Page 147 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

widely believed that the underworld consisted of nine strata through
which the deceased would journey for four years, overcoming obstacles
and dangers on the way. The strata had self-explanatory names like
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‘place where the mountains crash together’, ‘place where the arrows are
fired’, ‘mountain of knives’, and so on. In both Ancient Central America
and Ancient Egypt, it was believed that the deceased’s voyage through
the underworld was made in a boat, accompanied by ‘paddler gods’ who
ferried him from stage to stage. The tomb of ‘Double Comb’, an eighth-
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century ruler of the Mayan city of Tikal, was found to contain a
representation of this scene. Similar images appear throughout the
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Valley of the Kings in Upper Egypt, notably in the tomb of Thutmosis III,
an Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh. Is it a coincidence that the passengers
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in the barque of the dead pharaoh, and in the canoe in which Double
Comb makes his final journey, include (in both cases) a dog or dog-
headed deity, a bird or bird-headed deity, and an ape or ape-headed
deity?
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The seventh stratum of the Ancient Mexican underworld was called
Teocoyolcualloya: ‘place where beasts devour hearts’.
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Is it a coincidence that one of the stages of the Ancient Egyptian
underworld, ‘the Hall of Judgement’, involved an almost identical series
of symbols? At this crucial juncture the deceased’s heart was weighed
against a feather. If the heart was heavy with sin it would tip the balance.
The god Thoth would note the judgement on his palette and the heart
would immediately be devoured by a fearsome beast, part crocodile, part
hippopotamus, part lion, that was called ‘the Eater of the Dead’.
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Finally, let us turn again to Egypt of the Pyramid Age and the privileged
status of the pharaoh, which enabled him to circumvent the trials of the
underworld and to be reborn as a star. Ritual incantations were part of
the process. Equally important was a mysterious ceremony known as ‘the
opening of the mouth’, always conducted after the death of the pharaoh

Pre-Hispanic Gods of Mexico, p. 37.
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14 The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, pp. 128-9.
15 Reproduced in National Geographic Magazine, volume 176, Number 4, Washington
DC, October 1989, p. 468: ‘Double Comb is being taken to the underworld in a canoe
guided by the “paddler twins”, gods who appear prominently in Maya mythology. Other
figures—an iguana, a monkey, a parrot, and a dog—accompany the dead ruler.’ We learn
more of the mythological significance of dogs in Part V of this book.
16 Details are reproduced in John Romer, Valley of the Kings, Michael O’Mara Books
Limited, London, 1988, p. 167, and in J. A. West, The Traveller’s Key to Ancient Egypt,
Harrap Columbus, London, 1989, pp. 282-97.
17 In the case of Ancient Egypt the dog represents Upuaut, ‘the Opener of the Ways’, the
bird (a hawk) represents Horus, and the ape, Thoth. See The Traveller’s Key To Ancient
Egypt, p. 284, and The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, pp. 116-30. For Ancient
Central America see note 15.
Pre-Hispanic Gods of Mexico, p. 40.
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19 The Egyptian Book of the Dead (trans. E. A. Wallis Budge), Arkana, London and New
York, 1986, p. 21.

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