[The following is found on a papyrus of the XIIth Dynasty,
preserved at Berlin. After some obscure arguments the man
apparently admits that the present life is full of
dissatisfaction, and proceeds.]
Death is ever before me [?] like the healing of a sick man, or like
a rise in life after a fall.
Death is ever before me like the smell of frankincense, or like
sitting under an awning on a day of cool breeze.[234]
Death is ever before me like the scent of lotuses, like sitting on
the bank of the Land of Intoxication.[235]
Death is ever before me like a road watered [?], or as when a man
cometh from a campaign to his home.
Death is ever before me like the unveiling of the sky, or as when
a man attaineth to unexpected fortune.
Death is ever before me like as a man desireth to see his house when
he hath spent many years in pulling [the oars?].[236]
Verily he that is therein is as a living god punishing the error of
the evil-doer.
Verily he that is therein standeth in the boat of Ra and causeth
choice viands to be given thence to the temples.[237]
Verily he that is therein is as a wizard; he is not prevented from
complaining to Ra even as he would speak.
My soul said unto me:[238] "Lay aside [?] mourning, O Nessu my brother,
that thou mayest offer upon the altar even as thou fightest for life, as
thou sayest, 'Love me continually.' Thou hast refused the grave; desire
then that thou mayest reach the grave, that thy body may join the earth,
that I may hover [over thee] after thou art weary. Let us then make a
dwelling together."
Translation of F. Ll. Griffith.
'THE NEGATIVE CONFESSION'
[It may be thought that the fundamental ideas of Egyptian
morality would be most succinctly expressed in the so-called
'Negative Confession' contained in the 'Book of the Dead.' When
the deceased appeared before Osiris he was supposed to recite
this confession, in which he alleged his freedom from a long
catalogue of sins: he repeated it in two forms. After the
XVIIIth Dynasty, B.C. 1500, it was considered as perhaps the
most essential of all the texts deposited in the tomb with the
mummy, for the guidance of the deceased person before his fate
was finally settled. It is therefore to be found in thousands
of copies, but unfortunately this much-worn text is as corrupt
as most of the other sections of the Book of the Dead. The hack
scribes and calligraphists were content to copy without
understanding it, often bungling or wresting the sense
according to their very imperfect lights. It is seldom that
different copies agree precisely in their readings: often the
differences are very material and leave the true sense
altogether uncertain. Again, even where the reading seems
comparatively sure, the meaning remains obscure, owing to the
occurrence of rare words or expressions. All the phrases begin
with the negative "not."]