The Cavern deities of the underworld were ancient Egyptian minor deities charged with punishing the damned souls by beheading and devouring them.^[1][2][3]

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (September 2021)

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Cavern deities of the underworld
Cavern deity depicted in a fragment piece of Funerary Papyrus of Amduat.
Weapon	knives
Region	Duat

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The Egyptians believed that in the underworld, the Duat, there were at least twelve caves and caverns inhabited by terrible deities and supernatural creatures that would feed on the souls of the wicked. Several funerary papyri – in addition to the wall decorations of some tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the southern hall of the Osireion at Abydos – list these deities involved in the extermination (usually by beheading) of the enemies of the sun-god Ra and of his daughter Maat, goddess of truth and justice.^[1] In particular, these creatures are systematically listed in the "Spell of the Twelve Caves" known from a papyrus (Cairo 24742)^[4] dating back to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep II (c. 1427–1401 BC) of the 18th Dynasty.^[1]

The first seven caverns contained groups of three mummiform and three anthropomorphic deities, two male and one female in each triad. From the 8th to the 20th cavern, one would find divinities in variable numbers: in the 8th, for example, there were seven groups along with individual divinities, and at least twenty of them in the 9th.^[4] It is normal to find, next to the lists of names and positions of these other gods – beneath their representations – columns of offers prescribed for them too, along with the beneficent deeds that the dead would achieve. Once pacified, in fact, these deities could facilitate the free movement in the hereafter, providing nourishment and light in the darkness.^[4]

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  Scenes of otherworldly punishment from a papyrus of Amduat (21st Dynasty). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
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  The 11th hour of the book Amduat, depicting (bottom) Cavern deities.

• Gate deities of the underworld