CHAPTER II.

VIGNETTE TO CHAPTER IX.

5. Sharpe,E.I., pl. 97.The papyrusDawhich is of the same period reads⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂in the title of Chapter 17, instead of⁂⁂‘glory,’‘éclat.’The⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂correspond by their name very closely with thedevasof Indian mythology, and the dead are called⁂⁂⁂⁂on the pious hypothesis of their having obtained ‘glory.’ The word has nothing to do with ‘intelligence.’ It is particularly applicable to the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars—‘the glittering ones,’ and the horizon at sunrise⁂ḫut, and⁂⁂⁂‘fire’ derive their names from theiréclat.

5. Sharpe,E.I., pl. 97.

The papyrusDawhich is of the same period reads⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂in the title of Chapter 17, instead of⁂⁂‘glory,’‘éclat.’The⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂correspond by their name very closely with thedevasof Indian mythology, and the dead are called⁂⁂⁂⁂on the pious hypothesis of their having obtained ‘glory.’ The word has nothing to do with ‘intelligence.’ It is particularly applicable to the heavenly bodies, the sun, moon and stars—‘the glittering ones,’ and the horizon at sunrise⁂ḫut, and⁂⁂⁂‘fire’ derive their names from theiréclat.

6. SeeDenkm.II, 71b, 72a,b, 101b;cf.98h, 116c, and III, 260c.

7. The evidence produced by W. Max Müller in behalf of this reading of the priestly name is quite convincing.

8. The human head (with a beard) sometimes given to the bird, merely indicates theaivinenature of the soul.

9. This is one of the meanings of⁂⁂⁂, but in this place it may simply mean ‘going round in a ship.’

CHAPTER II.

Chapter for Coming forth by day and Living after death.

Oh thou Only One,(1) who shinest from the Moon, let me come forth amid that train(2) of thine, at large,(3) and let me be revealed(4) as one of those in glory.(5)

And when the Tuat is opened to the gods, letNcome forth to do his pleasure upon earth amid the Living.

Notes.

This chapter occurs in only two of the ancient MSS. collated by Naville:AeandPf. It is also found in the papyrus of Ani.

1.⁂‘unicus,’the Sole and Only One, is one of the many appellatives of the Sun. He is here represented as shininginorfromthe Moon.Cf.note on Chapter 132.

2.⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘multitude, throng, train,’ here put for the ‘heavenly host,’ the ἄκριτος ἄστρων ὄχλος (Euripid.,Fr.596), or the Hebrewעבא חשׁמים.

Osiris is⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘the leader of the host,’ Sharpe, I, 105.

3.⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂אל־מהוץ, foras, ‘forth, out of doors, at large,’ in opposition to enclosure in the tomb.

4.⁂⁂, explicare, ‘disclose, unfold, reveal, make clear.’

5.Or ‘among the Glorious ones,’⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

CHAPTER III.

Another chapter like it.

Oh Tmu, who proceedest from Ur-henhenu,(1) who art resplendent as the Lion-faced,(2) and who strewest thy words to those who are before thee;

Here cometh the faithfulN, from the band of those who do the bidding of thy words.

O ye seamen of Râ at the gloaming of the day, letNlive after death, like Râ daily.

Here the helmsman: As Râ is born from Yesterday, so he too is born from Yesterday, and as every god exulteth in life, so shallNexult even as they exult in life.

I am Thoth as he goeth forth from the House of the Prince in Heliopolis.(3)

Notes.

The only ancient copy of this chapter is in the papyrus of Amen-neb (Ae), and here it is imperfect.

1.A personification of the Nile,⁂⁂⁂. The later texts read⁂⁂⁂‘the great goddess in the Water.’

2.The later texts have⁂⁂⁂⁂, implying the two lions Shu and Tefnut. But the older texts have⁂⁂⁂⁂, a single god, with a lion’s face or form. The two notions, however, are found in combination in the Pyramid texts of Unas (l. 558) and Teta (l. 332).

3.Seenote 8on Chapter 1.

CHAPTER IV.

Another Chapter, for travelling on the road which is above the earth.

It is I who travel on the Stream(1) which divideth the divine Pair,(2) I am come, let there be given to me the lands of Osiris.

Notes.

This fourth chapter has not as yet been found in any of the papyri of the best period.

1.⁂⁂⁂⁂, literally ‘weeping,’ ‘flood of tears,’ hence ‘overflow, inundation, stream or canal.’ It is one of the names of the Nile on earth and in heaven and of his personification as a god. See Chapter 61, andP.S.B.A., XIII, p. 8 and 9.]

2.⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂are two divinities in opposition or contrast, like Set and Horus (Chapter 17, 25) or the sister goddesses named⁂⁂⁂⁂Mertȧ(37, 1). Thoth is the umpire between Set and Horus (Darkness and Light) and mediates between them, but he and Râ (the Moon and Sun) are (Teta, l. 69) spoken of as the two Rehu gods travelling over the sky.]

Chapter V.

Chapter whereby work may not be imposed [upon a person(1)] in the Netherworld.

Here isN. He saith, I am he who raiseth the hand which is motionless, and I come forth at the hour.(2) I am the living Soul,(3) and there go before me the longings(4) of those who bring salutation.(5)

Notes.

This chapter is found in several of the best MSS., but the text is extremely corrupt, and must have become absolutely unintelligible. The Turin text differs greatly from that of the older copies, and the transposition of words clearly shows how little the transcribers understood what they were writing. I follow chiefly the text ofAa, the papyrus of Nebseni.

1.These words only occur in the later copies.

2.⁂⁂⁂⁂is the older reading, but⁂⁂⁂seems to be the more correct.

3.The oldest text must have had simply the ideographic⁂,Aegives⁂⁂⁂Ba, butPdhas⁂⁂⁂⁂Ḫnemu. The ‘living Soul’ is that of the Sun, whether he is called Râ or Osiris.

4.‘Desires, wishes, loves,’ literally, ‘hearts.’

5.⁂⁂⁂signifies ‘salute,’ as in Chapter 12, 1, and 14, 1, and⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂(with various other forms) the ‘saluter,’ is the name of the Ape who is seen in the vignettes of the papyri saluting the rising of the sun. See M. Naville’sTodtenbuch, I, plates 21 and 22; the Papyrus of Ani, plate 2; theTodtenbuchof Lepsius, Chapters 16 and 126.

I do not know how far it is correct to illustrate this undoubted origin of the Egyptian name for the Ape, as ‘the saluting one,’ by the following extract of a letter to Cuvier from M. Duvaucelle, about the Siamang apes in the neighbourhood of Bencoolen in Sumatra. “They assemble in numerous troops ... and thus united, they salute the rising and the setting sun with the most terrific cries, which may be heard at the distance of many miles; and which, when near, stun, when they do not frighten. This is the morning call of the mountain Malays, but to the inhabitants of the town, who are unaccustomed to it, it is a most insupportable annoyance.”

In this place of the Book of the Dead the sign⁂is a mere determinative of the soundaānwith the notion ofsalutation, just as the sign⁂is a determinative of the soundȧbwith the notion ofthirst.

The ‘saluters’ of the rising sun are neither real apes nor men but the “Spirits of the East” who, as we are told in an inscription of the tomb of Rameses VI, “effect the rising of Râ by opening the door at each of the four portals of the eastern horizon of heaven. They it is who light him on both sides, and go forth in advance of him.... And when he arises they turn into six cynocephali.”[10]

The Egyptian words in the later texts are⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂the alternative reading being itself a proof that the difficulty of the text was already felt by some Egyptian scribe.

But if the scribe had consulted the oldest texts accessible in his day, he would probably have seen another way out. Our oldest MS., that of Nebseni, reads,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂bes-kuȧ ȧbu ȧāā(n)u, which signify literally,“antecedunt me corda salutantium.”The word⁂⁂⁂besis a very common one in pictures representing the introduction of a king or a god into a temple. It is the technical term used in the Tablet of Canopus for the inducting, by the king, of priests into their offices. The subject of this verb is⁂⁂⁂hearts; an independent word, instead of being the mere determinative of⁂⁂⁂. The object of the verb is the speaker—⁂⁂⁂—kuȧ, ‘me,’ as the papyrusPareads, likeAa. And it is easy to see how the later text, which is already found inAx, has been corrupted out of the older.

10. Champollion,Notices, tom. II, p. 640.

CHAPTER VI.

Chapter whereby the funereal Statuettes may be made to do work for a person in the Netherworld.

O Statuette(1) there! Should I be called and appointed to do any of the labours that are done in the Netherworld by a person according to his abilities, lo! all obstacles have been beaten downfor thee; be thou counted for me at every moment, for planting the fields, for watering the soil, for conveying the sands of east and west.

Here am I, whithersoever thou callest me.

Note.

1.This chapter is inscribed on the funereal statuettes, of which enormous quantities are found; sometimes by hundreds in the neighbourhood of a single mummy. Much information on the subject, both archæological and philological, will be found in Mariette’sCatalogue Général des Monuments d’Abydos, p. 25 and following, and in M. Loret’s articles“Les Statuettes funéraires du Musée de Boulaq,”published in theRecueil de Travaux, tomes IV and V.

In the earlier texts⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂; in the later⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The latter word being readušebti, has very naturally been considered as derived from⁂⁂⁂⁂, in Coptic ⲟⲩⲱϣⲃ, ‘to answer.’ For the statuette is addressed at the beginning of the chapter, and it replies at the end. But there is no reason for supposing that the earlier form had the same meaning.

CHAPTER VII.

Chapter of passing through the chine of Apepi which is void.

Oh, One of Wax,(1) who takest captive and seizest with violence, and livest upon those who are motionless! Let me not become motionless before thee, let me not be paralysed before thee, let not thy venoms enter into my limbs, for my limbs are the limbs of Tmu.

And if thou wouldst not be paralysed, let me not be paralysed.

Let not thy languors enter these limbs of mine.

I am the One who presideth over the pole of Heaven, and the powers of all the gods are my powers.

I am he, whose names are hidden, and whose abodes are mysterious for all eternity.

It is I who proceed from Tmu, and I am safe and sound.(2)

Notes.

Apepi is the personification of the storm-cloud and, as such, is the enemy of Râ, by whom he is vanquished. As representing a natural phenomenon of irregular occurrence, he is not deified like Sutu, the Darkness of Night.

On comparing this chapter with the 99th, it would appear that the occasion for reciting it is on the journey of the heavenly boat through ridges of cloud, which are pictured as the coils of a great serpent, and described as⁂⁂inanes, empty, void. In the papyrus of Nebket (Pe) the vignette shows the deceased person transfixing the dragon. The chapter itself was said over a wax figure of the demon.

1.These wax figures of gods and other personages were used not only for ritual but for unlawful magical purposes. The Rollin papyrus reports about a criminal condemned to death for magical arts. He was charged with making⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂‘gods of wax,’ and some men “for the purpose of paralysing the limbs of men⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.” See Chabas,Papyrus Magique, p. 170, and Devéria,Pap. judiciaire de Turin, p. 131.

2.The more recent texts omit this ending and substitute, “I know, I know.” Some MSS. have both readings.

CHAPTER VIII.

Chapter of opening the Tuat by day.

The Hour(1) discloseth what the head of Thoth keepeth close, who giveth might to the Eye of Horus.(2)

And I call upon the Eye of Horus which gleams as an ornament upon the brow of Râ, the father of the gods.

I am that Osiris, the Lord of Amenta, and Osiris knoweth his day, and that it is in his lot that he should end his being, and be no more.(3)

I am Sutu, the father of the gods, the imperishable one.

Stay, Horus, for he is counted among the gods.

Notes.

1.Time.

2.See note on Chapter 17, 27. It must be sufficient here to say that Thoth is a personification of the moon, and that the relations of solar and lunar phenomena are the sources of a great deal of Egyptian mythology.

3.This is one of the most difficult passages in the Book of the Dead, but I do not see how it can be grammatically understood otherwise. It is understood from the passage from Light to Darkness and the converse.

‘In his lot,’ literally ‘in him.’

‘End his being’: more strictly, ‘bring to an end his activity’;⁂⁂⁂. ‘Being’ (though inevitable in a modern language) is much too abstract a word for these ancient texts.⁂implies ‘motion, activity,’ and⁂is not a simple negation, but implies ‘completion, end’ (τελέω, τέλος), though not ‘cessation.’

Ourmodernacceptation of the word ‘perfect’ is often wrongly applied to⁂. We should think rather of such phrases as‘annum perficere,’‘sole perfecto.’

CHAPTER IX.

Chapter for opening the Tuat.

O Soul most mighty,(1) here am I: I am come to thee that I may see thee.

I open the Tuat that I may see my father Osiris and may drive away the darkness.

I am he whom he loveth. I have come to see my father Osiris, to pierce the heart of Sutu, and to perform all duties to my father Osiris.

I open all the paths in heaven and upon earth.

I am the son who loveth his father, and I am come as a mummied one, glorious and well equipt.

Oh, all ye gods and goddesses, the path is made for me.

Note.

1.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂‘Soul most mighty,’ is one of the principal names of Osiris. The whole chapter is spoken in the person of Horus, the son of Osiris.

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