TheSpell of the Twelve Caves (also called theWandering of the Soul;Arabic:تعويذة الكهوف الاثني عشر,romanized: Taewidhat al-Kuhuf al-Iathnay Eashar) is anancient Egyptianfunerary text from theNew Kingdom. The earliest known copy is on a papyrus found inKV35 the tomb ofAmenhotep II, and another copy was inscribed in theOsireion atAbydos underMerenptah. Although the text also appears in some copies of theBook of the Dead, where it is classified as Spell 168, the EgyptologistAlexandre Piankoff treated it as a distinct composition.[1]
The text describes theDuat, or underworld, as a realm divided into twelve caves, much like the twelve hours found in theAmduat and theBook of Gates, two other funerary texts from the early New Kingdom. Each cave is described as containing several groups of deities who grant benefits to the soul of a deceased person, such as enabling the deceased to move freely through the afterlife.[1]
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