Intertwined Demons: The Relationship between Gate Guardians and the Demon Ammit in Nineteenth Dynasty Book of the Dead as Expressed through Synecdoche

Identifier

2672

Author

Jessica Victoria Johnson

Date

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Art History

Concentration

Egyptian Art and Archaeology

Committee Chair

Joshua Roberson

Committee Member

Lorelei Corcoran

Committee Member

Patricia Podzorski

Abstract

This thesis examines the synecdochical relationship between the group of Gate Guardian demons from the Book of the Dead Spells 144-147, and the demon Ammit, from Spell 125. The epithets of the Gate Guardians describe specific characteristics, while the personification of Ammit as the "second death" explicates hers. Supporting text explains the demons' mythological functions of protecting liminal spaces, thus preventing chaos from progressing through the underworld. Animal iconography is discussed also because characteristics of the animals employed in the depictions of the Gate Guardians mimic those of Ammit. Lastly, the overall concept of a tumultuous journey that the deceased must make through the underworld, likened to that of the nocturnal solar journey, enforces the function of either (group of) demons. The mentioned characteristics are examined in the tomb of Sennedjem and the Papyrus of Ani to provide evidence for a plausible relationship of synecdoche between Ammit and the Gate Guardians.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Recommended Citation

Johnson, Jessica Victoria, "Intertwined Demons: The Relationship between Gate Guardians and the Demon Ammit in Nineteenth Dynasty Book of the Dead as Expressed through Synecdoche" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1416.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/1416