Book of the Heavenly Cow

The Book of the Heavenly Cow, or The Book of the Cow of Heaven, is an Ancient Egyptian text thought to have originated during the Amarna Period and, in part, describes the reasons for the imperfect state of the world in terms of humankind's rebellion against the supreme sun god Ra. Divine punishment was inflicted through the goddess Hathor with the survivors suffering through separation from Ra who now resided in the sky on the back of Nut the heavenly cow. With this "fall", suffering and death came into the world along with a fracture in the original unity of creation. The supreme god now changes into many heavenly bodies, creates the "Fields of Paradise" for the blessed dead, perhaps appoints Geb as his heir, hands over the rule of humankind to Osiris (Thoth ruling the night sky as his deputy) with Shu and the Heh gods now supporting the sky goddess Nut. Though the text is recorded in the New Kingdom period it is written in Middle Egyptian and may have been written during the Middle Kingdom period.

The book appears in complete form on the walls of chambers in the tombs of Seti I, Ramesses II, and Ramesses III, and a portion appears in a niche in the tomb of Ramesses VI. Its earliest known appearance, in a truncated form, is on the burial shrines of Tutankhamun.

The text includes three illustrations, including a large image of the "Cow of Heaven" (the goddess Nut, personification of the sky) supported by Shu along other gods and the king.

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