_Chapter whereby the Soul is secured from imprisonment in the
Netherworld._
Oh thou who art exalted and worshipped, all powerful, almighty one, who
grantest thy terrors to the gods, who displayest thyself upon thy throne
of grandeur,(1.) let the way be made for my Soul, my Chu and my Shade.
Let me be thoroughly equipped.
I am a powerful Soul; let the way be made for me to the place where Rā
is and Hathor.
_If this Chapter is known, he taketh the form of a fully equipped Chu in
the Netherworld, and does not suffer imprisonment at any door in the
Amenta, either in coming in or going out._
NOTE.
1. There is no safe text here, ‘grandeur’ is only meant to indicate the
existence of ⁂ in the original. But there certainly ought to be
something different from what any of the MSS. supply.
------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXIII.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
=Papyrus, Leyden,
No. II.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
=Papyrus of Nebseni, British
Museum, No. 9900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER LXXXVII.
MARIETTE, “DENDERAH.”
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER LXXXVII. CHAPTER LXXXVIII.
=Papyrus of Ani, British Museum.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER LXXXIX.
=Papyrus of Ani, British Museum.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XC.
=Papyrus, Musée Borély, Marseilles.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XC.
=LEPSIUS, TODTENBUCH.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCII.
=Papyrus du Louvre, III, 89.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXIV.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCII.
=Papyrus, British Museum, 9949.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCII.
=Papyrus, Boulaq, 21.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCII.
=Papyrus of Ani, British Museum.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIII.
=Papyrus, Louvre III, 93.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIV.
=Papyrus, Louvre III, 9.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCV.
=Papyrus, British Museum, 10,009.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCII.
_Chapter whereby the Tomb is opened to the Soul and to the Shade of the
person, that he may come forth by day and may have mastery of his
feet._
That standeth open which thou openest, and that is closed which thou
closest, oh thou who art at rest;(1.) thou openest and thou closest to
my Soul, at the bidding of the Eye of Horus: who delivereth me, who
establisheth the glory upon the brow of Rā: [the god] of stretched out
steps and rapid paces, who maketh for me a wide path and vigorous limbs.
I am Horus, the avenger of his father, who lifteth up his father and who
lifteth up his mother with his staff.
Let the path be opened to him who hath mastery of his feet, that he may
look upon the great god within the Bark of Rā on the day of the Soul’s
Reckoning; and my Soul is then at the front during the Reckoning of the
Years.
May the Eye of Horus deliver for me my Soul, and establish my splendour
upon the brow of Rā, and may my radiance be upon your faces who are
attached to the person of Osiris: imprison not my Soul, put not in
custody my Shade.
Let the path be open to my Soul and to my Shade that it may see the
great god within his sanctuary, on the day of the Soul’s Reckoning, and
may repeat the words of Osiris whose place is unseen, and of those who
are attached to the person of Osiris and have the custody of Souls and
Spirits, and who shut up the Shades of the Dead who would do an injury
to me.(2.)
Let the path be thrown open(3.) to thy Genius[91] and to thy Soul,
Glorified one, who art provided with those who conduct thee; sit thou at
the head of the Great ones in thy place; thou shalt not be imprisoned by
those who are attached to the person of Osiris and who have the custody
of Souls and Spirits and who shut up the Shades of the Dead. It is
Heaven that shall hold thee.
NOTES.
1. I cannot agree with those who have hitherto translated this chapter.
The only grammatical interpretation which seems possible for the first
sentence depends upon the sense given to the suffix ⁂⁂ _tȧ_. I
take this as representing the second person singular. ⁂⁂, the
person _at rest_ (Osiris) is the one invoked, and is here translated by
the vocative.
2. The words which follow are evidently the words of Osiris and those
attached to him, which are addressed to the deceased and are repeated by
him. The text here, as indeed everywhere, is very corrupt.
3. _Thrown open_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂. I have explained the sense of the
verb ⁂ _mes_ (_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, 1882, p. 70) as _stretching
out_, of which notion ⁂ is the determinative. ⁂⁂⁂ is =
⁂⁂ × ⁂. _Mesi uat_ is ‘pandatur via.’
-----
Footnote 91:
The Egyptian _ka_.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCIII.
_Chapter whereby one avoideth being conveyed to the East in the
Netherworld._
Oh thou Phallus of Rā, who fliest from the storm, disablement ariseth
from Baba who useth against me might beyond the mighty and power beyond
the powerful.
If I am conveyed away, if I am carried off to the East; if all evil and
injurious things of a feast day of fiends are perpetrated upon me
through the waving of the Two Horns, then shall be devoured the Phallus
of Rā and the Head of Osiris.
And should I be led to the fields wherein the gods destroy him who
answereth them, then shall the horns of Chepera be twisted back, then
shall blindness(1.) arise in the eyes of Tmu and destruction,(2.)
through the seizure of me, and through my being carried off to the East,
through there being made over me a feast day of the fiends, through all
the murderous work perpetrated upon me.(3.)
NOTES.
This chapter contains one of those threats (of which there are other
instances) made to the gods. The speaker is in fact so identified with
divinity that any evil which happens to him must be conceived as
involving the same calamity to the gods and to the universe.
There is a very considerable difference between the earlier and the
later texts. There is very great confusion in the text of the Turin
_Todtenbuch_ as compared with that of the Cadet papyrus.
1. _Blindness_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ in the earlier and ⁂⁂ in the
later texts. The latter form, which has for determinative pearls or
globules of some kind, reminds one of the disease formerly called _gutta
serena_.
2. _Destruction_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. But this word is written in
different ways in the papyri. With ⁂ as a suffix it would mean ‘my
destroyer.’ _Ca_ gives ⁂ as a determinative, and thus creates a god
_Hetmu_, or at least a name punning upon that of Tmu, to which it is
united.
3. The more recent texts, like those of the Turin _Todtenbuch_, insert a
negative particle before the mention of each disaster. They pray that
the Phallus of Rā may _not_ be devoured, that the blindness may _not_
come upon Tmu, and so on.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCIV.
_Chapter whereby one prayeth for a Palette and an Inkstand._
Oh mighty one, who seest thy father, and who hast charge of the Book of
Thoth.
Here am I, I come and am glorified and filled with Soul and Power and
provided with the writings of Thoth, which I bring in order to purify
the tunnel which is in Sutu.(1.) I bring the Palette and I bring the
Inkstand as the instruments of Thoth, the secrets of which are divine.
Here am I, as the Scribe; I bring the remains of Osiris;(2.) and the
writing which I have made upon them is decreed by the great god to be
good, daily, among the good. Thou hast decreed, Horus of the Two
Horizons, that I shall be the author of Maāt and tend(3.) it daily to
Rā.
NOTES.
1. _In Sutu_; that is, in Darkness. _See_ chapter 96.
2. The _remains_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂. This word, though commonly applied
to corruption and impurity of dead matter, is taken in an inoffensive
sense when applied to the gods. Compare, _e.g._, _Pepi I_, line 477 and
following.
3. _Tend_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _mesi_ (not _sebi_) stretch out, _pandere_,
_protendere_.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCV.
_Chapter whereby is opened the place wherein Thoth resteth._
I am the Dread one(1.) in Storm, who guard the Great one(2.) against
assault.
I smite like the Flint-god: I sprinkle like the Sprinkling-god.(3.)
I am the protection(4.) of the Great one against assault and I give
vigour to the sword which is in the hand of Thoth(5.) in the storm.
NOTES.
The papyrus _Ad_ gives this chapter the title of “assuming the form of
the Smen-goose,” and Dr. Birch published the text of this papyrus in the
_Zeitschrift_ of 1869 (p. 25) as one of those additional chapters which
“do not occur in the Ritual of Turin.” This is of course an error of
oversight. This chapter is in the Turin _Todtenbuch_, and the papyrus
_Ad_ merely gives it under an erroneous title, which was evidently meant
for another text.
1. _The Dread one_, ⁂⁂⁂. Instead of this _Ad_ has
⁂⁂⁂, which I cannot regard otherwise than as a simple blunder
of the scribe. ⁂ is a well known anaglyph in certain scenes, but
there is no evidence of its being a variant of the name of Chnemu.
2. Two of the ancient papyri _Ca_ and _Ad_ read _Horus_, the others have
the _Great goddess_, and so has _Ad_ in the next line. The more recent
texts have (not _urit_, ‘the great one,’ but) _urerit_, ‘the crown.’
3. _The Sprinkling god_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Aashu_. This god is
mentioned but once in the Book of the Dead, and his name is here
interpreted conjecturally in consequence of the function assigned to him
and of the not unlike word ⁂⁂ _ȧš_ ‘spit.’
4. _Protection._ I read ⁂ instead of ⁂ in the early papyri.
5. _Thoth._ The recent texts have _Chepera_, an evident error. The
allusion is to the storm or distress from which Thoth rescues the Eye of
Horus.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCVI.
_Chapter whereby is opened [the place] where Thoth [resteth]._
I am he who dwelleth in the middle of his own Eye. I have come that I
may deliver Maāt to Rā, and may propitiate Sutu with the libations for
Akar and the red victims of the Faithful of Seb.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCVII.
_Said at the Bark_: Staff of Anubis, may I propitiate those four
Glorified ones who follow after the Master of [all] things.
I am the Master of the champaign at their behest, and I am the Father of
the inundation, when he who hath charge of the canals is athirst.
Look therefore upon me, oh ye great and mighty gods, who are foremost
among the Spirits of Annu; let me be exalted in your presence. I am a
well-doer towards you. Lo I come, that I may purify this Soul of mine in
the most high degree; let not that impediment proceeding from your mouth
be issued against me which giveth one over to ruin: let me be purified
in the lake of propitiation and of equipoise: let me plunge into the
divine pool beneath the two divine sycomores of Heaven and Earth.
Now let my Fold be fitted for me as one victorious against all
adversaries who would not that right should be done to me.
I am the Only one; just and true upon the Earth. It is I who say it.
* * * * *
NOTES.
Chapters 96 and 97 are really but one chapter, which M. Naville has
found in only two MSS. of the early period. The end of what Lepsius
calls chapter 97 is hopelessly corrupt. On comparing the three copies
given by M. Naville (two of them being from the papyrus of Nebseni) it
will be seen how impossible it is to restore a grammatical text out of
such discordant materials. The difficulty is not removed by having
recourse to the papyri of a later period.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXV.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCVII.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9,900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CIII.
=Papyrus,
British Museum,
No. 9,900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCVIII.
=LEPSIUS, Todtenbuch.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CIV.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9,900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIX.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9,900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CV.
=Papyrus of Sutimes,
Bibl. Nat.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CV.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9,900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CVIII.
=Papyrus,
British Museum, No. 9,900.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXVI
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration: CHAPTER XCIX. =Papyrus Busca.=]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIX.
=Papyrus, Berlin Museum, No. 2.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIX.
=Papyrus, Brit. Mus., No. 9905.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIX.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre, No. III, 89.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER XCIX.
=Papyrus Brocklehurst, II.=
]
[Illustration: CHAPTER XCIX. =Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9900.=]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCVIII.
_Chapter whereby one saileth a ship in the Netherworld._
Oh thou Leg in the Northern Sky,(1.) and in that most conspicuous but
inaccessible Stream; I rise up and come to light as a god, I am
conspicuous but inaccessible.
I rise up and live, and bring myself to light as a god.
I cackle even as the Smen-goose, but I stoop(2.) like the Hawk at the
nets of the Great Fowler.
I sail across the Sky, and Shu standeth erect and the Achmiu Stars(3.)
are instantly active in raising the ladder which lifts the Setting Stars
away from destruction.(4.)
And I bear that which repelleth mischief as I make my voyage over the
Leg of Ptah.
I come from the Lake of Flame, from the Lake of Fire, and from the Field
of Flame, and I live....
I stand erect in the Bark which the god is piloting ... at the head of
Aarru,(5.) and the Achmiu Stars open to me ... and my fellow
citizens(6.) present to me the sacred cakes with flesh.
NOTES.
There is but one papyrus of the older period which contains any portion
of this chapter, and it does so very imperfectly.
On referring to M. Naville’s edition it will be seen that not only the
title but the greater part of the chapter is destroyed. The later copies
have texts so different from the original form, that it is unsafe to
attempt a restoration except within very strict limits.
It is absurd to attempt a translation from a mixture of divergent and,
at the same time, incorrect texts.
1. See note to chapter 74. The _Stream_ which is so conspicuous but
cannot be reached is the Milky Way, and the _Leg_ is the constellation
Cassiopeia in the Northern Sky.
2. _Stoop_, ⁂⁂⁂. This comparison occurs repeatedly in the
Pyramid Texts, and others of the early periods.
3. _Achmiu Stars_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ so _Ab_, giving another
proof that the word is to be taken as a _noun_, and not as a _negative_.
4. See chapter 30A, on “The Crocodile of the West who lives on the
Setting Stars.”
5. So _Ab_, but perhaps wrongly. I dare not fill up the lacunæ of this
text.
6. _Fellow-citizens._ The translation here is necessarily conjectural.
But I understand by _fellow-citizens_ (συμπολῖται) the dwellers of that
_city_ of which the deceased says, in chapter 17, “I arrive at my own
city, ⁂⁂.”[92] And this _city_ is explained by the ancient
scholion as being “the Horizon ⁂ [or, as Lepsius more accurately
translates it, ‘der Sonnenberg’] of my father Tmu.” It is no earthly
city that is thought of, but an eternal one.
-----
Footnote 92:
I take this opportunity of correcting my former translation, where the
preposition ⁂, which twice occurs in the passage, is both times
rendered by the same word, _from_. But the sense of a preposition
really depends upon the verb which it follows. The same English word
will not suit the French _de_ in ‘s’approcher _de_’ and ‘s’éloigner
_de_.’
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XCIX.
_Chapter whereby one Saileth a Ship in the Netherworld._
Oh thou who sailest the ship of Nu over that chine which is void,(1.)
let me sail the ship; let me fasten my tackle(2.) in peace; in peace!
Come, come; Fleet one, Fleet one! Let me come to see my father Osiris.
Oh thou who art veiled, let me enjoy happiness.
Oh thou who art clouded, but manful, and who sailest round over that
chine of Âpepi; thou of firm head and steadfast breast when coming forth
from the fiery blows: Oh thou who art at the ship, let me sail the ship,
let me fasten my tackle and come forth.
This place is empty, into which the starry ones fall down headlong upon
their faces,(3.) and find not aught whereby they can raise themselves
up.
Narrow is the path as the tongue of Rā.(4.)
[_The Patrol who goeth round, and who piloteth the Double Earth_; Seb
abideth stably by means of their rudders: _the divine Form which
revealeth the Solar Orb_: and _He who presideth over the Red ones_.(5.)]
Let me be brought in as a distressed mariner, and let my Soul come to
me, which is my brother, and go to that place which thou knowest.
_“Let me be told my name,” say_,
1. _The Mooring post._ “Lord of the Double-Earth in the Shrine” is thy
name.
2. _The Blade of the Rudder._ “Leg of Apis ” is thy name.
3. _The Hawser._ “The Side-Lock which Anubis fastens on to the swathing
work” is thy name.
4. _The Stern or Stem Posts._ “The two columns of the Netherworld” is
thy name.
5. _The Hold._ “Akar” is thy name.
6. _The Mast._ “Bearer of the Great one whilst she passeth” is thy name.
7. _The Keel._ “Backbone of Apuat” is thy name.
8. _The Mast-head._ “Throat of Emsta” is thy name.
9. _The Sail._ “Nut” is thy name.
10. _The Leathers._(6.) “Made of the hide of Mnevis, which Sutu hath
scorched,” is thy name.
11. _The Oars._ “Fingers of the elder” is your name.
12. _The Bracement._ “Hand of Isis, stanching the blood of the Eye of
Horus,” is thy name.
13. _The Ribs._ “Emsta, Hapi, Tuamautef, Kebehsenuf, He who taketh
captive, He who taketh by force, He who seeth his Father, and He who
maketh himself,” are your names.
14. _The Look-out_:(7.) “Master of the Grounds”(8.) is thy name.
15. _The Tiller_:(9.) “Merit”(10.) is thy name.
16. _The Rudder_: “The Umpire, beaming forth from the water,” is thy
name.
17. _The Hull_: “The Leg of Hathor, which Rā wounded, on his lifting her
into the Sektit Boat,” is thy name.
18. _The Boatman_: “Off” is thy name.
19. _The Breeze_, since thou art conveyed by me: “The Northern Breeze
proceeding from Tmu to the Nose of Chent-Amenta” is thy name.
20. _The Stream_, since thou sailest upon me: “Their Mirror” is thy
name.
21. _The Shallow_:(11.) “Destroyer of the large-handed at the place of
purification” is thy name.
22. _The Land_, since thou walkest upon me: “The Tip of Heaven, the
Coming forth from the swathings in the Garden of Aarru, and the Coming
forth in Exultation,” is thy name.
_To be said before them._
Hail to you, Fair in Form, Lord of issues, who are springing up for
ever, and whose double goal is eternity: turn to me your hands, give to
me food and offerings for my mouth; let me eat the _Bat_-bread, the
_Shensu_-cake and the _Kefen_-cake: let my place be in the great hall in
presence of the mighty god.
I know that mighty god to whose nostrils ye present delicacies. Tekmu is
his name: and whether he, whose name is Tekmu, turneth from the East or
advanceth to the West, let his course be my course.
Let me not be stopped at the Meskat; let not the Sebau have mastery over
my limbs.
I have bread in Pu and beer in Tepu. Let your largesses of this day be
granted to me; offerings of wheat and barley, offerings of _ānta_ and of
vestments, offerings of oxen, and ducks, which are offerings for life,
health and strength, and also offerings for coming forth by day, in all
the forms in which it pleaseth me to come forth in the Garden of Aarru.
_If this chapter be known he will come forth at the Garden of Aarru;
there will be given to him the_ Shensu-_cake, the measure of drink and
the_ persen-_cake, and fields of wheat and barley of seven cubits (It is
the followers of Horus who reap them), for he eateth of that wheat and
barley, and he is made whole in his limbs through that wheat and barley,
and his limbs spring up even as with those gods. And he cometh forth in
the Garden of Aarru in all the forms in which it pleaseth him to come
forth._
NOTES.
One of the Paris papyri (_Pb_) contains a composition bearing the same
title as chapter 99, and M. Naville has published it as an introduction
to the usual chapter. It is no doubt of very great interest, but it is
the imperfect copy of a quite independent composition, which really has
no claim to be considered a part of our Book of the Dead.
1. See chapter 7, title and notes. _Cf._ the αἰθὴρ ἐρημος of Pindar and
the Latin expressions ‘vacuum per inane,’ ‘per inania.’
2. _Fasten my tackle_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂. _Cf._ Unas, 508 and 639. In
the latter place the ropes are said to be made of ⁂⁂⁂, _palm
leaf_ (?).
3. Comp. chapter 44 on the cavern where the dead fall into the darkness,
‘but the Eye of Horus supporteth me, and Apuat reareth me up.’ There may
be an allusion here, as there is elsewhere, to _shooting stars_. It is
worth noticing that—a group which ought, I think, to be read
⁂⁂⁂⁂ (_Ca_ and _Ac_) has in most papyri the wrong
determinative ⁂ instead of ⁂, which was misunderstood, and that
_Ab_ has even ⁂⁂⁂.
4. A corrupt passage, like the next.
5. The corruption of the whole passage between [ ] will be best
understood on comparing it with the names of “the Rudders of Heaven” as
given in chapter 148; the earliest text of these names being (I think)
the fine tablet in _Denkm._ III, 25 bis _a_. _Three_ out of four of
these names are represented by the phrases here printed in italics. The
rest is incoherent and was certainly not understood by the copyists. I
have followed _Aa_ in my translation.
6. ‘_The Leathers_,’ ⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂, leathern
thongs, or straps, like the Greek τροποί for fastening the oars,
Ἠρτύναντο δ’ ἐρετμὰ τροποῖς ἐν δερματίνοισι: _Odyss._ 4, 782.
See note of Scholiast and _cf._ Aesch. _Pers._, 376.
7. _Look out_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, _see_ chapter 15, note 9.
8. _Grounds._ ⁂⁂⁂ is, technically, the superficial land
measure corresponding to the _quarter_ of the Egyptian _arura_. The more
general sense of the word (⁂⁂⁂⁂) is land enclosed and
parted out for cultivation.
The very ancient magical text (Unas 302) speaks characterically of
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the Hippopotamus who maketh
his appearance at the garden (vineyard, field, &c. _Cf._ Psalm lxxx,
13).
In the great inscription published in Mariette’s _Denderah_, IV, 35,
⁂⁂⁂ is used, in a sense like that of the Ἀδώνιδος κῆποι, for
a stone vessel in which seeds were sown for ritual purposes.
9. _Tiller._ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _bait_, or (as it is also written)
_ȧbait_; see chapter 76, note 1.
10. _Merit._ ⁂⁂ (sometimes written with ⁂ and other
determinatives; Bekenranef adds ⁂) is the name of each of the two
divine sisters, Isis and Nephthys, _see_ chapter 37, note; who are
called ⁂⁂⁂ and ⁂⁂. But, at Edfu, Denderah and Philae,
_Merit_ is a synonym of the _Ut’at_, and one of the names of Hathor.
11. _Shallow_; a conjectural meaning for ⁂⁂⁂, which has not
only the determinative of _land_, but those of water, ⁂ and ⁂.
And in some texts it would seem to mean _marsh_, _fen_, _swamp_.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER C.
_The Book whereby the glorified one is made strong, and is made to
embark in the boat of Rā, together with those who are with the god._
Let me convey the divine Heron to the East, Osiris to Tattu. Let me open
the caverns of Hāpu,(1.) clear the path of the Solar Orb and tow along
Sekaru upon his sledge. Let the Great one give me strength at her fixed
hour.
I hail and give worship to the Orb, and associate myself with those in
adoration, I am one of them.
Let me be a second to Isis; and let her glorified ones give me strength.
Let me fasten my tackle, let me stop the adversary, and force him to
turn back his steps.
Let Rā lend me his two hands, let not his divine Boatmen prevent me. Let
my strength be that of the divine Eye, and conversely.
[As to the sundering of me in the Bark of Rā, let the sundering be as
that of the Egg and the Tortoise.(2.)]
_Said over the Figure in the Text, which is written upon clean paper,
with artist’s ink, fresh and mixed with essence of Ānta; let the dead
person have it put upon his body without inserting it into his limbs; he
will enter into the Bark of Rā at the round of each day, Thoth will
appreciate him, on his coming forth or entering, undeviatingly for times
infinite._
NOTES.
This chapter appears a second time in the Turin _Todtenbuch_ as chapter
129. But in the papyrus of Nebseni it is found no less than three times.
1. _Caverns_ of Hāpu. Two of the copies of this chapter in the papyrus
of Nebseni give the interesting variant ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. ⁂ is
the well known equivalent of ⁂⁂, and the fountains of the Nile
are also indicated by the group ⁂.
2. This passage does not occur in chapter 129, and is apparently an
interpolation, which however is already found in ancient copies.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CI.
_Chapter of the Safeguards of the Bark of Rā._
O thou who art devoid of moisture in coming forth from the stream; and
who restest upon the deck of thy Bark: as thou proceedest in the
direction of Yesterday, and restest upon the deck of thy Bark, let me
join thy boatmen.
I am a powerful Chu.
O Rā, in that thy name of Rā, since thou passest through an Eye of seven
cubits, whose pupil is of three: do thou then make me sound, I am a
powerful Chu, let thy soundness be my soundness.
O Rā, in that thy name of Rā, since thou passest through those who are
perishing headlong: do thou then keep me standing on my feet. I am a
powerful Chu, let thy soundness be my soundness.
O Rā, in that thy name of Rā, since thou openest the secrets of the
Ammehit, which gladdeneth the hearts of the Divine Circle: do thou then
give me my heart. I am a powerful Chu, let thy soundness be my
soundness, and the soundness of thy limbs be the soundness of my limbs.
_Secured by reason of the writing with gum mixed with colours upon a
strip of royal papyrus, put at the throat of the deceased on the day of
burial. If these phylacteries are put at his throat, he will rise up as
one of the Divine Circle, and be united to the followers of Horus,
whilst his Lamp is made firm by Isis in heaven beside Sothis. He
followeth Horus who resideth in Sothis.(1.) His Shade becometh divine as
well as human. Vegetation is made to grow out of his body through the
goddess Menkit.(2.) He becometh a god for ever, and his limbs are made
vigorous in the Netherworld through Thoth, who hath done the like to
Osiris, in causing the light to rise out of his dead body; undeviatingly
and for times infinite._
NOTES.
This chapter does not occur in the earlier collections known to us.
1. _Horus who resideth in Sothis_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂; _cf._
Teta, 277.
2. _Menkit_ is one of the names of Hathor, but the place is corrupt and
the true reading uncertain.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CII.
_Chapter whereby one entereth into the Bark of Rā._
O Great One in thy Bark, let me be lifted into thy Bark. Let me make
head for thy staircase. Let me have charge of those who convey thee, who
are attached to thee, who are of the Stars which never set.
That which I abominate, I eat not: and that which I abominate is Dirt,
let me not eat of it, but of peace offerings and of _Ka_-offerings, by
which I shall not be upset.
Let me not approach it with my hands, let me not tread upon it with my
sandals, because my bread is of the white corn and my beer of the red
corn of the Nile.
It is the Sektit boat and the Āātit which have brought me to the food
and raiment which are upon the altar of the Spirits of Annu.
Salutation to thee, Ur-ar-set, in that voyage of heaven and the disaster
in Tennu, when those dogs were gathered together, not without giving
voice.
I have come myself and delivered the god from that pain and suffering,
that was in trunk, in shoulder and in leg.
I have come and healed(1.) the trunk, and fastened the shoulder and made
firm the leg.
And I embark for the voyage of Rā.
NOTE.
1. _Healed._ Such is the meaning of ⁂⁂⁂, as in chapter 147,
17, and Unas 214, no less than in a passage which does not occur in the
most ancient texts of chapter 17, but which is found in the papyri and
is derived from the early traditions. Thoth healed the face of Horus.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CIII.
_Chapter whereby one openeth the place where Hathor abideth._
I am a pure follower. O Ahi; O Ahi;(1.) let me become one of the
followers of Hathor.
NOTE.
1. _Ahi_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the _Striker_ is one of the names
of Horus, who in the inscriptions of Benihassan is called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “Horus who striketh down men.” The
notion of striking was in later days confined to the beating of
the sistrum. Priestly persons bore the title of _Ahi_ as
representatives of the youthful Horus, son of Hathor. See _Proc.
Soc. Bibl. Arch._, XII, p. 460, on “The Sun-stroke in Egyptian.”
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CIV.
_Chapter whereby one sitteth in the midst of the great gods._
Let me sit in the midst of the great gods. Let me pass through the place
of the Sektit boat. It is the Bird-fly deity(1.) that shall convey me to
see the great gods who are in the Netherworld, and I shall be triumphant
in their presence.
NOTE.
1. _The Bird-fly deity_, Abait; _see_ chapter 76, note.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CV.
_Chapter whereby one propitiateth_(1.) _the Ka._
Hail to thee, my Ka, my coeval.(2.)
May I come to thee and be glorified and made manifest and ensouled, let
me have strength and soundness.
Let me bring to thee grains of incense wherewith I may purify myself and
may also purify thine own overflow.
The wrong assertions that I have uttered, and the wrong resistance which
I have offered: let them not be imputed to me.
For I am the green gem, fresh at the throat of Rā, given by those who
are at the Horizon: their freshness is my freshness [_said twice_], the
freshness of my Ka is like theirs, and the dainties of my Ka are like
theirs.
Thou who liftest the hand at the Balance, and raisest Law to the nose of
Rā in this day [of my Ka]: do not thou put my head away from me. For I
am the Eye which seeth and the Ear which heareth; and am I not the Bull
of the sacrificial herd, are not the mortuary gifts(3.) upon me and the
supernal powers [_otherwise said_: the powers above Nut].
Grant that I may pass by thee, and may purify myself and cause the
triumph of Osiris over his adversaries.(4.)
NOTES.
1. _Propitiate_, ⁂. The simple root ⁂ _ḥetep_ signifies, what is
implied by the ideographic sign ⁂, the _taking hold_, _embracing_,
and kindred notions (_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, Vol. X, p. 578). The
notion of appeasing an angry personage is no more necessarily involved
in the Egyptian word than in the Latin _propitiare_. M. Léfebure’s
translation, _réunir_, in the title of this chapter is perfectly correct
as far as it goes.
See in _Denkm._, III, pl. 34, b, the picture of Thothmes III being
greeted by his _ka_. Rameses II and other kings are often represented in
the act of supplicating their own _ka_.
2. _My coeval_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or, as some might prefer, my _duration
of life_.
The pictures in the temple of Luxor (_Denkm._, III, 74 and 75) are well
known which represent the birth of Amenophis III. The infant prince in
each of these pictures is accompanied by his _ka_, his exact image. The
_ka_ is nursed and suckled by the same goddesses.
But perhaps the best commentary on our text is to be found in the
picture recently published by the French Mission Archéologique (_Temple
de Luxor_, fig. 203), in which both the royal infant and his _ka_ are
being fashioned by the hand of Chnum, upon his potter’s wheel.
3. _Mortuary gifts_ ⁂⁂⁂, meals offered to the
departed. The meaning of the compound group is plain enough
from the determinatives, and such frequent forms as
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “consisting of bread and
beer,” but the origin of it is not so clear. The usual meaning of
⁂⁂ like that of the Coptic ϧⲣⲱⲟⲩ is _voice_, but in the present
group it stands for ⁂⁂⁂ corresponding to ϧⲣⲉ, plur. ϧⲣⲏⲟⲩⲓ,
τροφὴ, βρώματα, ἐδέσματα,, and ⁂ is to be understood as in the very
common formula ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The reading ⁂⁂⁂⁂ which is sometimes found in late texts
is faulty and leads to an erroneous interpretation. ⁂ is a mistake
either for ⁂ or for ⁂, the phonetic of ⁂.
In such passages of the Pyramid texts as
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Unas 36)
⁂ is a demonstrative not a negative particle, “Here is the mortuary
meal presented for thee, and _here_ are the two Eyes, the White and the
Black, of Horus.”
4. All the early MSS. except _Pd_ omit this last passage.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CVI.
_Chapter whereby a largess is presented at Hat-ka-Ptah._(1.)
Oh thou god of nutriment, oh great one who presidest over the mansions
on high; [to whom bread cometh from Annu] ye who give bread to Ptah
[from Annu], give me bread and beer: let me be made pure by the
sacrificial joint, together with the white bread.(2.)
Oh thou ship of the Garden of Aarru, let me be conveyed to that bread of
thy canal; as my father, the Great one, who advanceth in the Divine ship
[because I know thee].
NOTES.
This is one of the chapters found on the sarcophagus of Horhotep. It is
also inscribed on a statue, now in the Berlin Museum, belonging to the
early part of the XVIIIth dynasty (_Denkm._, III, 25 h and k). These
authorities do not give the title found in the papyri. The allusions to
Annu are confined to the earliest text, which somewhat differs from the
later authorities, and finishes sooner than they do. _Cf._ also _Teta_,
l. 331.
1. _Hat-ka-Ptah_ is the name of Memphis, but as in so many other places
it is not the earthly city which is meant. M. Naville has pointed out
that the words “in the Netherworld” are added in the papyrus of Nebseni.
2. Bread and beer are not mentioned in the earliest text, which has
other important variants. The latest texts have the verb ⁂⁂,
_wash_, _make clean_, _purify_, of which ⁂⁂⁂ on the Berlin
statue and the Theban papyri may fairly be considered an older form. But
Horhotep has ⁂⁂⁂, a different word and occurring in a
grammatical construction differing from that of the other texts.
The words ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ occur as a familiar formula in
the Pyramid texts (Unas, 185, 205; Teta, 91); but Horhotep interpolates
⁂⁂ after ⁂⁂⁂. The determinatives of the group
⁂⁂⁂ (sometimes ⁂ or ⁂), show that the copyist
understood the word as meant for the sacrificial joint.
It is not uninteresting to note, with reference to the correctness of
the title of this chapter, that the Pyramid ritual (Unas, 205) expressly
says of the deceased that “the sacrificial joint with the white bread”
are the “largess” (⁂⁂) which he receives.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXVII.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER C.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre,
No. III, 93.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER C.
=Papyrus, Boulaq Museum, No. 21.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER C.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre,
No. III, 89.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CII.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre,
No. III, 36.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CIX.
ROSELLINI, “Mon. del Culto.,” pl. XXIII.
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CII.
=Papyrus Brocklehurst, II.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CVIII.
=Papyrus, Berlin Museum, No. II.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CIX.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9900.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXVIII.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration: CHAPTER CX. =Papyrus, Leyden Museum.=]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CVII.
[The chapter so called consists, in fact, of the first two lines of
chapter 109. The vignette over it really belongs to chapter 108. It has
no separate existence in any of the papyri of the best periods.]
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CVIII.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of the West._
In respect of the Hill of Bachau(1.) upon which heaven resteth, it
presenteth itself(2.) three hundred cubits in length(3.) and two hundred
cubits in breadth.
Sebak, the Lord of Bachau, is at the east of the Hill, and his temple is
upon it.
There is a serpent on the brow of that hill, five hundred cubits in
length, three cubits of his forepart are pierced with swords.
I know the name of this serpent on his hill: “He who dwelleth in his own
flame” is his name.(4.)
Now, at the close of day(5.) he turneth down his eyes to Rā; for there
cometh a standing still in the Bark and a deep slumber within the ship.
And now he swalloweth three cubits of the Great Water.
Then Sutu is made to flee with a chain upon him of steel(6.) and he is
forced to vomit all that he hath swallowed. Then Sutu is put into his
prison.
_And then he saith with Words of Power_:—
Away with thee! Steel, which art made fast upon my hand. I remain in thy
prison, the Bark sails on and thou seest the path; but thine eyes close,
[thine eye is delivered to me], thy head is veiled,(7.) and I go on and
stay thy steps.
I am the Manful one, who veileth thy head and who cooleth the hollow of
thy hand: thy strength is my strength.
I am the Master of the Words of Power.
Who is this who hath been delivered to me?
This Bright One, who cometh on his belly, on his hind parts and on the
joints of his back.
Lo! then, I come, and thy might is in my hand. It is I who carry away
thy might, that I may come and seize upon the Tunnels of Rā who is
united to me at sunset as he goeth round heaven.(8.)
But thou art pierced with hooks, as was decreed against thee of old.
I know the powers of the West, they are Tmu, Sebak the Lord of Bachau,
and Hathor, Mistress of Sunset.
NOTES.
The chapters 108, 109, 112, 113, and 114 being so analogous to each
other, in form, matter, style, and composition, and each being concerned
with the divine _Powers_ ⁂ of some locality, it is interesting to
know that one at least of these chapters is found on a monument of the
Middle Empire. The others are probably not less ancient, and the text
published by Dr. Golenischef (_Zeitschr. f. Aegypt. Spr._, 1874, p. 84)
from the Sarcophagus at St. Petersburg already bears manifest signs of
antiquity.
Another sign of antiquity as regards the present chapter may be seen in
the numerous forms in which it has come down to us. These are so
different, and sometimes so irreconcileable, that it seems evident that
tradition has handed down very corrupt texts, and that the original
meaning of this chapter had been entirely lost at a very early date and
cannot be discovered now. The oldest text is the shortest of all, but it
is both imperfect and incorrect. The earliest papyri differ greatly from
the later ones. But both the earlier and the later papyri have the 149th
chapter which contains another recension of the 108th, and chapter 111
in the Turin and later papyri is another form of it.
1. The Hill of _Bachau_. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ has for
determinative the sign ⁂ which connects the word with the Coptic
ⲃⲟⲩϩⲓ ‘eyelids.’ In the later texts the word has for determinative
either a _woman_ or a _cow_ in the act of parturition, as if it were
connected with ⁂⁂⁂ and its variants, with which
⁂⁂⁂⁂ another name of the Dawn is identified.
2. _Presenteth itself_, ⁂⁂. This Egyptian verb is always
expressive of activity, and perhaps ought never to be translated
_being_. ⁂ are ‘things which are,’ but ⁂⁂ are ‘things which
spring forth’ ‘come to light.’
3. The oldest text (which is here the best authority) does not give the
dimensions of the hill, but only of the serpent. The earliest papyri
give the dimensions of both, but make the hill so absurdly small that
the serpent could not rest upon it. Later papyri beginning with _Pf_
have corrected the texts so as to give the hill a length of 300 cubits,
or ⁂ (each of which is 100 cubits long). They omit the statement
that the cubit in question is of 7½ palms (the Royal cubit being of 7
palms), and also the interesting mention of the ⁂⁂⁂ “balance
(or measurement) of the earth.” The relation of this ‘balance’ to the
rest of the sentence is not clear, because the MSS. differ as to the
preposition which precedes.
The Papyrus of Nebseni gives the hill 300 cubits in breadth. The
_Todtenbuch_ of Turin reads 370 ⁂ in length, and 140 cubits in
breadth.
4. The serpent’s name is not mentioned in chapter 111, nor is it in
the earliest text. But in chapter 149 the usual name is
⁂⁂⁂, more fully written ⁂⁂ in the Papyrus of
Nebseni. The determinative ⁂ commonly attached to the name of
Âpepi, expresses the meaning ‘sword smitten,’ ‘shot with swords,’
ξιφόκτονος. We might otherwise have understood the term in the sense
of ξιφοκτόνος, ‘slayer with swords.’ The Papyrus of Sutimes _Pd_ calls
the serpent ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘knife-wounded.’
The proper name ⁂⁂⁂⁂, also written ⁂⁂⁂,
_Māṭes_, an epithet of Âpepi, or of Sutu, also means “pierced with
swords.” But the expression itself seems sometimes to be found in the
active sense, “piercing like a sword.”
5. _Close of Day_, when daylight has come to ‘a _stand_’ ⁂⁂⁂.
This is the reading of the papyri. The oldest reading is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘at the time of sunset.’
6. The earliest text says nothing of this, though it mentions the
“prison of Sutech,” in a passage corresponding to what the papyri
include in the ‘Words of Power’ which follow. The Turin _Todtenbuch_
says that, “Sutu is put into his prison, and that a chain of steel is
put upon his neck.” Pictures of the serpent with the chain upon him will
be found in Bonomi, _Sarcoph._, plates 10 and 11.[93] There is an
evident fusion in this chapter, in its later form at least, as in
chapter 39, of the personages of Sutu and Âpepi.
7. _Thy head is veiled._ The ‘veiling of the head,’ and ‘closing of the
eyes’ of the sun are of course mythological terms for night time. But
the mythological event was celebrated on the festival called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
8. Chapter 111 stops at the word “Sunset.” And after this, the text in
chapter 149 changes the third to the first person, and reads: “But I go
round the heaven whilst thou art pierced with hooks,” as if Rā were
replying to the words of Sutu. This, I confess, appears to me to offer a
better sense than that of chapter 108. And I should now alter the word
“stabber” in the first line of chapter 39 to “pierced with hooks.”
-----
Footnote 93:
On this picture (plate 11) may also be seen an interesting
illustration of chapter 39; the scorpion goddess putting the chain
upon Âpepi, in front of whom are the divinities to execute, with
swords and hooks, the decree passed against him. The children of Horus
are also seen occupied in the execution.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CIX.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of the East._
I know that Eastern Gate of Heaven (the South of it is by the lake of
Cha-ru, and the north of it by the stream of Reu), from whence Rā
saileth with favouring gales.(1.)
I am the Teller(2.) in the divine ship: I am the unresting navigator in
the Bark of Rā.
I know those two Sycomores of Emerald between which Rā cometh forth, as
he advanceth over what Shu hath lifted up,[94] to every gate(3.) through
which he proceedeth.
I know the Garden of Aarru: the wall of it is of steel. The wheat of it
is of 7 cubits, the ears of it of 2 cubits, the stalk of it of 4 cubits.
The barley of it is of 7 cubits, and the ears are of 4 cubits, and the
stalk of 3 cubits.
It is the glorified ones, each of whom is 9 cubits in height, who reap
them, in presence of the Powers of the East.
I know the Powers of the East: Horus of the Solar Mount, the Calf in
presence of the God,(4.) and the Star of Dawn.
A divine Domain(5.) hath been constructed for me; I know the name of it;
the name of it is the garden of Aarru.
NOTES.
Another recension of this chapter has been incorporated into chapter
149. The differences lie chiefly in the order assigned to each of the
component sentences.
1. _Favouring gales_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “_sailing breezes_,”
correspond to phrases like ἴκμενος οὖρος, venti secundi, trade winds,
tail wind, stern wind. There is not the faintest authority from the
older papyri (which are very numerous, and remarkably unanimous on this
point) in favour of the determinative ⁂, of the Turin _Todtenbuch_,
which gives the sense of violent or tempestuous winds.
2. _Teller_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
3. _Every gate._ “Rā at his rising is adored by the Powers of the East.
They it is who effect the rising of Rā, by opening the door at each of
the four portals of the Eastern horizon of heaven.” (Inscr. in tomb of
Rameses VI, Champollion, _Notices_, Tom. II, p. 640.)
4. _The Calf in presence of the god._ The _Calf_ is seen in the
vignettes of this chapter and also of chapter 1. Brugsch (_Rev.
Egypt_, I, p. 38) quotes texts showing that the Milch-cow
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Hor-sechauit_, is the mother of the
Sun-god, and that the infant god is the calf to whom she gives birth.
The words “in presence of the god” are probably corrupt, but the
variants are apparently worse. The Morning Star was equally identified
with Horus.
5. _The divine Domain._ See M. Maspero’s important article “Sur le sens
des mots Nouit et Hait,” in _P.S.B.A._, XII, p. 235-257. “⁂ NOUIT
sert à désigner un domaine rural d’étendue plus ou moins considérable,
portant ou ne portant pas de village ou de maison d’habitation.... Il
était une personne réelle, formant un corps complet en soi, et c’est
pour cela qu’on le représente sous la forme d’un homme ou d’une femme
apportant des produits agricoles et des offrandes.”
ADDITIONAL NOTE.
The later copies of the Book of the Dead add a few lines to the chapter,
of which they certainly formed no part when first written. The most
interesting portion of them is as follows:—
“There are writings in thy possession for the grant of fields of
corn-land in which there sprouteth corn from the effluxes of the god
Ut’eb. The height of the corn is seven cubits, the ears of two cubits;
and thou shall reap it with the Glorified ones, in presence of the
Powers of the East. Thou shalt enter boldly at the mysterious portals
and be purified by those who are there.”
The name of the god hieroglyphically written ⁂⁂ was shown by me
(_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, Vol. VI, p. 187) to be _Uteb_ or _Ut’eb_.
Brugsch, apparently without having seen my note, came to the same
result, though he identified the god with Seb. The god is really Osiris,
and the text just quoted is illustrated by a picture of which various
copies are found. That here given is taken from the temple of Philae.
These pictures were known from the Ramesside period, but the
conception of Osiris which they convey ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
(_Todt._, 142, 7) is of primitive antiquity. There is a chapter among
the texts preserved by the Coffin of Amamu (pl. xxvii, 6) about
“assuming the form of corn,” ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, and which
speaks of “the vegetation of life proceeding from Osiris, growing out
of the ribs of Osiris, and giving life to this generation of men,”
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The same idea gave rise to the name ⁂⁂⁂⁂ which is given to
Osiris in the Book of the Dead, in the sacred texts of the Royal Tombs,
and in the Hymn to the Nile. But the god is also twice called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ in Amamu, pl. xxvii, 8. This latter form
proves that in ⁂⁂⁂⁂ we have a compound term.
The deity (in very late times) appears in the feminine gender
⁂⁂⁂ (_Denkm._, iv, 57).
-----
Footnote 94:
_I.e._, the Sky.
------------------------------------
CX. The Chapter which in the printed copy of the Turin _Todtenbuch_ is
numbered 110 interrupts the series of chapters on the Powers of certain
localities. The translation of it is reserved till that of these
chapters is completed. It will be found at page 193.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXI.
is only a repetition of Chapter CVIII.
------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXIX.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration: CHAPTER CX. =Bas Relief, Leyden Museum.=]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXII.
=MARIETTE,
“Abydos,” I, p. 83.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXII.
=MARIETTE,
“Abydos,” I, pl. 39.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXII.
=MARIETTE,
“Abydos,” I, p. 82.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXX.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXII.
MARIETTE, “Abydos,” I, pl. 10.
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXIII.
MARIETTE, “Abydos,” I, pl. 29.
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXII.
=Papyrus, British Museum,
No. 9900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXIII.
=Papyrus, British Museum, No. 9964.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTERS CXII AND CXIII.
MARIETTE, “Abydos,” I, pl. 31.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXII.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of Pu._[(1.)]
Oh thou of corpselike form who art in Chait and Ânpit;(2.) thou goddess
of the Net,(3.) who art in Pu; ye who preside over the untilled lands,
ye stars and constellations(4.).... Know ye wherefore Pu hath been given
to Horus?
I know it if ye know it not.
It was Râ who gave it to him in amends of the blindness in his eye, in
consequence of what Râ said to Horus: “Let me look at what is happening
in thine eye to-day,” and he looked at it.
Râ said to Horus, “Look, pray, at that black swine.”
He looked, and a grievous mishap afflicted his eye.
Horus said to Râ, “Lo, my eye is as though the eye of Sutu had made a
wound in my own eye.” And wrath devoured his heart.
And Râ said to the gods, “Let him be laid upon his bed, that he may
recover.”
It was Sutu who had taken the form of a black swine, and he wrought the
wound which was in the eye of Horus.
And Râ said to the gods, “The swine is an abomination to Horus; may he
get well.” And the swine became an abomination to Horus.(5.)
And the circle of gods said, who were with him when Horus came to light
in his own children:(6.) “Let the sacrificial victims(7.) for him be of
his oxen, of his goats, and of his swine.”
As for Emsta, Hapi, Tuamautef, Kebhsenuf, Horus is their father and Isis
their mother.
And Horus said to Râ, “Give me then two(8.) brothers in Pu and two
brothers in Nechen, of this my own body; and that they may be with me as
an everlasting renewal, through which the earth flourisheth and storms
are quenched.”
And his name became that of Horus upon his Column.
I know the Powers of Pu: they are Horus, Emsta and Hapi.
NOTES.
1. On the situation of _Pu_, see chapter 18, note 6. The Pyramid Texts
(Pepi I, 684) speak of the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “those of the
Red Crown who are in Pu.”
2. _Thou of corpselike form in Chait and Ânpit._ The sign of the plural,
here as elsewhere, is quite consistent with its application to a single
person. ⁂⁂ _Chait_ is the name[95] of the 16th, or Mendesian,
Nome of Northern Egypt, and Ânpit was its metropolis. The nome is
mentioned in the inscription of Amten in the third dynasty. The god is
Osiris. He is invoked in the “Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys,” and
asked to come to Tattu, Ânpit and Chait, which are but different names
of one Sanctuary, _Cf._ Brugsch, _Zeitschr._, 1871, p. 81, and his
translation of the Mendesian Tablet, _Zeitschr._, 1875.
3. _Thou goddess of the Net_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. This name
corresponds to the Greek Diktynna. The reason why a goddess representing
Heaven should be so called may be understood by the Homeric epithet
πολυωπόν applied to a net.
If, however, the deity was _male_, according to the other reading, the
reference is τὸν τῆς Ἴσιδος τρόφιμον Δίκτυν, who was drowned in the
river. Plut., _de Iside and Os._, 8.
4. _Ye who preside_, etc. Brugsch (_Zeitschr._, 1876, p. 3) identifies
the Egyptian ⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ with the ψιλοτόπος of the
Demotic and Greek contracts. The remainder of this invocation is so
corrupt that the sense cannot be safely guessed at.
5. See Herodotus, II, 47, without attaching too much importance to
details. The pig was certainly not considered impure (μιαρός) in the
days of the third or fourth dynasty, when Amten, who had risen to the
highest dignities, enumerates swine among the domestic animals it is
natural to possess. And impure animals were not offered in sacrifice.
But long before the days of Herodotus a change had taken place in the
Egyptian religion as to the nature of Sutu.
Plutarch and Aelian are to be read with the like caution. Some of their
information is correct, but it is mixed up with much error.
6. The variants ⁂⁂⁂⁂ and ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ are
noteworthy.
7. _Sacrificial victims_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂. The substitution in Egypt
of animal for human sacrifice is (I believe) _entirely_ without
foundation. And the supposed evidence of human sacrifices drawn from
certain pictures has (I believe) been misinterpreted..
8. The four _children_ of Horus were also his _brothers_. He asks for
_two_ of them to be with him in each of his two cities, Pu and Nechen.
The true sense of the passage is entirely lost in the later recensions
and in translations made from them.
-----
Footnote 95:
Not _Ḥāmeḥit_, which is the name both of the _Uu_ of the nome and of
the goddess worshipped in it, whose emblem is the fish ⁂.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXIII.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of Nechen._(1.)
I know the Mystery of Nechen: Horus, and that which his mother did(2.)
for him, when she herself uttered the cry: “Let Sebak, the Lord of the
Marshes, be brought to us.”
He cast the net for them and he found them, and his mother made them
fast in their places.
Sebak, the Lord of the Marshes, said: “I sought and I found the traces
of them under my fingers on the strand. I netted them in a powerful net,
as the net proved to be.”
And Râ said: “Verily, those are fishes in the hands of Sebak. and he
hath found the two arms of Horus for him, which had become fishes.”(3.)
And Râ said: “A mystery, a mystery, in the Net.”
And the hands of Horus were brought to him, and displayed before his
face, on the feast of the fifteenth day of the month; when the fishes
were produced.
Then Râ said: “I grant Nechen to Horus, in the place of his two arms;
that his two hands be displayed before his face in Nechen; and I grant
to him whatsoever is therein comprised on the feast of the fifteenth day
of the month.”
And Horus said: “Be it granted to me that Tuamāutef and Kebhsenuf be
taken with me, and that they be guards of my body in dutiful
service.(4.) Let them be this under the god of Nechen.”
And Râ said: Be that granted to thee, there and in Sati, and let that be
done for them which is done for those who are in Nechen; yea, they are
asking to be with thee.
And Horus said: Be they with thee, so that they be with me to listen to
Sutu invoking the Powers of Nechen: “Be it granted to me that I may make
my entry among the Powers of Nechen.”
I know the Powers of Nechen: they are Horus, Tuamāutef, and Kebhsenuf.
NOTES.
1. _Nechen_, the chief hieroglyphic variants of which are ⁂, ⁂,
⁂ and ⁂⁂, was situated in the third nome (⁂ _Ten_) of
Upper Egypt, and was called by the Greeks Hieracōnpolis, ‘city of the
Hawks,’ from the hawk-headed divinities mentioned in this chapter as
Powers of Nechen, and of which numberless pictures are found on the
monuments.
2. Between these words and those which the three old papyri[96] _Aa_,
_Ae_, and _Ib_, which unfortunately do not agree together on all points,
have a few passages here which do not appear in the later papyri. They
read, “Horus and what his mother did, tossing in distressful agitation
(⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⲕⲓⲙ, σαλεύεσθαι) over the water.” The mother then
addresses persons who are not named, in words of which the sense is not
clear; and Rā speaks words of which the only certain ones are “the son
of Isis.” Then follows the usual text.
3. This legend of Nechen is connected with that of the dismemberment of
Horus (τὸ περὶ τὸν Ὥρου διαμελισμὸν), of which we have but very scanty
information.[97] It must have been like a repetition of what had
happened to his father Osiris. The limbs of Horus had been thrown into
the water, and when Sebak threw his net, at the prayer of Isis, he
brought up two fishes, into which the arms of Horus had been turned.
Reminiscences of this story are preserved in the names of several
localities. ⁂, “Two Fish,” is the name of the _Mer_ of the second
Northern Nome, and of the _pehu_ of the seventeenth Southern Nome; just
as ⁂, “Two Eyes,” is the name of the _pehu_ of the eleventh Northern
Nome. The latter name may perhaps have reference to Osiris, but the same
stories were probably told of both divinities.
4. _On dutiful service_ ⁂⁂⁂, a word omitted in the Turin and
other texts. Brugsch (_Rev. Egypt_, I, 22) has discussed the sense of
this word, and quoted numerous passages in illustration of it.
It is of course ridiculous to identify the word with the Hebrew אדן the
meaning of which is radically different.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXXI.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXIV.
=Papyrus, British
Museum, No. 9900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXIX.
=Papyrus, Leyden Museum, No. V.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXVI. =Papyrus,
Musée du Louvre, No. III, 36.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CVII. =Papyrus,
British Museum, No. 9933.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXIII. =Papyrus,
British Museum, No. 9903.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXVII. =Papyrus,
British Museum, No. 9900.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXIX.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre.
Cab. des Médailles.=
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXIV.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of Hermopolis._
Maāt is borne(1.) over the Arm,(2.) and Neith dawneth at Ment’ait,(3.)
and the Eye is illumined(4.) by the one who adjusteth its level.
I am led in by her, and I know what she bringeth from Kasu.(5.) I tell
it not to men; I repeat it not to gods.
I am come as a messenger of Rā, to make fast Maāt upon the Arm, for the
dawning of Neith at Ment’ait, and for restoring the Eye to him who
taketh the reckoning thereof.
I am come as omnipotent through the knowledge of the Powers of
Hermopolis, who love the Powers which you love.
I am one acquainted with Maāt made firm and permanent and reckoned out,
and I take delight in reckoning out that which is reckoned.
Hail ye Powers of Hermopolis, small at the beginning of the month and
great upon the Fifteenth Day; Rā teacheth the mysteries of Night, and be
it known to you that he who teacheth me is Thoth.
Hail ye Powers of Hermopolis as I know you.
NOTES.
There are two chapters (114 and 116) of “the Powers of Hermopolis,” and
they have been preserved separately both in the older and in the more
recent papyri. They are very similar in thought but differently worded,
and each throws a certain light upon the other, without however
dispelling the obscurity of this very ancient religious composition.
Some farther help, however insufficient, is afforded by the pictures of
the Book which records the passage of the Sun-god through the twelve
hours of the night.
1. _Maāt is borne._ ⁂⁂ is the same word as ⁂⁂⁂, the
reduplicated form of ⁂⁂ _to gush_, _spring forth_. But in certain
cases it acquires the sense of _being borne_, or _conveyed_, and is
written ⁂⁂⁂ in Ptolemaic inscriptions. The corresponding word
in chapter 116 is ⁂⁂⁂⁂, which has the same meanings. One
of the pictures above alluded to (Lefébure, _Hypogées, Tombeau de Seti_,
part IV, pl. 31) represents a boat carrying the Moon-disk, raised upon a
stand.
A personage kneeling behind is supporting the feather of Maāt. The words
⁂⁂⁂, which are written by way of explanation, might give
rise to some misunderstanding were it not for considerations mentioned
in the following note.
2. _The Arm_ ⁂ in chapter 114 has for corresponding word
⁂⁂⁂⁂ in chapter 116 implying that _Arm_ is to be taken in
a geographical sense, as when we speak of an ‘arm of the sea’. Now the
pictures which have been spoken of have the words ⁂⁂⁂, ‘arm of
the Urnes,’ inscribed ever the stream down which the Sun-god takes his
nightly journey.
These pictures have only the value of a commentary on a very ancient
text, but they are at least as old as the earliest papyrus which
contains the text.
3. _Ment’ait_ ⁂⁂⁂, is the ancient reading in chapter 114, but
the later texts have ⁂⁂, _T’ar_. Chapter 116 has
⁂⁂⁂⁂, _Mat’ait_.
4. _Illumined._ The texts are discordant as to the reading. I follow
that of the two old papyri which have ⁂; though this orthography,
however defensible, is somewhat suspicious.
5. _Kasu._ ⁂⁂⁂, the ‘Burial Place,’ was the metropolis
of the 14th Nome of Southern Egypt. Dendera is called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ and in more ordinary characters
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Like very many other
geographical names, it has the feminine form in ⁂, as well as
the masculine in ⁂.
-----
Footnote 96:
There is a copy of the chapter in the tomb of Chā-em-hait, which is
our oldest authority. But it is unfortunately mutilated, and all that
can be said is, that if the additional words were once there, they
have been destroyed.
Footnote 97:
The Apis tablets (_Zeitschr._, 1882, p. 22) give the name of a place
_Pa-ḳerḳ-en Ḥor_, which seems to refer to this catastrophe; the Coptic
ⲕⲟⲣϫ, ⲕⲱⲣϫ corresponding to the Greek ἐκκόπτειν, ἐκκλὰν, κατασπᾶσθαι.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXV.
_Chapter whereby one cometh forth into Heaven, and openeth the Ammehit:
and whereby the Powers of Heliopolis are known._
I have grown from yesterday, a Great one among the Great. I have raised
myself above all things that come into being.
The Face is revealed to the Eye of the Only One, and the round of
darkness is broken through. I am one of you.
I know the Powers of Heliopolis. Doth not the All-powerful One(1.) issue
from it like one who extendeth a hand to us?
It is with reference to me that the gods say: Lo, the afflicted one is
heir of Heliopolis!
I know on what occasion the Lock of the Male child(2.) was made.
Rā was speaking with Amhauf,(3.) and a blindness came upon him.
Rā said to Amhauf: Take the spear, oh offspring of Men.(4.) And Amhauf
said: The spear is taken.
Two brethren came into being: they were Heb-rā and Sotemanes, whose arm
resteth not; and he assumed the form of a female with a lock, which
became the Lock in Heliopolis.
Active and powerful is the heir of the temple; the Active one of
Heliopolis. The flesh of his flesh(5.) is the All-seer, for he hath the
might divine as the Son whom the Father hath begotten. And his will is
that of the Mighty one of Heliopolis.
I know the Powers of Heliopolis; they are Rā, Shu and Tefnut.
NOTES.
The ancient text of this chapter has most unfortunately been lost. A few
words only remain in the fragments of Papyrus _Pm_. M. Naville has also
published what is found on an ostracon of the time of the XVIIIth
dynasty. There is no doubt that the form of the text which has been
handed down in the later papyri has suffered great alterations. And a
comparison between the Turin and Cadet papyri shows in how untrustworthy
a way this later form of the text has been transmitted.
Special attention has been given to this chapter by Mr. Goodwin
(_Zeitschr._, 1873, p. 104), and by M. Lefébure (_Mélanges D’Arch._,
1874, p. 155), whose work is very much more valuable than that of his
English colleague. But the most important study bearing on the relations
between the older and the more recent recension is that of M. Naville,
‘Un ostrakon égyptien,’ in the first volume of the _Annales du Musée
Guimet_.
1. _All powerful One_, ⁂⁂. M. Naville observes that this is
substituted for ⁂⁂, which is found on the ostrakon. Both terms are
divine names; the latter corresponding to the Greek πολυδερκής or
πανδερκής, was the title of the high priest of Heliopolis, who, like his
priestly colleagues all over Egypt, bore the titles of the god whom they
represented.
2. _The Lock of the Male child_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, is not a
‘curly wigged woman,’ as generally interpreted, but the side lock borne
by Horus, and princes and princesses, as well as by other priests and
priestesses, in honour of Horus.
3. _Amhauf._ See emendation proposed _infra_ at chapter 125, note 33.
4. _O offspring._ I follow the Papyrus Luyne in omitting the preposition
⁂.
5. _The flesh of his flesh_, or the _heir of his heir_. This may perhaps
be an assertion as to the hereditary succession of the high priest of
Heliopolis.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXVI.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Power of Hermopolis._
Neith dawneth forth in Mat’at, and Maāt is conveyed upon the Arm of the
Eater of the Eye by him who reckoneth it out.
I know it, and I am therefore led in through the Sem priest.
I tell it not to men, I repeat it not to the gods (and conversely).
I enter as one who knoweth not, and seeth not.
Hail, ye gods who are in Hermopolis. Know ye me as I know Neith, that
the Eye may be made firm and permanent. I take delight in reckoning out
that which is reckoned.
I know the Powers of Hermopolis who are great at the beginning of the
month, and diminished at the fifteenth day.
They are Thoth the Unseen, Sau and Tmu.
_If this chapter be known, filth is avoided, and lye is not drunken._
NOTE.
This is the last of the chapters concerning the Powers of certain
places. Of their positive antiquity there can be no doubt, whatever
alterations they may have undergone. But they are relatively modern with
respect to other chapters, _e.g_, the 17th. Mr. Goodwin used to compare
them with Christian legends of the mediæval period. These are ancient
enough as far as we ourselves are concerned, but no one would think of
judging by them of primitive Christianity.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CX.
_The Beginning of the Chapters of the Garden of Hotepit, and of the
Chapters of coming forth by day; and of entering and coming forth in
the Netherworld, and of arriving at the Garden of Aarru, at the
Rise(1.) in Hotepit and at the Grand Domain, blest with the breezes:
that I may take possession there and be in Glory there: that there I
may plough and mow: that there I may eat and drink and love: doing
whatsoever things are done upon earth._
Horus is seized by Sutu: who looketh as one turning(2.) towards the
Garden of Hotepit.
But for me Sutu releaseth Horus: and the double path which is nigh to
Heaven is thrown open by Sutu. And Sutu taketh his portion of the breeze
through the Power of his own day,(3.) and he delivereth the bowels of
Horus from the gods below.
Lo, I sail the great Bark on the Stream of the god Hotep. I took it at
the mansion of Shu.
The mansion of his stars is again and again renewed.(4.) I sail upon its
streams that I may come to the domains thereof.
For I am in unison with his successive changes and his rules, and his
papyrus,(5.) and his attendant gods, and his chieftains. He reconcileth
the two Warrior gods with those who have the charge of food and the
beautiful creation which he raiseth up; and he reconcileth the two
Warrior gods with each other.(6.)
He severeth the mourners from those who quarrel with them: he putteth a
stop to them whose hand is violent against those weaker than themselves:
he keepeth within bounds the contentions of the Powers.
May I have possession there.
I know it, and I sail upon its streams that I may come to the domains
thereof.
My mouth is potent and secured against the Glorified that they may not
have the mastery of me.
May I have the investiture of thy Garden, O Hotep. What thou willest, do
thou it.
Let me be glorified there, and eat and drink there, and plough there,
and reap there, and grind(7.) there, and have my fill of love there.
May my mouth be potent there, let me there utter my Words of Power and
not be slighted.
* * * * * * *
I am in possession of that Word of Power of mine which is the most
potent one within this body of mine here: and by means of it I make
myself either known or unknown.
I make my progress and I plough.
I take my rest in the divine Domain.
I know the names of the domains, the districts and the streams within
the Garden of Hotep.
I am there, I am master there, I am in glory there, I eat there; I plant
and I reap there; I plough there, and I take my fill of love. I am
united there with the god Hotep.
I cast my seed there, and I sail upon its stream that I may come to the
domains thereof, O Hotep.
Lo, my mouth is armed with sharp points. There is given to me the
abundance which belongeth to the Ka and to the Glorified.
I give the reckoning of Shu to him who understandeth it.
I sail upon its stream, and I range within the Garden of Hotep, for Rā
is in the sky, and Hotep is putting together the oblations.
I hasten to the land, and I fasten my stole upon me, that I may come
forth, and that that may be given to me which hath to be given; that I
may have joy and take possession of the wealth which Hotep assigneth to
me.
=Rise in Hotep=, I arrive in thee, my soul is with me, and my provision
is before the Mistress of the Two Earths, who maketh fast my Words of
Power, which recall to mind that which I have forgotten. Let me live
free from strife; and be there granted to me enlargement of heart.
Let my arteries be made fast, and let me have the enjoyment of the
Breeze.(8.)
Rise in Hotep, blest with the Breeze, I arrive in thee, my head is
uncovered: Rā sleepeth, but there waketh for me, and there shineth upon
me Hesit [the Cow-goddess](9.) who lieth at the confines of Heaven by
night.
He standeth in my way who heapeth against me his own dross.
But I am in my own domain.
=Great Domain=, I arrive in thee and I reckon up the abundance as I pass
on to Uach.(10.)
I am the Bull, raised on high in the Blue; the lord of the Bull’s field;
which Sothis describeth to me at her successive hours.
=Uach=, I arrive in thee, and I eat my cakes, and take possession of my
joints of flesh and meat and fowl.
The winged things of Shu are given to me, and my Kau follow me.(11.)
=T’efait=,(12.) I arrive in thee, I put on the stole and fasten upon me
the girdle of Rā, whilst he is in heaven,(13.) and the gods who are in
heaven are following Rā.
=Rise in Hotep, Lord of the Two Earths=, I arrive in thee: I salute the
stream of _T’eserit_.(14.) Lo, here am I, and all impurity is far from
me. The great one flourisheth ... I net the ducks, and I eat dainties.
=Kankanit=,(15.) I arrive in thee; that I may see my father and
attentively view my mother.
I take care to net the reptiles; and that which protecteth me is that I
know the name of that god who is next to T’eserit (goddess with flowing
locks and armed with horns), and who reapeth.
I myself plough and reap.
=Hesit=, I arrive in thee, and I encounter the Blue.
I follow the Breezes, and the company of the gods.
It is the Great goddess who hath given me my head, and he who fasteneth
my head upon me is the Great god, the Blue-eyed, who doeth according to
his own will.
=Userit=,(16.) I arrive in thee, in face of the mansion where food is
produced for me.
=Smait=,(17.) I arrive in thee. My heart is awake: my head is provided
with the White crown and I am conveyed over the heavens: and I make
those things to prosper which are below me: a joy to the Bull of the
gods above, the divine company.
I am the Bull, the Lord of the gods; and I make my way through the midst
of the Emerald ones.(18.)
=Isle of Corn and Barley=, divine district, I arrive in thee. I
encounter and I bear off that which proceedeth from the head of Rā: the
pair of horns which have the force of purification.(19.)
I make myself fast to the Block of Moorage on the heavenly stream, and I
utter my praise to the gods who are in the Garden of Hotepit.
NOTES.
The text of this chapter handed down by the Turin papyrus and those
which agree with it contains nothing very difficult for a translator,
but on being compared with the older copies it is found to consist of a
collection of small fragments of the older text put together without any
regard to their original order or context. And about three-quarters of
the old chapter are suppressed in the new recension.
The editors of the fine papyrus of Sutimes in their notes upon this
chapter remark, that in the Turin text the sentences are in quite a
different order from that of their papyrus, “On peut y voir,” they say,
“l’effet de lectures et de transcriptions en rebours du sens, par des
scribes ayant mal compris les éditions en colonnes rétrogrades.”
This is, curiously enough, the very fault of the papyrus of Sutimes
itself, which is here wrong from beginning to end,[98] though probably
derived from an excellent original. It begins with the “Isle of Corn and
Barley,” and jumbles together quite incoherent sentences.
The oldest copy of the chapter yet discovered is that of the Tomb of
Chā-em-hait, at Thebes, and by a strange fatality it has been published
in such a form that in order to read it correctly, we must begin with
what is printed as line 11 and finish with line 1. We have it also in a
very incomplete condition. We miss the first eighteen lines contained in
the papyrus of Nebseni and the last words of every line.
The papyrus of Nebseni is the only complete text we have, and here as
well as elsewhere it is extremely incorrect. Some parts are so corrupt
that a translation must necessarily be dependent upon conjectural
emendations which can have no genuine claim upon the reader’s
confidence. We must be content with waiting till better authorities are
discovered.
The Gardens of Hotepit and Aarru are the Paradise, Elysian Fields and
Islands of the Blessed of the Egyptian imagination.[99] They were
supposed to be situated in the neighbourhood of the rising Sun, but
certain features were apparently suggested by the islets of the Delta.
The usual meaning of the word _Ḥotepit_, ⁂⁂,[100] when written
according to the orthography of the Pyramid Texts, is _oblations_,
_offerings_. This, however, is only a derived meaning. The word really
only expresses a _predicate_ of the things offered, as _putting
together_, _uniting_, _reconciling_; ⁂ _Ḥotep_ might signify _Rest_,
or _Peace_; very appropriate names for such a garden. ⁂⁂ is the
name of a god who dwells here.[101] There is also a goddess here called
_Ḥotepit_ ⁂⁂⁂, mentioned in the Pyramid inscription of Pepi I
(line 423), as mother of the great Scarab: and the same name is given to
Hathor in the temple of Dendera. The name of Ḥotep (with different
determinatives[102]) belongs to one of the islands of this blissful
place.
The Pyramid Texts furnish some interesting information not contained in
the Book of the Dead. We are told that the approach to the Garden is
over the Lake of Putrata (see chapter 40, note 1), that there is a great
lake (? that of Konsit) in the middle of the Garden of Ḥotepit, upon
which the great gods alight, and that the _Achmiu Sekiu_, the starry
deities who never set, there feed the departed from the _wood of life_
(⁂⁂⁂⁂ _lignum vitæ_) “upon which they themselves live, in
order that he too may live.” Shu and Tefnut are mentioned as divinities
of this place. But perhaps the most remarkable fact is that Horus had
enemies even here, who, however, were annihilated by the divine weapons
at the disposal of the departed worthy, who was led there in order that
“he might sit among the stars in heaven.”
And here it was that the beatified personage sat upon his throne of
steel, which was decorated in front with faces of the lion-god
⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Maaḥes_, the feet of it being the hoofs of the great
Bull _Sma-urà_, and extended his hand to the coming generation of men
(the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂), whilst the gods approached him in
submissive attitude, and made offerings to him. It was, perhaps, from
these offerings that the Garden derived its name.
The Garden of Aarru, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ is often mentioned
in connection with that of Ḥotepit, and may perhaps be considered as the
most notable part of it. It is through its Gate that the Sun-god rises
up into Heaven.
It takes its name from a plant ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧarru_ (later,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, B.M. 551; ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, _Ag_,
Chapter 17; ⁂⁂⁂⁂,[103] _Ba_, Chapter 110, by phonetic
dissimilation of _rr_ into _nr_). The usual form in later times is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, but we find even shorter forms in ⁂⁂,
B.M. 32, and ⁂⁂⁂. The determinative ⁂ of a reptile,
indicates a _creeping_, _climbing_, _twining_ plant, such as the
convolvulus, hop, or vine.[104]
The term ‘Garden’ implies in this connection nothing more than a
cultivated enclosure.
The names of different localities which are invoked by the deceased and
appear on the vignette of the chapter, have here been made prominent by
means of heavy type.
1. _Rise in Hotepit_, or (later on) _Hotep_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is the
name of one of the localities. The word ⁂ as I have often said, has
the sense of _rising up_, _coming to light_, _making an appearance_, and
like the Greek φαίνομαι is especially applicable to the appearance of
daybreak, or the rise of the heavenly bodies.
2. _Turning_, ⁂. The group has the apparent sense of _building_, but
the primitive sense is _turning_, as in the making of pottery. The
preposition ⁂ which follows it in this place seems to show that
building is not meant.
3. This, of course, sounds like nonsense, but so does the original as it
has come down to us. The papyrus of Ani, which reads ⁂⁂⁂,
forces the sense of _day_ upon the sign ⁂, which in the sense of
_turn_ would have been far more intelligible. There was the ‘Portion of
Sutu,’ and the ‘Portion of Horus,’ each being half the world,
topographically, or half the twenty-four hours as regards time.
I suspect that ‘day’ is a faulty interpretation of the ambiguous ⁂,
and that the true sense of the passage is that Sutu is satisfied with
the share which comes to his turn, and thereupon delivers Horus from
imprisonment in the lower world. The perplexity, or ignorance of the
copyists is seen in the very next words. One has ‘he who is in Merit,’
others ‘he who is in my mouth,’ and two ‘he who is in the egg,’ if this
be the sense of the very questionable group ⁂⁂⁂⁂, which
looks like a mistake for ⁂⁂⁂, a well known title of Anubis.
4. _Again and again renewed_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
5. _His papyrus._ So the word ⁂ _meḥit_, which occurs in the rubric
of Chapter 134, has hitherto been translated. But the vases ⁂ or
⁂, as determinatives, rather imply ‘inkstand’ or ‘palette for
holding colour.’ In this place it is the writing itself and not the
material, paper, ink or inkstand, which is meant. And from the entire
context Thoth is the god who is spoken of.
6. _He reconcileth the two Warrior gods with each other_,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The final
words _en ȧru-sen_ show the origin of the Coptic form ⲛ̀ ... ⲉⲣⲏⲟⲩ
_invicem_.
7. _Grind_ ⁂⁂⁂, the Coptic from of which is ⲥⲓⲕⲓ. From the
notion of ‘reducing to powder,’ that of the frequent word ⁂⁂⁂
‘wearing away,’ ‘decay,’ is derived.
8. _Let my arteries be made fast, and let me have the enjoyment of the
Breeze_, or _that I may have enjoyment_. The oldest meaning of the word
_artery_, ἀρτηρία, in Hippocrates, Aristotle and the earlier Latin
writers is _wind-pipe_, and, in the plural, _air-ducts_. But, even when
the word was also applied to what we call arteries, these were supposed
to convey _air_ whilst the veins conveyed _blood_. “Sanguis per venas in
omne corpus diffunditur et spiritus per arterias” is the classic
doctrine in Cicero (_de Natura Deorum_, 2, 55). Pliny says (_Nat.
Hist._, XI, 89), “arteriae carent sensu: nam et sanguine.” This error is
corrected by Galen, who has a treatise on the question “Whether Blood is
_naturally_ (κὰτα φύσιν) contained in the arteries?” The error of the
ancients arose from the arteries always being found empty after death.
The blood flowing from a wound inflicted upon them was inferred to have
been intruded into them by the rupture of the veins. The Egyptian
doctrine of the ‘arteries’ ⁂⁂⁂ (Coptic ϩⲁⲛⲙⲟⲩⲧ) in the head,
by means of which air is conveyed to all parts of the person, was first
found by M. Chabas in the _Berlin Medical papyrus_. The passage of the
Book of the Dead on which this note is written is no doubt the earliest
allusion to the doctrine.
9. _Hesit_ [_the Cow-goddess_] ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂,
⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂ is one of the many names of Isis or
Hathor. She is represented as suckling her son Horus (see picture in
Lanzone, p. 844), and it is this which characterizes her and from which
she derives her name. She is asked on the Louvre tablet (c. 14) for “the
white liquor which the glorified ones love.” This is distinctly called
‘milk’ on the Florentine tablet 2567, and vases of her milk are
mentioned (Dümichen, _Resultate_, 27, 6) in the inscriptions of Dendera.
A picture of her given in Dümichen’s _Historische Inschriften_ (II, 32)
identifies her with Hathor, and calls her “divine mother, mistress of
heaven and sovereign of the gods,” while others call her “the divine
mother and fair nurse.”
There can be no doubt about the right reading of the name which is
_Ḥesit_; the ⁂ is written in so many texts (see _Pepi_, I, 306,
_Amamu_, 21, 1, Lepsius, _Auswahl_, IX, and the form ⁂⁂⁂ at
Philae), that there is no reason for confounding the name with that of
_ḥetemit_. We must therefore attach no importance to this latter name
when applied in the vignette of the Turin _Todtenbuch_ to one of the
divine abodes which bears the name of the goddess, and is written
exactly like it.
10. _Uach_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _blooming_, _flowering_.
11. _The winged things of Shu are given to me, and my Kau follow me._
⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, is a word of very rare occurrence. Birch
and Naville understood it of the _netting_, and Brugsch, of the
_pluming_ of birds. Both meanings may be disputed, but whatever Shu did,
was done to birds, and these are said to be given to the deceased.
The prayer that a person may travel over the blissful parts, followed by
his _kau_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, is repeatedly found on the
early monuments. Several papyri say that the deceased is followed by
‘the gods and the _kau_.’
12. _T’efait_ ⁂⁂, an abode abounding in ⁂⁂⁂⁂
_delicacies_.
13. _He is in heaven_ ⁂⁂⁂. The reading ⁂ to which
Brugsch at one time attached much importance, has turned out to be
one of the many blunders of the text of Sutimes. But the true
reading is not without its difficulties. If ⁂⁂ is taken as
equivalent to ⁂⁂ we have a strange anticipation of a change
in language of which the “enigmatical” texts of the royal
tombs[105] give the first intimation, but which first becomes
conspicuous in the demotic period. In a previous passage we have
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, where Nebseni has
⁂⁂⁂. But the important preposition ⁂ had already
dropped out of the earlier text of Chāemhait. The demonstrative
particle ⁂⁂ which occurs in both places may be rendered
‘there [he is],’ ‘le voilà.’
14. _I salute the stream of T’eserit_: a corrupt passage like so many
others in this chapter. The first word ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘salute’
is rare but correct and well attested. The proper name is but one of the
contradictory readings. It has, however, the advantage of being a real
name and suitable to the passage, being that of a goddess mentioned in
connection with the next abode. ⁂⁂⁂ _T’eserit_ is a name
corresponding to the classical Ἀγλαιαv or Clara.[106] In the texts of
the Royal Tombs she is named as goddess in ⁂⁂ _Cher-āba_. And
here[107] she is depicted as the goddess with long or flowing locks
(εὐπλόκαμος) and armed with horns. She is one of the forms of Isis or
Hathor.
15. _Kankanit_ is etymologically akin to the verb of _beating_ (_see_
Chapter 17, note 20), but there is no reason from the notice here to
suppose that this was a place of punishment.
16. _Userit_ ⁂⁂⁂ is one of the commonest appellatives of Isis,
especially in the later texts. The names of all these abodes, situated
in that region of the sky where the sun rises, are derived from the
notion of daybreak.
17. _Smait_, another of these appellatives, _see_ Chapter 62, note 1.
18. _The Emerald ones_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, those who are in the emerald
light of the dawn. The sun rises (Chapter 109) through two sycomores of
emerald.
19. _Which have the force of purification_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂. The
syllable _āb_ expresses the word signifying _horn_ as well as that
signifying _purification_.
The vignettes of the chapter which are here given from different
authorities are explained in their proper place.
-----
Footnote 98:
See M. Naville’s remarks, _Einleitung_, p. 156.
Footnote 99:
_Mission Arch._, I, p. 125.
Footnote 100:
Also written = ⁂⁂ (_Unas_, 422 and elsewhere).
Footnote 101:
The garden is also called ⁂⁂⁂. Another form is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ (_Pepi_ I, 309).
Footnote 102:
⁂⁂ _Nebseni_, ⁂⁂ _Sutimes_, ⁂⁂ in all the
later papyri.
Footnote 103:
Compared with ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ in the papyrus of
Nesichonsu, published by M. Maspero, _Miss. Arch._, I, p. 612.
Footnote 104:
The Pyramid Texts have the invocations (_Unas_, 597), “Hail to thee,
Horus, in the domains of Horus; Hail to thee, Sutu, in the domains of
Sutu; Hail to thee, Lion (⁂⁂⁂ _Ȧar_), in the Garden of
Aarru.”
Another derivation is suggested in the “Destruction of Mankind,” line
39, ⁂⁂⁂ (as I read it) an augmented form of ⁂⁂,
_ar_, which does not mean _pluck_, as in Brugsch’s translation, but
_bind_, _fasten_, _twine_, _nectere_, _constringere_, _convolvere_.
This sense would explain the ancient determinatives ⁂, ⁂,
and lead to still more interesting results. For the ancient word
⁂⁂⁂⁂, _ȧarerit_, ‘a vine,’ has thus clearly the same
etymological sense as our European word _vine_. “_Vî-num_ ... attaches
itself to _vî-tis_, _vî-men_, _vî-tex_, and—exactly like the Greek
ϝοῖ-νος—to the Indo-Greek root _vei_, ‘to twine.’ So that _vî-no_
means first ‘creeper,’ then ‘fruit of the creeper,’ finally ‘drink
made from the fruit of the creeper’” (O. Schrader, _Prehistoric
Antiquities_, 324).
Philological speculation might make a further advance.
As ⁂⁂⁂ _ȧar_, is to ⁂⁂ _ār_, so perhaps is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧarru_ to ⁂⁂ _āru_. The first two
groups are not phonetically identical, but they are certainly allied
and have very much the same meaning; the last has, with some
probability, been identified with the _Vine-branch_, and that, in
conjunction with the text ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ (see
_Zeitschr._, 1878, p. 107, and the plate corresponding). “The
Vine-plant is Osiris.” The Greeks, or some of them at least,
identified Osiris with Dionysos (Plutarch, _de Iside et Osiride_, 34,
35). The god is sometimes (as in the papyrus of Nebseni) sitting in a
naos under a vine, from which bunches of grapes are hanging.
Footnote 105:
Here we already have ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ and ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. See
my article in the _Zeitschr._, 1874, p. 102.
Footnote 106:
It is also the name of a liquid substance ⁂⁂, ⁂⁂,
a produce of the cow, such as cream or clarified butter. It occurs in
all the lists of offerings.
Footnote 107:
A reference to M. Naville’s collation of this chapter (line 40), will
show the corruption and uncertainty of the text which precedes the
name of the goddess. If we look beyond the authorities given by M.
Naville, the difficulties are multiplied. The papyrus of Queen
Net’emit in the Louvre, for instance, instead of ⁂⁂⁂⁂
_etc._, reads, ⁂⁂⁂.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXVII.
_Chapter whereby one taketh the blissful path at Restau._(1.)
O paths which are high above me at Restau: I am the Girdled(2.) and the
Mighty one, coming forth triumphantly.(3.)
I am come: I am come that I may firmly secure my suit in Abydos,(4.) and
that the path may be open to me at Restau.
Let my suit be made pleasant for me by Osiris.
I am he who produceth the water which balanceth his throne, and who
maketh his way from the Great Valley.(5.)
Let the path be made for me; for behold I am _N_ the triumphant.(6.)
[Osiris is made triumphant over his adversaries, and the Osiris _N_ is
made triumphant over his adversaries, and is as one of you, his
patron(7.) is the Lord of Eternity: he walketh even as ye walk, he
standeth as ye stand, he speaketh as ye speak, before the great god, the
Lord of Amenta.]
NOTES.
1. This chapter and the following have reference to Restau, one of the
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.
2. _Girdled_, or _stoled_, ⁂⁂. On the importance attached to
this ritual investiture, the following references may (among many
others) be useful: _Unas_ 66, _Teta_ 149, _Pepi_ I, 395, _Merenrā_ 190,
_Todt._ 125 (rubric), 145, 25. The deceased prays (Chapter 82, 4) that
he may be girt by the goddess Tait. A passage in _Todt._ 78, 26 (Turin
text) would be of greater interest were it not an emendation of those
who no longer understood the ancient text.
3. _Coming forth triumphantly._ This is the reading of the oldest
authority (Nebseni), but the reading which has prevailed, not only here,
but in Chapter 147, is “coming forth from the Crown,” ⁂⁂⁂.
4. _That I may firmly secure my suit at Abydos._ The scholion on Chapter
17, referred to in note 1, states that the “place of Maāt is at Abydos.”
It is, of course, the mystical, not the geographical, Abydos which is
meant, and the _suit_ ⁂⁂ (_res_) which has to be settled is the
final judgment of the deceased.
5. The throne of Osiris in pictures of the Psychostasia (_see_ Vignettes
to Chapter 125) rests upon water, out of which there springs a lotus
flower; and upon this flower stand the four children of Horus. In a
passage of chapter 147, which is an adaptation of the present chapter,
the deceased says ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _La_, “I am he
whose stream is secret.” And a Pyramid Text (_Merenrā_, 188, 193) after
mention of the Great Valley ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ and of the investiture
(⁂) proceeds, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “thy
water, thy fresh current, is a great inundation proceeding from thee.”
Here the deceased is identified with the Nile and its inundation, as in
Chapter 64 of the Book of the Dead.
6. The chapter ends here. The passage which follows in the translation
is taken from the Paris papyrus _Pe_.
7. _Patron_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, a word supposed by some scholars to
signify uncle. It occurs on funereal monuments among the designations of
persons connected with the deceased, such as brother, sister, nurse. A
man may have several bearing the designation, and they are not
necessarily children of the same parents (_see e.g._, Mariette, _Cat.
d’Abydos_, p. 110, where a man has five _chenemesu_, who cannot all be
brothers either of his father or his mother). The word occurs repeatedly
in the Prisse papyrus. I am inclined to think it means the legal
guardian of a minor.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXVIII.
_Chapter whereby one arriveth at Restau._
I am he who is born in Restau.
Glory is given to me by those who are in their mummied forms in Pu, at
the sanctuary of Osiris, whom the guards(1.) receive at Restau when they
conduct Osiris through the demesnes of Osiris.
NOTE.
1. _Guards_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧaku_, the same personages as
those mentioned in Chapter 28, note 2, and they seem to me to be
identical with the “wardens of the passages,” Chapter 17, “attendant
upon Osiris.” There is an imperfect tablet of the 12th dynasty at
Hamamāt (_Denkm._, II, 138, c) in which thirty ⁂⁂⁂ are
mentioned along with the soldiers and other persons belonging to the
expedition. The Pyramid Texts have the word ⁂⁂ but apparently with
a determinative of salutation, ⁂. (_Pepi_ I, 160, _cf._ line 82.)
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXIX.
_Chapter whereby one entereth or goeth forth from Restau._
I am the Mighty one, who createth his own light.
I come to thee, Osiris, and I worship thee.
Pure are thine effluxes,(1.) which flow from thee,(2.) and which make
thy name in Restau, when it hath passed there.
Hail to thee, Osiris, in thy power and thy might, who hast possession of
Restau.
Osiris raiseth thee up in thy power and in thy might. Osiris raiseth
thee up in thy power in Restau, and in thy might in Abydos, that thou
mayest go round heaven with Rā, and survey the human race.[108]
One art thou and triumphant.
NOTES.
1. _Pure are thine effluxes._ The true reading is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, a phrase which recurs in these texts. The
suffix ⁂ of the first person, which is sometimes added to the first
word, would give the sense “thine effluxes are my purification.” On the
meaning of ⁂⁂⁂, _see_ 63 B, note 4. At the end of Chapter 149
the deceased prays, “let me be joined, let me be united with the sap
which proceedeth from Osiris; let me not be parted from him.”
2. _Which flow from thee._ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, _sta_, which has here the
same meaning as when the Nile is said (_Denkm._, III, 13) _to flow into
the Great Sea_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The name of Restau
is here derived from the effluxes _flowing_ (_stau_) from Osiris.
The various meanings of ⁂⁂⁂⁂, and of the Coptic ⲥⲉⲧ, are
all traceable to the notion of _sending forth_, _throwing_, and are
easily illustrated from the Greek. Thus ἐκβάλλειν is used for the
discharge of a river into the sea; ἐκβολαὶ are ‘passes, passages.’ Doors
are secured by pushing the bolts, μοχλοὺς ἐπιβάλλειν; they are opened by
_shooting back the bolt_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Mariette, _Abydos_, p.
58). ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is exactly the reverse of ἐπιβάλλειν σφραγῖδα.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂, ⲥⲟⲧ, _stercus_ is an ἐκβολή,
_dejectio_. And ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂, ⲥⲀϯ, ⲥⲟⲧⲉ, βέλος, βολὶς,
⁂⁂⁂, ⲥⲁⲧ, _seminare_, and ever so many others are all
determinations of one and the same concept.
In such passages as ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
and the like, _sta_ has the sense not of _towing_, but of πομπή, ‘solemn
_procession_.’ It occurs even where towing is out of question, _e.g._,
in the march of military men ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Tombs of Amenemheb
and Pehsukher, _Miss. Arch. Française_, V, pp. 229 and 289).
And ⁂⁂ _string_, _rope_ is connected with the notion of
‘throwing’ like our own _warp_ with _werfen_ (Goth. _vairp-an_) and
ῥίπ-τω.
-----
Footnote 108:
The ⁂⁂⁂⁂, _Rechit_, mankind actually, living, as
distinguished from the dead or yet unborn.
Chapter CXX is a repetition of Chapter XII.
Chapter CXXI is a repetition of Chapter XIII.
Chapter CXXII is a repetition of Chapter LVIII.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CXXIII.
_Chapter_(1.) _whereby one entereth into the Great House._
Hail to thee, O Tmu, I am Thoth.
I have equally balanced the Divine Pair, I have put a stop to their
strife, I have ended their complaints.
I have rescued the Âtu from his backward course.
I have done what thou hast prescribed for him.
And I rest since then within my own Eye.
I am free from obstruction; and I come that thou mayest see me in the
house where I repeat the ancient ordinances and words, as a guidance
wherewith thou shalt guide posterity.(2.)
NOTES.
1. This chapter (which is repeated in Chapter 139) is like the
repetition of an important passage in Chapter 110. But the differences
are very considerable, and it is for criticism to decide the question of
priority between the two recensions.
Whichever be the earlier recension, the present one is of very great
interest and importance. It is found on two of the most carefully
written papyri of the eighteenth dynasty. But the most interesting
feature is the mythological allusion at this date (_at latest_) to an
astronomical phenomenon, with reference to which later researches may
furnish fresh evidence.
The speaker in this chapter is said (not merely implied, as in Chapter
110, _see_ note 5) to be Thoth, who is the measurer of all things in
heaven and earth, and the author and regulator of all science. He is
here said to have established the _equilibrium_ ⁂⁂⁂ between
the Divine Pair, Horus and Sutu; that is Day and Night. Such an
equilibrium, strictly speaking, never exists except at the _Equinoxes_.
But the most important passage is, “I have rescued the _Âtu_ from his
backward course.” The ⁂⁂⁂ _Âtu_ is a mythological _fish_, who
is represented as following the course of the Bark of Rā. The meaning of
the name is, _the Cleaver_, _Divider_, _Cutter in two_ ⁂⁂. It is
one of the appellatives of the Sun-god, with reference to his path
through the sky. But what is that solar phenomenon specially deserving
to be characterised by its _motion backwards_ ⁂⁂⁂?
I do not think any astronomer would hesitate to answer, that
_Precession_ is meant. The cause of Precession could only be known to
really scientific philosophers (which is out of question in this case),
but the _phenomena_ would necessarily be noted by those who had
important interests in keeping their calendar correct.[109] Even the
Chinese, by dint of records and without any mathematics, came to infer
the precession of the equinoxes; so did the Egyptians apparently at a
very much earlier period; and Hipparchus, who has the credit of the
discovery, may have learnt it from them.
Although ⁂⁂ is commonly represented as a _fish_, the same name
is given to a _Crustacean_ ⁂, ⁂ whose organs of locomotion are
specially adapted for backward motion.
“_Rescuing_ the Âtu from its backward course” can mean nothing less than
being able to _correct_ or (in technical language) to _equate_ the
phenomena.
It might perhaps be suggested that the backward course here spoken of
has reference to the year of 360 days, corrected at an early period by
the addition of the five supplementary days. This would certainly have
been a very probable explanation of the clause, but for the direct
connection which this has with what precedes, concerning the equilibrium
between Day and Night; that is, the Equinox.
2. _Posterity_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ literally, _minores_. The
word in the present context seems to have a different meaning from what
it has in Chapter 110, where it is put in contrast with
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ violent ones, against whom Thoth interposes his
protection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE XXXII.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXV.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre, III, 36.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXV.
=Papyrus, Musée?] du Louvre, III, 89.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXV.
=Papyrus, Musée du Louvre, III, 93.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXV.
=Papyrus du Louvre, III, 9.=
]
[Illustration:
CHAPTER CXXV.
=Papyrus, Ani.=
]
[Illustration: