Four sons of Horus Thoth, the god of wisdom and knowledge, and also the baboons which chatter when the sun rises raising their hands as if in worship. The jackal (or possibly dog) is linked to Anubis and the act of embalming and also Wepwawet the "opener of the ways" who seeks out the paths of the dead. The hawk is associated with Horus himself and also Seker the mummified necropolis god. Imseti, the human, may be linked to Osiris himself or Onuris the hunter. The Egyptians themselves linked them with the ancient kings of Lower and Upper Egypt, the Souls of Pe and
Dead Souls of the novel was intended to represent a modern-day "Inferno" of the "Divine Comedy". Gogol reveals to his readers an encompassing picture of the ailing social system in Russia after the unsuccessful French invasion. As in many of Gogol's short stories, the social criticism of "Dead Souls" is communicated primarily through absurd and hilarious satire. Unlike the short stories, however, "Dead Souls" was meant to offer solutions rather than simply point out problems. This grander scheme was largely unrealized at Gogol's death; the work was never completed, and it is primarily the earlier, darker part of the novel that is