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Original fileKV17, the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty, Burial chamber J, Book of Gates, 5th hour, detail of the solar barque, Valley of the Kings, Egypt (49845803783)
This bas-relief carving shows a central, falcon-headed deity, Ra-Horakhty, wearing a solar disk, standing within the curved, protective body of a large serpent. He is flanked on either side by two male figures standing in a boat, depicted in profile and wearing traditional Egyptian kilts. The scene is carved into a wall and filled with vertical columns of hieroglyphic text above and around the figures. The relief style is characterized by smooth, rounded contours and deep incisions, with warm, golden-brown tones throughout.
This scene originates from the Book of Gates, an ancient Egyptian funerary text depicted in New Kingdom royal tombs, which describes the passage of the sun god through the twelve hours of the night. It serves as a symbolic map for the deceased pharaoh's journey into the afterlife and his successful resurrection.
Multiple columns of Egyptian hieroglyphs occupy the upper register and surrounding areas of the relief, providing ritual narratives associated with the solar barque's journey.
Translation
The hieroglyphs contain standard funerary spells and invocations intended to aid the Pharaoh's passage and identification with Ra.
Book of Gates
This relief is a direct visual transcription of a section from the Book of Gates, specifically depicting the solar cycle.
Object
relief (sculpture)
limestone
New Kingdom, Nineteenth Dynasty
Egyptian
religious
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview on April 20, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.