The Egyptians asked a simple question: where does the sun go at night? Their answer was one of the greatest stories ever painted on a wall.
Myths of Egypt · Prepositions
The Night Journey of Ra
Through, across, into, out of, along, beneath, over, past, towards and between: the grammar of movement, for the sun’s journey every night through the twelve hours of the underworld, and the great serpent waiting in the dark.
☀️ Play the story too: in the gamebook, you are Ra, the sun.Play the gamebook →
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Well? Where does it go?
The story
After the Egyptian books of the Underworld
Every morning, the sun god Ra rises out of the eastern horizon in his boat and sails across the sky. At evening, he sinks down into the western mountains, and enters the underworld, the Duat.
For twelve hours he sails through the darkness, along a river beneath the earth, from one gate to the next. Each hour has its own gate and its own guardian. The dead crowd along the banks; when Ra’s light passes over them, they wake and rejoice, and when it moves on, they sink back into sleep.
In the deepest hour, the great serpent Apophis, the enemy of all order, lies across the river and tries to swallow the water, so that the boat runs aground. Set himself stands at the prow and spears him, and the goddesses bind him with spells, and the boat moves on.
In the last hour, Ra passes through the body of a great serpent, entering at the tail and coming out of its mouth, and is born again as a young scarab beetle, Khepri, who rolls the sun up over the eastern horizon into the morning. And it all begins again.
From the Amduat and the Book of Gates, painted in the tombs of the kings at Thebes.
What we know today
These “books” were painted on the walls of the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, near Thebes, more than a thousand years before our gang. You can still walk into the tombs and see the twelve hours of the night, with every gate, guardian and serpent, as bright as the day they were painted.
Into, out of
SOPHIA
into = movement to the inside: he sinks into the western mountains. out of = movement to the outside: he comes out of the serpent’s mouth.
MARCOS
So in is where you are, and into is how you get there?
SOPHIA
Exactly, Marcos.
Across, over, through
DEMETRIA
He sails across the sky, and through the darkness.
SOPHIA
across = from one side to the other of a surface or a line (a sky, a river, a road). through = inside something, from one end to the other (a tunnel, a forest, darkness). over = above, or across the top.
Along, past, towards
PHILO
Along the river, past the gates, towards the east.
SOPHIA
along = following a line. past = going by something without stopping. towards = in the direction of (without necessarily arriving).
Beneath, under, between
THE CLERK
Beneath the earth, under the earth. Same thing?
SOPHIA
Almost. beneath is more formal and poetic; under is everyday. And between for something in the middle of two: the serpent lies between the banks.
Sophia’s summary
| Form | Use | From the story |
|---|---|---|
| into / out of | movement to the inside / outside | He sinks into the mountains. |
| across / over | from one side to the other (surface); above | He sails across the sky. |
| through | inside, from one end to the other | He sails through the darkness. |
| along / past / towards | following / going by / in the direction of | along the river, past the gates, towards the east |
| under / beneath / between | below (beneath = formal) / in the middle of two | beneath the earth, between the banks |
Practice
Answer all the questions, then press “Check my answers”. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Choose the best form
Choose the form that fits best.
1. In the evening, Ra sinks ___ the western mountains.
2. He sails ___ the darkness for twelve hours.
3. In the morning, he comes ___ the serpent’s mouth.
4. The boat moves ___ the river, from gate to gate.
5. The sun sails ___ the sky from east to west.
6. The serpent lies ___ the two banks.
B · Complete the sentence
Write the missing preposition.
7. The boat sails the gates without stopping.
8. The dead wake up when the light passes them.
9. Khepri rolls the sun up the eastern horizon. (in the direction of)
10. The river runs the earth. (below, poetic)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
11. “Ra enters in the underworld.”
12. “The boat passed through the twelfth gate.”
13. “He walked across the tunnel.”
Now make the night journey yourself, as Ra, through all twelve hours.Play the gamebook →