Published: Naville, _Das Aegyptische Todtenbuch_, pl. cxxiv.
Translated: Budge, _Book of the Dead_, ch. cxii.
The so-called Book of the Dead is a compilation of texts which are
found, written on papyri or on coffins, in the tombs. No copy
containing all the chapters is known; the order has therefore been
arranged from a comparison of many examples.
The ancient name of these texts is "Chapters of Coming forth to the
Day"; the modern name is "Book of the Dead," as it is evidently a
manual for the use of the dead. It consists of a series of prayers,
hymns, magical formulae, and allusions to mythological stories, a
knowledge of which was considered necessary in order to escape the
perils and dangers of the life hereafter. It is obviously very
ancient, for even in the earliest known examples, the Pyramid Texts
of the vith dynasty, the text is often very corrupt. The Pyramid
Texts show traces of very primitive usages and cults, many of which
are lost in the later forms of the Book of the Dead.
The story related under the name of the Black Pig refers to an
incident in the war between Horus and Set, and is not known
elsewhere. Probably many such legends were current in ancient Egypt,
but few have been preserved to us intact. Horus was the great
hero-god, and, like the heroes of other countries, he absorbed all
the legends of local champions. Some of his exploits and adventures
seem to have been so well known that a mere allusion was sufficient
to recall them to the mind of the reader. Sometimes a short and, to
us confused account is given, as in chapter cxiii of the Book of the
Dead, where the restoration to Horus of his hands and arms, which
have been lost in a swamp, is related in a manner which conveys very
little to the modern reader.
A great number of legends have been preserved in magical papyri, but
even among these the quantity of tantalising allusions is larger than
the number of complete legends. Thus, in the Demotic Papyrus of
London and Leyden, a charm against fever begins "Horus was going up a
hill at midday in the verdure season, mounted on a white horse." He
finds the gods eating, and they invite him to join them, but he
refuses as he has fever. This is all that is said, but it is
evidently an allusion to a well-known story.