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In the underworld there are at least twelve caverns of the west in which fierce Gods and Goddess dwell.
These deities are enumerated in the funerary papyri and on the walls of tombs in the valley of the kings. Their power seems to reach the world above so offerings are made to propitiate them by the living. they feed on the corpses and souls of those who have led criminal lives. The caverns are the place for the punishment and extermination usually by beheading of the enemies of the sun God Re.
Here is a selection of these deities from the tomb of RamessesVI and from the book of the dead.
| Cavern | Resident Deities include |
| 1 | 9 Jackal headed Gods who feed on rottenness; Snake guardians of the silent realm |
| 2 | Flame breathing snake called Sesy; Primeval Gods called Nariu who have the heads of catfish |
| 3 | Nehebu-Kau encircling seven catfish headed Gods led by Osiris |
| 4 | Great one who is on his belly |
| 5 | Nut and ithyphallic Osiris |
| 6 | Tatenen |
| 8 | Those who raise their superiors to the sky |
| 9 | Gods of the primeval deep |
| 10 | Wailing Goddesses brandishing axes dripping with blood |
| 11 | Ammut |