I am almost entirely unfamiliar with the Egyptian underworld, beyond the most basic features: descent of the sun, nightly rebirth, weighing of the heart, the thing that will eat it if you flunk . . . Heavy-duty solar stuff, and don't forget to pack lots of servants. There is a student here who specializes in Egyptian books of the underworld, though, so theoretically I could ask her when she gets back from her dig.

As I learned their names, the earth is Geb and the sky is Nut. But with the annoying tendency of most Semitic languages, Egyptian doesn't write down its vowels; so I am always a little wary of pronounceable versions. Don't even get me started on Hellenized Egyptian names, which is of course what I learned in sixth grade when I decided to teach myself hieroglyphs and failed pathetically. Wait, who's this Ynpu fellow? Where's my old familiar Anubis . . . ?