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123 make the boat sail back. Once the formulas were recited, the ferryboat began to move by itself and the steering oar directed itself. In every respect, the boat was self-propelled! Beyond the lake there stretched a desert, and beyond it the Pharaoh could see in the distance the Mountains of the East. But no sooner had the Pharaoh alighted from the boat, than he was stopped by four Divine Guards, who were conspicu- ous by their black hair that was arranged in curls on their foreheads, at their temples, and at the back of their heads, with braids in the center of their heads. They, too, questioned the Pharaoh, but finally let him pass. A text (known only from its quotes) titled The Book of Two Ways described the alternatives that now faced the Pha- raoh, for he could see two passes that led through the moun- tain range beyond which the Duat was. Such two passes, nowadays called the Giddi and Mitla passes, offered since time immemorial unto the most recent wars the only viable way into the center of the peninsula, be it for armies or nomads or pilgrims. Pronouncing the required Utterances, the Pharaoh is shown the correct pass. Ahead lies an arid and barren land, and Divine Guards pop up unexpectedly. "Where goest thou?" they demand to know of the mortal who appears in the gods' region. The Divine Herald, alter- nately seen and unseen, speaks up: "The king goes to Heaven, to possess life and joy," he says. As the guards hesitate, the king himself pleads with them: ' ‘Open the fron- tier .. . incline its barrier ... let me pass as the gods pass through!" In the end the Divine Guards let the king through, and he has finally reached the Duat. The Duat was conceived as an enclosed Circle of the Gods, at the headpoint of which the sky (represented by the goddess Nut) opened so that the Imperishable Star (represented by the Celestial Disc) could be reached (Fig. 35); geographically it was an oval valley, enclosed by mountains, through which shallow streams flowed. The streams were so shallow, or sometimes even so dry, that the Barge of Ra had to be towed or, otherwise, moved by its own power as a sled. The Duat was divided into twelve divisions, which the king had to tackle in twelve hours of the day above ground and in twelve hours of the night below ground, in the Amen-ta, The Gates of Heaven