The Book of Gates depicts the sun god’s journey through twelve guarded gates during the night.
This New Kingdom funerary composition presents the underworld as a sequence of regions separated by gates. Each gate has guardians and associated divine beings, and the sun god must pass through them on the way to rebirth.
The text and its illustrations appeared prominently in royal tombs. They connected the king’s afterlife with the daily solar cycle, presenting death as part of a larger process of darkness, transformation, and renewal.
The Book of Gates is distinct from the Amduat, although both organize the night into twelve sections. The gates are its defining visual and conceptual feature, whereas the Amduat emphasizes the hidden regions and beings encountered during the journey.