Gates between the Netherworld and Heaven.
It is not mentioned in the most ancient recension of chapter 17 (from
which my translation was taken), but in all the papyri of the eighteenth
and later dynasties it is stated that Restau was a gate south of
An-aaref and north of the “Domain (⁂⁂⁂) of Osiris.”
The papyrus of Ani has this picture of it,
[Illustration]
but the most interesting representations of it are in the Dublin papyrus
(_D. a_), where the Sun god is seen passing between the folding doors,
and in the papyrus of Hunefer (_A. g_), where the doors are also open
and the god is sitting between them. (_See_ Plates VI, 11 and VIIb.)
The name _Restau_ ⁂⁂⁂ (the feminine form ⁂⁂⁂ is
more frequent in later texts) signifies _Gate of the passages_. These
are the passages guarded by the faithful attendants of Osiris, but armed
with “hurtful fingers” against the adversaries of Rā, against whose
onslaught the deceased prays Rā for protection in chapter 17.
A mystical interpretation will be found in chapter 119 and note.