spatial quality of the Secret One as a manifestation of the tomb can likewise be
corroborated by its context in the Book of Caverns (Fig. 13). Immediately in front of the
goddess, four falcon-headed deities are given names that are connected to the sun god (Re,
Atum, Khepri, Osiris). Re addresses them ?0 you great gods who are in the bodies" (/ ntrw
rlw imyw hlwt), a denomination similar to the one found in the Litany of Re (imyw
hlwt=sn), where it has been interpreted as a means of identifying the sun god with the other
deities56. However, the generic name of these gods, as well as the formal arrangement of the
scene, invites the interpreter to search for further layers of meaning, just as the outer
appearance of the four deities makes it possible to see them as the sons of Horus in their
traditional role as canopies. A set of canopic jars where all four have falcon heads is
anomalous in itself57, but given the high range of artistic freedom in the compositions of the
netherworld, such an anomaly definitely falls within the range of the acceptable. Moreover,
their denomination as ?those who are in the bodies" could easily be seen as a deliberate play
on the akin imyw hwt, ?entrails"58, giving a tacit meaning of them as ?the great gods of
entrails". If so, the complete picture given by this section of the Book of Caverns is that of
the Secret One who as a netherworld manifestation of Nut symbolizes the sarcophagus, in
the immediate vicinity of which the canopies are properly placed. The presence of Anubis

55 A. Kamal, in: ASAE 12,1912,106; Billing, Nut, 91-92 w. ref.

56 Hornung, Sonnenlitanei II, 123, n. 219.
57 On canopies in general, see K. Martin, in: LA III, 315-319.
58 See Wb III, 356. Concerning this passage in the Litany of Re, the version in Abydos (temple of
Ramesses II) actually reads imywt hwt=sn (E. Hornung, Das Buch der Anbetung des Re im Westen I,
AH 2, 1975,89).

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 66 N. Billing SAK 34

behind the four gods as their guardian (s3w) provides additional strength to this interpre
tation59.

IV. 1.2 Duality

Through her prostration over the deceased and the world alike, Nut reconciles the
fundamental ontological opposition of death and life. The decisive dual nature of Nut made
Westendorf speak of her in terms of ?die geteilte Himmelsgottin", binding together the two
horizons of the east and the west represented in her pair of daughters, Isis and Nephthys60.
This dual aspect of the goddess was most certainly
regarded as essential in the adoption of the core motif
of the Secret One. Her central position between the
snakes, holding out her arms in both directions, r-:' *? ' - "- "" - ' -' ' ?
communicated a strong sense of duality in an orienta :^%C-\..:.- >; : ..- --y'->f"?^#
tion of left - right, i.e. east - west61. Westendorf s
conceptual model is corroborated by the specific
variant formulation of the Secret One found on a
number of sarcophagus lids belonging to the kings of
the second half of the 19th and the 20th Dynasty. As a / \ \\ **fS'*^"Vw';" ' , ' "? //i'/-'"' ,'U"'.. /'." '' '"-'''"^

representative example among many, one might

choose the lid of Ramesses IV (Fig. 15), where the
snakes from the Book of the Earth are seen arranged
together with Isis and Nephthys. The Secret One, i.e.
Nut, has here been divided into her daughters, which

jky_.;.;.|yfci I
is why she can be replaced by the frontal image of the
Osiris-king. He now occupies the space within her as
manifested by Isis and Nephthys. The reasons for
using the Book of the Earth version as a prototype Fig. 15: The divided sky goddess (after:
might be found in the benevolent nature of these E. Lefebure, Les hypogees royaux de
Thebes: Tombeau de Ramses IV, 1889,
snakes, as compared to their hostile counterparts in
Fig. 32)
the corresponding version of the Book of Caverns.

59 Cf. for instance the position of the guarding Anubis in front of the canopic shrine in the tomb of
Tutankhamun.
60 W. Westendorf, in: I. Gamer-Wallert/W. Helck (eds.), Gegengabe - Festschrift fur Emma Brunner
Traut, 1992, 341-357.
61 Cf. the interesting observation of Westendorf, in: Fs H. Altenmiiller, 472-476, concerning the four
goddesses in the 11th hour of the Amduat (Nr. 771-774), who, seated upon a dual snake, likewise are
described with the similar phraseology as the Secret One: ?They are in this fashion: Their thighs are
in the earth, their feet in the united darkness" (wnn=sn m shrpn mnwt=sn m tl rdwy-sn m kkw-smlw)
(E. Hornung, Das Amduat. Die Schrifx des verborgenen Raumes I, AA 7,1963,183). Westendorf sees
in these goddesses variant manifestations of Nut.

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 2006 The Secret One 67

IV 1.3 Resurrection
Closely connected to the maternal space is the resurrection. Already in the Pyramid Texts,
Nut embraces and resurrects her son:

Nut has fallen over her son in you Nwt hr.ti hr sl=s im=k
that she may protect you, hw=s tw
that she may enclose you, hnm^s tw
that she may embrace you, ink=s tw
that she may raise you, ts=s tw
(for) you are the Great One twt wr
among her children imy msw=s
(Pyr. 1629a-c [593])

The sarcophagus chamber was conceived in the symbolic terms of the netherworld62, an a
priori Osirian region. Osiris's resurrection was an expression for rebirth, following as a
result of the embalming procedure where his body had been brought together within the
enclosing body of his celestial mother. Thus, resurrection represented an earth-oriented
force from below, an idea well illustrated in the scenes of the Secret One where she raises
the sun god on her hands. This emphasis on resurrection is also relevant to the unusual
occurrence of a headrest on the head of the goddess in pTurin 1858 (Fig. 8)63. Odd as this
might seem as an emblem on a goddess, the headrest transmits a strong symbolism of
resurrection completely in alignment with the constitutional qualities of the Secret One64.

IV. 1.4 Protection

The referred passages from the Pyramid Texts above also emphasize that the motherly
embrace of Nut shall serve as protection against the hostile forces in the world of the dead.
In this context, these forces are traditionally personified in Seth, Osiris's brother, or
alternatively ?the enemy/-ies"65. The mutual protective quality between a deity originally
deriving from the realms of propitious magic on the one hand, and a mother goddess
prostrating over her son on the other, does not need further comment. The frontality of the
protective gods from the magical wands likewise communicates the same sense of presence
and intimacy as the later sky goddess on the coffin lids66.

62 This observation, today more or less an opinio communis, we owe to J. Spiegel, Das Auferstehungs
ritual der Unas-Pyramide, AA 23,1971.
63 L. Morenz, in: DE 56, 2003, 61.
64 For the rich resurrection symbolism of the headrest, see B. Hellinckx, in: SAK 29, 2001, 62-77.
65 Billing, Nut, 109, n. 205.
66 Volokhine, La frontalite, 14 (e), 86-89.

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 68 N. Billing SAK 34

IV 2. The horizon of Nut

The delineated constitutional qualities of the goddess Nut - space, duality, resurrection and
protection - provide the sine qua non for rebirth. It is a binary process, with the Osirian
resurrection in the netherworld being followed by a subsequent reception or ascension to
the sky, primarily in the image of the visible god, Horus/Re67. The transition between these
two states takes place in the horizon which thus links the past to the future68. This cardinal
phase of the perpetuum mobile in the horizon is most palpably expressed in the union bet
ween Re and Osiris69. On a cultic level, the same meeting takes places between Osiris
(father) and Horus (son) in the space of the sarcophagus, i.e. within Nut, which is why
Osiris in this context receives his well-known epithet ?Horizon from which Re comes
forth"70. In an extraordinary scene on the lid of the sarcophagus of Merenptah (Fig. 16), Re
unites with Osiris, whereas the goddess Neith, here personifying the sarcophagus, embraces
Osiris from behind. The wail
ing sisters Isis and Nephthys
sit, in accordance with the
norm, at both ends of the
chamber. One also notices
the four sons of Horus in
their obvious roles as cano
71
pics .
The nocturnal union of Re
and Osiris seems likewise to
Fig. 16: The nocturnal union of Re-Osiris
be connected to the body of (after: J. Assmann, in: MDAIK 28,1972, Fig. 1)
the Secret One72. In the

67 Billing, Nut, 28-37. The resurrection formula (wts), originally reserved for Osiris, is eventually used
also in reference to the night-phase of the sun god as early as the Book of the Two Ways (CT VII, 253a
[1029]) (J. Assmann, Liturgische Lieder an den Sonnengott. Untersuchungen zur altagyptischen
Hymnikl, MAS 19,1969,199).
68 On the decisive dual character of the horizon, see Billing, Nut, 201-203; G. Englund, in: Sundies in
honour of Torgny Save-Soderbergh, Boreas 13,1984, 51. For the rich iconography of the horizon, see
the contributions of E. Hornung, in: Eranos Jahrbuch 48,1979,183-237; MDAIK 37,1981,217-226;
Sesto Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti 1, 1992, 317-323, and A. Niwinski, in: GM 65,
1983, 75-90. The scenes showing a combination of pairs of arms, discussed by Hornung, in: MDAIK
37, 1981, 220-221, are strong visual expressions for this concept of the combined resurrecting and
receiving agents at the liminal, horizonal phase of the sun. As Hornung points out, though, the arms
of resurrection are usually depicted as male whereas the receiving arms of the sky, quite naturally, are
female.
69 ?Osiris who rests in Re; It is Re who rests in Osiris". This well-known text/image composite is found
in the QV tombs of Nefertari (QV 66), Henut-tawi (QV 60) and Duatentipet (QV 74), in the tomb of
Ramesses III (KV 7) and the private tombs TT 335 and TT 336 (see Billing, Nut, 208, n. 361 for ref.).
For the same formula, adequately written in between the two sycamores configuring the horizon in TT
290, see Billing, Nut, 330, Fig. A.l.
70 Pyr. 585a [357], 621b [364], 636c [368], 1887 [664].
71 Cf.IY.1.1.

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 2006 The Secret One 69

already mentioned Osiris scene in front of the goddess in the Book of Caverns (Fig. 13), this
god is seen raising his arms in a greeting to the nocturnal sun, the ram, who meets him with
a similar gesture of recognition. The text in front of Osiris succinctly describes their
encounter:

This god is in this fashion: wnn ntr pn m shrw pn

He gives his arms to this great god di=f rwy=fr ntr pn c3
when he passes the secret Dat sni-fdit Stit
(Piankoff, Quererts, PL LXIII, 1:1-2)

Another text, included above the head of the Secret One in the version of Petamenophis,
also comments on the relation between the two gods:

This god is in this fashion: wnn ntr pn m shrw pn

This god gives his arms to Osiris tw ntr pn dt=f rwy=f n Wsir
that he may lighten up his face shd=fhr=f
(Piankoff, Quererts, LXIII, VI)

The encounter described here, textually as well as iconographically, could thus be inter
preted as another expression of their union, the cardinal nocturnal event that takes place in
the maternal space manifested by the goddess Nut73. In fact, the union of Osiris and Re in
the cavern of the Secret One is likewise indicated in the Book of the Earth, where the asso
ciated legend gives reference to the ?two ba's" of the sun god travelling along her body:

The double ba, he travels her body blwy rp=fhrt=s

(Fig. 3; Piankoff, Creation, PL XXV, 8)

As a comparison, a passage in the Coffin Texts mentions the ?two ba's" of the deceased,
i.e. Re and Osiris, in the immediate context of him being raised (wts) by the goddess Nut
in the place of embalming74.

V Conclusions
The concept of the core motif offered the theologians and artists an exceptional tool in the
expression of religious conceptions. Elaborations on the different elements gave an almost
unlimited spectrum of modulations of individual or combined motifs, though always within
the well-defined laws of ancient Egyptian iconography. A few of these possible workings
of the core motif have been exemplified here through the formulation of the Secret One.

72 Darnell, Enigmatic Netherworld Books, 382-383, draws the analogy between the maternal body of the
sun as conceptualized in Osiris and Nut so far as to recognize in the Secret One of the Book of the
Earth ?a representation of the corpse of Osiris, the hrt-Stlt, the feminine member of the unified Re
Osiris".
73 Billing, Nut, 115-116.
74 CT 1248f-249a [60] (BlOCc). Cf. H. Willems, Chests of Life, MVEOL 25,1988, 153-154.

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 70 N. Billing SAK 34

This goddess is perhaps the most conspicuous image found in the Book of the Earth and the
Book of Caverns in expressing the idea of the netherworld in terms of a female body within
which life is regenerated. She was cast within an iconographic mould that combined two
originally independent core motifs: 1. the protective deity represented en face with
reptiles/flowers in the hands, and 2. the prostrating goddess of the sky. Both communicated
mutual constitutional qualities that through this fusion could be emphasized in the new
environment. They were manifested in an individual version of the Secret One, obviously
formulated in close relation to the immediate context in which it was placed. This resulted
in a rather uniform picture of the goddess, whereas the other core element, the reptiles, took
on totally diverging roles. In the Book of the Earth the snakes saluted the arriving sun god,
in the Book of Caverns they were turned into his enemies.

Excursus: Sefeg-A male counterpart of the Secret One

In the Book of Caverns, contact can apparently be established between the Secret One and
the erect ithyphallic god of the same size, facing her from the other end of the fifth section
(Fig. 13). Their status as a couple is rendered especially clear in the version of Ramesses
IX, where they are placed on either side of the doorway in the sarcophagus chamber
(Fig. 6). However, whereas one has recognized Nut as the identity behind the Secret One,
there has been some debate concerning the identity of her partner, variously being referred
to as Geb75, Osiris76 and Sefeg-iru77. In the text connected to the scene the god is left name
less, although he is given the ?Osirian" epithet ?Lord of the West" (nb imnt)n. In the sixth
section, where his cavern is likewise described, the second litany is devoted to Sefeg, fore
most of his form" (hnty irw=f) and ?foremost of the Dat" (hnty dit)79. Hence there are
reasons to see the ityphallic god of the fifth section primarily as a manifestation of this
deity.
The traditional translation of Sefeg-iru as ?Concealed of form", though not unchallenged,
does indeed harmonize well with the name of his apparent partner80. Grieshammer's propo
sal ?Revealed of form", i.e. in a referential frame of fertility, would likewise accord well
with his ityphallic appearance81. Strieker once even saw this pair of gods as mythological
representations of the male and female sexual organs in a moment of cosmic conception82.

75 Piankoff, Quererts, 71 (due to his obvious relation to Nut as well as to the ?emblematic goose" on his
head).
76 Hornung, Agyptische Unterweltsbticher, 380-381; P. Barguet, in: RdE 28, 1976, 33; S. Ostine, in:
SSEA 25,1995, 72. Meeks/Favard-Meeks, La vie quotidienne, 233, make him at the same time Geb
and Osiris.
77 R. Grieshammer, Das Jenseitsgericht in den Sargtexten, AA 20, 1970, 85.
78 Piankoff, Quererts, PL LXX.
79 Piankoff, Quererts, PL LXXXII-LXXXIII [732-733].
80 St3 and sfg are parallelly used already in Pyr. 665a [378].
81 Grieshammer, Jenseitsgericht, 82-86, has given this deity some attention, although his alternative inter
pretation of the name has not attracted unanimous acceptance (see e.g. U. Verhoeven, in: LA V,
822-823).
82 B.H. Strieker, De Geboorte van Horus I, 1963, 12-60.

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 2006 The Secret One 71

Fig. 17: He who conceals his hours

(after: Piankoff, Ramesses VI, 339, Fig. 95)

Here one must point to his apparent similarity with the likewise ithyphallic god, ?He who
conceals his hours" (imn wnwt=f), as found in the Book of the Earth (Fig. 17)83. Drawn with
the same yellow colour in the tomb of Ramesses VI as both Sefeg and the Secret One, this
deity - apparently physically identical with Sefeg - lets the hours and the sun-child emanate
from his phallus. He is flanked not only by the stars of these hours, but also by two sun
discs on each side of him. The child, followed by a sign of ?fire", is received by a figure
called ?He of blood" (snjy). Thus apart from the apparent contact with the image of Sefeg
in the Book of Caverns, the iconographical elements in this scene also establish an
undeniable link with the scene of the Secret One in the same constellation. This link is
further strengthened by the fact that ?He who conceals his hours" (imn wnwt=f) in the
accompanying texts seems to be alternatively referred to as - the Secret One (Stlyf4.

83 Piankoff, Creation, 62-66.

84 Piankoff, Creation, 64-65.

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