CHAPTER XVIII.

[Introductory.]

The An-māut(1) saith:—

I come to you, ye Great Circles of gods(2) in Heaven, upon Earth and in the World below! I bring to youNvoid of offence towards any of the gods, grant that he may be with you daily.

Glory to Osiris, Lord of Restau, and to the great gods who are in the World below. Here isNwho saith:—Hail to thee, Prince of Amenta, Unneferu who presidest in Abydos, I come to thee with Righteousness; without sin upon me. I am not knowingly a speaker of wrong; I am not given to duplicity; grant me Bread, the right of appearance at the tables of the Lords of Maāt, entering in and going out of the Netherworld, and that my soul may not suffer repulse in its devotion to the orb of the Sun and the vision of the Moon-god for ever.

The Se-meri-f saith:—

I come to you, O Circle of gods in Restau, and I bring to youN. Grant to him Bread, Water, Air and an allotment in the Sechit-hotepu like Horus.

Glory to Osiris, the Lord of Eternity and to the Circle of gods in Restau. Here isNand he saith:—I come to thee, I know thy will, and I am furnished with thine attributes of the Tuat. Grant me an abiding place in the Netherworld by the Lords of Maāt, my permanent allotment in the Sechit-hotepu, and the receiving of cakes before thee.

[Litany.]

1. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Circle of gods about Rā and about Osiris and the Great Circle of gods in Heliopolis, on that Night of theEve’s Provender(3) and the Night of Battle when there befel the Defeat of the Sebau, and the Day of the extinction of the adversaries of the Inviolate god.

The Great Circle of gods in Heliopolis is of Tmu, Shu and Tefnut, and the Sebau who were defeated and extinguished were the associates of Sut on the renewal of his assault.

2. Oh Thoth who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries before the Great Circle of gods in Tattu, on the Night wherein the Tat is set up in Tattu.(4)

The Great Circle of gods in Tattu is of Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Horus the Avenger of his Father; and they who set up the Tat are the two arms of Horus, Prince of Sechem. They are behind Osiris as bindings of his raiment.

3. Oh Thoth who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods in Sechem on that Night of theEve’s Provenderin Sechem.

The Great Circle of gods in Sechem is of Horus in the Dark,(5) and Thoth, who is of the Great Circle of An-arer-ef.

TheEve’s Provenderis the dawn upon the Coffin of Osiris.

4. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods in Pu and Tepu,(6) on that Night of erecting the flag-staffs of Horus, and of establishing him as heir of his Father’s property.

The Great Circle of gods in Pu and Tepu is of Horus, Isis, Emsta, Hapi; and the pillars of Horus are erected when Horus saith to those who follow him “let the flag-staffs be erected there.”

5. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods of the Two Regions[30]of Rechit, on that Night when Isis lay watching in tears over her brother Osiris.

The Great Circle of gods on the Two Regions of Rechit is of Isis, Nephthys, Emsta and Hapi.

6. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods in Abydos on the night of Hakra,(7) when the evil dead are parted off, when the glorious ones are rightly judged, and joy goeth its round in Thinis.

The Great Circle of gods in Abydos is of Osiris, Isis and Apuat.

7. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods on the Highway of the Damned,(8) upon the Night when judgment is passed upon those who are no more.

The Great Circle of gods on the Highway of the Damned are Thoth, Osiris, Anubis and Astes. And judgment is passed on the Highway of the Damned when the suit is closed[31]against the souls of the Children of Failure.

8. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries,letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods at the Great Hoeing in Tattu, on the Night of Hoeing in their blood and effecting the triumph of Osiris over his adversaries.

The Great Circle of gods at the Great Hoeing in Tattu(9) when the associates of Sut arrive, and take the forms of goats, slay them before the gods there, while their blood runneth down; and this is done according to the judgment of those gods who are in Tattu.

9. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, before the Great Circle of gods in An-arer-ef on the Night of Hiding him who is Supreme in Attributes.[32]

The Great Circle of gods in An-arer-ef is of Shu, Babai, Rā and Osiris, and the Night of Hiding him who is Supreme of Attributes is when there are at the Coffin, the Thigh, the Head, the Heel and the Leg of Unneferu.

10. Oh Thoth, who makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries, letNbe made triumphant over his adversaries, even as thou makest Osiris triumphant over his adversaries before the Great Circle of gods in Restau on the Night when Anubis lieth(10) with his hands upon the objects behind Osiris, when Osiris is made to triumph over his adversaries.

The Great Circle of gods in Restau is of Osiris, Horus, and Isis. The heart of Horus rejoiceth, the heart of Osiris is glad and the two Parts[33]of Heaven are satisfied when Thoth effecteth the triumph ofNbefore these ten Great Circles about Rā and about Osiris and the Circles of gods attached to every god and every goddess before the Inviolate god. All his adversaries are destroyed and all that was wrong in him is also destroyed.

Let the person say this chapter, he will be purified and come forth by day, after his death, and take all forms for the satisfaction of his will, and if this chapter be recited over him, he will be prosperous upon earth, he will come forth safe from every fire, and no evil thing will approach him: with undeviating regularity for times infinite.(11)

Notes.

The eighteenth chapter is one of those found in the earliest copies of the Book of the Dead, on the wooden coffins of the ‘Old’ and ‘Middle’ Empires; the most complete ancient copy being on the coffin of Queen Mentuhotep of the eleventh dynasty.

It consists of a Litany addressed to Thoth, who is invoked for securing the triumph of the departed against his adversaries in presence of the gods of certain localities. Each petition has reference to some mythological event, and is supplemented by the enumeration of the gods constituting the divine company presiding at the locality named, and sometimes by a short comment on the myth referred to.

The order of petitions is somewhat different in the later recensions, and the text has suffered other alterations.

Copies of this chapter are extremely numerous, particularly in the later periods.

The chapter really begins with the petitions to Thoth. The preceding portion is, as far as I know, found only in the Papyrus of Ani. But as the vignette which belongs to this portion has a place in the great Leyden Papyrus of Kenna, the text cannot have been confined to a single manuscript. It is particularly valuable as illustrative of the ritual use of portions of the Book of the Dead.

1.The deceased person is supposed to be presented to the gods by two priests in succession, one calledAn-maut-ef⁂⁂⁂⁂, and the other⁂⁂Se-meri-f. Both names are titles of Horus, and it is the usual thing for Egyptian priests to bear divine titles; their ritual observances being dramatic and symbolical representations of the actions of the gods.An-maut-efliterally signifies ‘column (support) of his mother.’ Horus is called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂‘theAn-maut-efof the Great Company of the gods’ (Mariette,Abydos, I, p. 34), and inDenkmäler, III, 206e, he is called theAn-maut-efof Osiris (cf.Abyd.II, 54).

Se-meri-fsignifies ‘the Beloved Son,’ and the priest of this name in the funereal rites personified Horus in his dutiful offices to his father Osiris. I do not know why⁂⁂isalwaystranslated ‘the son who loves him,’ instead of ‘the son he loves,’which is the right meaning.⁂⁂⁂is ‘the place which he loves’ not ‘the place which loves him.’ And similarly⁂⁂is ‘the wife whom he loves,’ not ‘who loves him.’

2.There is a short note (6) on chapter 1, upon the word⁂⁂⁂⁂, but the present seems to be the suitable place for a more extended notice of this feminine word, which is a collective noun, and never found in any other sense.

The ancient form⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂renders it more than probable that⁂is not phonetic in the later form, but that as in⁂⁂kai, originally⁂⁂(whence the Copticⲕⲟⲧ,ⲕⲱⲧⲉ, a circle, a round vessel, to go round), it is ideographic ofroundness. This concept is certainly to be found in the word⁂⁂⁂, the Copticϫⲱϫ, a head (or rather top of the head), as in the Latinvertex, akin tovortex, from the same root asvertere. The sign⁂, which in later texts often appears as the determinative, has its origin in the cursive form of⁂carelessly written. Instead of⁂we also find⁂, which is certainly not phonetic but ideographic ofenclosure, as in the word⁂⁂⁂⁂a wall,paries, ἕρκος. This word occurs already in the Pyramid Texts under the form⁂⁂⁂. See Pepi I, 571, which M. Maspero renders‘la GrandeEnceinted’On.’The evident etymological relationship to the Copticϫⲱϫhas led some scholars to translate the Egyptian word as signifyingchiefs,princes. But though the lexicons giveduxandprincepsas meanings of the Coptic word, these are but secondary applications ofhead. We have to enquire why ϫⲱϫ meanshead, ortop of the head. And the reason is its roundness, as indicated by the ideographic signs⁂or⁂.

The old Egyptian word⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂invariably implies an association of persons, and this is why in consequence of its etymology I translate it as ‘Circle of gods.’ It is synonymous (cf.chapter 41, note 8chapter 41, note 8) with⁂⁂⁂.

3.The Eve’s Provender.Later authorities read⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the ‘Provender of the altars,’ but this is a corruption of the ancient⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, which had probably ceased to be intelligible. According to this pantheistic system the deceased through his identification with the Sun absorbed and consumed all that came in his way. And this is expressed in somewhat brutal style. Men and gods disappear before Unas, he makes his breakfast at dawn⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, upon great gods, his dinner upon gods of middling quality⁂⁂, and ‘his supper at even’⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂upon the minor deities,⁂⁂.⁂⁂is the ancient dialectic variant of⁂, which however is really the older form. This word which means ‘things’ has, like the Latinres, a wide application. It frequently meansproperty,estate, and sometimessuit.

4.On the last day of the month of Choiak the great solemnity of setting up the Tat⁂as the symbol of Osiris was observed down to the latest periods. The tablets of Pasherenptah, high priest of Ptah at Memphis, speak of this great dignitary as the king’s second or deputy in ‘Raising the Tat.’ But Brugsch has published a picture (Thesaurus, V, 1190), copied by Dr. Erman from a tomb of the XVIIIth dynasty, in which Amenophis III himself helps to raise the Tat, and the queen Ti and the royal princesses take part in the ceremony. The procession is described as marching four times round the sanctuary of Ptah-Seker-Osiris. SeePlate IX.

5.On Horus in the Dark, or Blindness, or Invisibility⁂, see note,Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., June, 1886.

6.Pu and Tepu are named together in the earliest texts as one locality, which is recognised by Brugsch as the metropolis of the northern nome called by the Greeks Φθενότης.

7.The feast of⁂⁂derives its name, as Goodwin supposes with great probability, from the words⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ha-k-er-ȧ, ‘Come thou to me,’ said of a legendary incident like that mentioned at the end of note 15 on chapter 17. The early papyri read⁂⁂⁂⁂but this is no objection, the sign⁂being here the determinative of the entire group which gives its name to the feast.

8.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂literally thedead, that is those who have died ‘the second death.’

9.The vignette is given by M. Naville from the tracing taken by Lepsius of the now lost Papyrus Busca. It represents ‘the Great Hoeing in Tattu.’ The long text at Dendera (Mariette, tom. IV, pl. 39) contains directions to be observed the festival commemorative of the ancient myth. Two black cows are put under a yoke of⁂⁂⁂ȧmwood, the plough is of tamarisk wood and the share of black bronze. The plougher goes behind, with a cow led by a halter. A little child with the lock⁂attached to its head is to scatter the seed in the field of Osiris, a piece of land of which the dimensions were given in the text (now imperfect). Barley is sown at one end, spelt at the other, and flax between the two. And the Cher-heb in chief recites the Office for the Sowing of the Field.

10.The older texts have⁂⁂lie, the later ones⁂lay.

11.In the formula⁂⁂⁂,⁂šesis “the measuring line used bybuilders,”builders,”andem šessignifies‘ad amussim,’‘nach der Schnur,’‘au cordeau,’‘according to the line,’ hence ‘with the strictest accuracy.’Hibbert Lectures, 1879, p. 121. ‘According to the line of Maāt’ means ‘with undeviating regularity.’

30.⁂⁂⁂⁂. The later recensions read⁂⁂⁂. The first Coffin of Mentuhotep (Aelteste Texte, 4, 61) has the phonetic⁂⁂⁂.

31. Literally, “when the things⁂are shut up.”

32.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

33.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, North and South.

CHAPTER XIX.

Chapter of the Crown of Triumph.

Thy Father Tmu hath prepared for thee this beautiful Crown of Triumph, the living diadem which the gods love, that thou mayest live for ever. Osiris, Prince of Amenta, maketh thee to triumph over thine adversaries. Thy Father Seb hath decreed that thou should be his heir, and be heralded as Triumphant, Horus son of Isis and son of Osiris, upon the throne of thy Father Rā, through the defeat of thine adversaries. He hath decreed for thee the Two Earths, absolutely and without condition(1). And so hath Atmu decreed, and the Cycle of the gods hath repeated the glorious act of the triumph of Horus the son of Isis and the son of Osiris for ever and ever.

Osiris, the Prince of Amenta, the Two Parts of Heaven united, all gods and all goddesses who are in heaven and upon earth join in effecting the Triumph of Horus the son of Isis and son of Osiris over his adversaries before the Great Circle of gods in Heliopolis, on theNight, etc.

Horus repeateth the proclamation four times. All the adversaries fall and are overthrown and slaughtered.

Nrepeateth the proclamation four times, and all his adversaries fall and are overthrown and slaughtered.

Horus son of Isis and son of Horus repeateth an infinite number of festivals, and all his adversaries fall down, are overthrown and slaughtered. Their abode is transferred to the slaughtering block of the East, their heads are cut away, their necks are crushed, their thighs are lopped off, they are given to the great Annihilator who resideth in the Valley(2) that they may not ever escape from under the custody of Seb.(3)

This chapter is said over a consecrated crown placed upon the face of the person, and thou shalt put incense upon the flame, for N (the deceased), effecting his triumph over all his adversaries, whether Dead or Living, that he may become one of the followers of Osiris. And there shall be given to him drink and food in presence of this god. Thou shall say it at dawn twice; A great protection is it: with undeviating regularity for times infinite.

Notes.

The nineteenth chapter is a very recent recension of the eighteenth. The MSS. containing it, as far as we know, are not older than the Greek period. It derives its origin from the practice of placing garlands or floral crowns upon the mummies. The mummy of Aahmes I, the first king of the eighteenth dynasty, when found“portait au cou,”M. Maspero writes,“une guirlande de jolies fleurs roses deDelphinium orientale.”Remains of such crowns are to be found in our Museums. For farther details I must refer to an excellent paper entitledLa Couronne de la Justification, by Dr. Pleyte of Leyden, in the second volume of the Transactions of the Oriental Congress held at Leyden in 1884; and seePlate VIII.

1.⁂⁂⁂. This adverbial expression is apparently connected with⁂⁂, and I therefore understand it in the sense of ἀποτόμως,praecisè,absolutely,without condition.

2.⁂⁂⁂the Valley of Darkness (Todt., 130, 6) and Death, “whose secrets are absolutely unknown”⁂⁂⁂⁂(148, 2).

3.That is they shall remain interred for ever.

CHAPTER XX.

The twentieth chapter is entitledAnother Chapter of Crown of Triumph, but it is simply a tabulated form of chapter 18, with the Rubric.Let the person say this Chapter, and purify himself with water of natron, he will come forth by day after death, and take all forms according to his wish, and escape from the fire. With undeviating regularity for times infinite.The earliest example of this tabulated form of the chapter is found on the Berlin Sarcophagus of Mentuhotep.

Dümichen; Tempelinschriften, LXXV.

CHAPTER XXI.

Chapter whereby the mouth of a person is given to him in the Netherworld.

Hail to thee, Lord of Light, who art Prince of the House which is encircled by Darkness and Obscurity. I am come to thee glorified and purified.

My hands are behind thee; thy portion is that of those who have gone before thee.(1)

Give me my mouth that I may speak with it; and guide(2) my heart at its hour of Darkness and Night.

Notes.

The oldest papyrus containing this chapter is that of Ani, and the translation is based upon it. But the text differs both from those written on the very ancient coffins of Heru and Set-Bastit, copied by M. Maspero,[34]and from the later texts.

The second paragraph seems to be spoken by the god, the first and third being from the deceased.

“My hands are behind thee” is a formula implying protection.

On the coffins the invocation is addressed not to “Osiris, Lord of Light” or “Radiant One”⁂⁂, but to the⁂⁂⁂, “one whose head is clothed with radiant white, of the House of Darkness and Obscurity.”

Instead of⁂⁂⁂⁂“obscurity” the coffin has⁂⁂without a determinative, but⁂⁂⁂⁂shows what the word means.

This ancient text continues—“Come thou to me, glorified and purified; let thy hands [here the text is obliterated], shine thou with thine head(⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂). Give me my mouth thatI may speak with it, and guide me on the glorious roads which are in heaven.”

The Turin text is very corrupt, and parts of it are incapable of translation.

1.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

2.“Let me guide,” according to the Ani Papyrus. But the later (hieratic) texts have the second person⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, which is more correct.

34.Mission Archéologique Française, II, p. 216 and 223. The text is unfortunately incomplete on both coffins.

PLATE X.PLATE XI.

PLATE X.

PLATE XI.

CHAPTER XXII.

Another Chapter whereby the Mouth of a person is given to him in the Netherworld.

I shine forth out of the Egg which is in the unseen world.(1) Let there be given my mouth that I may speak with it in presence of the great god, Lord of the Tuat. Let not my hand be repulsed by the Divine Circle of the great god.

I am Osiris, the Lord of Restau, the same who is at the head of the Staircase.(2)

I am come to do the will of my heart, out of the Tank of Flame, which I extinguish when I come forth.(3)

Notes.

This is one of the chapters of which the text certainly belongs to the earliest epoch. It is one of those copied by Wilkinson from the coffin(2)(2)of Queen Mentuhotep. In the Papyrus of Ani it is followed by chapter 21 as its conclusion, and both chapters are appended to chapter 1, before the rubric belonging to that chapter.

1.The Egg in the unseen world is the globe of the Sun while yet below the horizon. It is only through a mistranslation of chapter 54, 2 that the Indian notion of a ‘Mundane Egg’ has been ascribed to the Egyptians.

The 17th chapter addresses “Rā in thine Egg, who risest up in thine orb, and shinest from thine Horizon.”

2.See the picture of Osiris at the head of the Staircase, which is here given (seePlate XI) from the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I in the Soane Museum. Similar pictures are given on other sarcophagi. The gods on the stairs are called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘the Divine Circle about Osiris.’

The ‘Staircase of the great god’⁂⁂⁂⁂at Abydos, is frequently mentioned on the funeral stelae.

3.TheTank of Flame. See chapter 1,note 15. The red glow of the Sky disappears after the Sun has risen, he is therefore said to “extinguish the Flame” after he has come forth. The same notion is expressed in the myth according to which Horus strikes off the head of his mother.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Chapter whereby the Mouth of a person is opened for him in the Netherworld.

He saith: Let my mouth be opened by Ptah, and let the muzzles which are upon my mouth be loosed by the god of my domain.(1)

Then let Thoth come, full and equipped with Words of Power,[35]and let him loose the muzzles of Sutu which are upon my mouth, and let Tmu lend a hand to fling them at the assailants.

Let my mouth be given to me. Let my mouth be opened by Ptah with that instrument of steel(2) wherewith he openeth the mouths of the gods.

I am Sechit(3) Uat’it who sitteth on the right side of Heaven: I am Sahit encircled by the Spirits of Heliopolis.[36]

And all the Words of Power, and all the accusations which are uttered against me—the gods stand firm against them: the cycles of the gods unitedly.

Back to Index Next