PLATE XII.PLATE XIII.
PLATE XII.PLATE XIII.
PLATE XII.
PLATE XIII.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
Chapter whereby the Āpshait is kept back.
Chapter whereby the Āpshait is kept back.
Chapter whereby the Āpshait is kept back.
Away from me, thou with parted lips! I am Chnemu, the Lord of Shennu, who am bringing the words of the gods to Rā. And I announce the news to Nebes.
Note.
Note.
Note.
The insect called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂āpšaior⁂⁂⁂āpsȧitis difficult of identification. It is certainly not a tortoise as was formerly thought, but looks rather like the voraciousBlatta orientalis. The form inLeis peculiar, but I have met it in a later papyrus. The last word of the chapter is doubtful. The most recent papyri have⁂⁂‘their Lord,’ which gives a very good sense, but even the Turin copy has⁂‘her Lord’ which agrees with the oldest papyrus. Bekenrenef has⁂⁂Nebes, a lion-headed goddess.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Chapter whereby the Merta goddesses are kept back.
Chapter whereby the Merta goddesses are kept back.
Chapter whereby the Merta goddesses are kept back.
Hail ye Pair of goddesses Merta, Sister Pair, Merta!(1) I inform you of my Words of Power.
It is I who rise up from the Sektit boat. I am Horus the son of Isis, and I am come to see my father, Osiris.
Note.
Note.
Note.
1.ThePair of goddessesconsists of Isis and Nephthys⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,Rehetȧ, as the word is written at Denderah.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,Mertȧsignifiestwo eyes.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Chapter whereby one liveth by the breath of air in the Netherworld, and keepeth back Merta.
Chapter whereby one liveth by the breath of air in the Netherworld, and keepeth back Merta.
Chapter whereby one liveth by the breath of air in the Netherworld, and keepeth back Merta.
I am the god in Lion form; the heir of Râ and Tmu in Chemmis,(1) the Master in their halls.
Those who are in their cells(2) accompany me as guides. I have made my way and gone round the heavenly Ocean on the path of the Bark of Râ, and standing on the girders[52]of the Bark of Râ.
I utter his words to the men of the present generation[53]and I repeat his words to him who is deprived of breath.(3)
I spy out for my father Râ at sunset, compressing my mouth,(4) and feeding upon life.
I live in Tattu, and I repeat my life after death like the Sun daily.
Notes.
Notes.
Notes.
There are two recensions of this chapter, and both are found in the papyrusLb. They are called by M. Naville, 38Aand 38B. The latter is that adopted as canonical by all the manuscripts of a later date, and is the one here translated. The other recension is longer, and contains passages which are also found in other chapters, to which it accordingly furnishes important variants. It may possibly be older than those chapters.
1.In Chemmis.The name of the place where Isis gave birth to Horus is in the Pyramid texts written⁂⁂⁂⁂(Pepi I, 428), and⁂⁂⁂(Merenra I, 683),aḫ-ḫebitorḫebit-aḫ; but simplyḫebitin the texts of the eighteenth dynasty, as in the annals of Thothmes III (Mariette,Karnakc pl. 16, line 47),[54]or in the divine andproper names⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, and⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂. It is certain therefore that the sign⁂is here only an ideogram of⁂⁂⁂, not of the ancient⁂⁂⁂. From the eighteenth dynasty at least, and for a time belonging to a period of unknown length between the sixth and the eighteenth dynasties, and for ever afterwards, the name of the place was⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂Ḫebit, where, as theTablet of the Dreamsays,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂(Mariette,Mon. div., pl. 7).
2.In their cells:⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Here 38Ahas:⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂in their shrines, followed in some papyri by⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂“I fraternize with Horus and Sut.”
3.Deprived of breath, ‘the dead.’ In 38A, the privation of breath is mentioned but in a different connection. But the text of the passage is uncertain. Here as in chapter 41,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂‘the Breathless one’ is Osiris.
4.Compressing my mouth:⁂⁂⁂⁂is the ancient reading, not⁂⁂⁂⁂, as in the more recent texts. The same observation applies to the name of the god in chapter125, 15.
52.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
52.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
53.The men of the present generation, the Reḫit.
53.The men of the present generation, the Reḫit.
54. Here the king is compared to the god called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂and in the next line⁂⁂⁂. And Thothmes IV (Denkm., III, 63) is compared⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
54. Here the king is compared to the god called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂and in the next line⁂⁂⁂. And Thothmes IV (Denkm., III, 63) is compared⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Chapter whereby the Serpent Rekrek is repulsed in the Netherworld.
Chapter whereby the Serpent Rekrek is repulsed in the Netherworld.
Chapter whereby the Serpent Rekrek is repulsed in the Netherworld.
Back! down with thee, stabber(1) from Apepi! Drown in the lake of Heaven, in the spot wherein thy father ordered that thymurder should be carried out. Away from this birth-place of Râ, the god encompassed by[55]his terrors.
I am Râ, encompassed by his terrors.
Back! the dark demon and the sword which he maketh to flash!
Râ flingeth down thy words; thy face is twisted round by the gods; thy whole heart is torn out by the Lynx goddess; chains are flung upon thee by the Scorpion goddess; and slaughter is dealt upon thee by Maāt.
The gods who are on the roads overthrow thee.
Apep falleth down, the enemy of Râ.
O thou who removest the bolt from the East of Heaven at the stormy voice of bellowings, and openest the gates of the Horizon before Râ: he cometh forth fainting from the wounds.
I am a doer of thy will, I am a doer of thy will, O Râ.
I have done well, I have done well; I have done to the satisfaction of Râ.
And I raise shouts of acclamation at thy success at fettering, O Râ. Apep is fallen and is in bonds.
The gods of the South, the North, the West and the East bind him; their bonds are upon him. Aker(2) overthroweth him, and the lord of the ruddy sky doth bind him.
Râ is satisfied; Râ is satisfied; Râ maketh his progress peacefully.
Apep falleth; Apep goeth down; the enemy of Râ. And more grave for thee is the proof(3) than that sweet proof through the Scorpion goddess, which she practised for thee, in the pain which she suffered...(4).
Be thou emasculate, O Apep, enemy of Râ; be thou repulsed whom Râ hateth; look behind thee: a chopper is over thy head to divide it into two parts, and those who are above thy head assail it. Thy bones are broken, thy limbs are severed under the direction of Aker, O Apep, enemy of Râ.
Thy boatmen [O Râ], succeed in measuring out thy path, and a journey, with which thou art satisfied; a progress, a progresstowards home; and the progress which thou hast made towards home is a fair progress.
Let no evil hindrances come forth against me from thy mouth in what thou doest towards me.
I am Sutu, who causeth the storms and tempests, and who goeth round in the Horizon of Heaven, like to one whose heart is veiled.
Tmu saith: Let your countenances be raised up, ye soldiers of Râ, and drive back Nebtu in presence of the Divine Circle.
Seb saith: establish those who are upon their thrones in the middle of the Bark of Chepera; seize your shields and spears, and hold them in your hands.
Hathor saith: Seize your daggers.
Nut saith: Come and drive back Nebtu, who cometh against him who dwelleth in his shrine, and maketh his voyage in solitary guise: the Inviolate god, the resistless one.
O ye gods in your Divine cycles, who travel round the lake of Emerald, come and defend the Great one who is in the shrine from which all the Divine cycle proceedeth. Let glory be ascribed to him, and let honour be given to him. Oh then, proclaim him with me.
Nut saith, the mother of the gods: He cometh forth and findeth his path, and maketh captures of the gods; he hath the first place in the two houses of Nut.
Seb standeth still, the great cycle of the gods is in terror, Hathor is under terror, and Râ is triumphant over Apep.
Notes.
Notes.
Notes.
The extreme uncertainty of the text is such that no translation at present can be other than conjectural.
1.Back, down with thee, Stabber.The first word is clear enough; not so the two next.
Are we to read⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂⁂? for each of M. Naville’s authorities gives a different word. The last of these readings has some support in a subsequent passage, but almost all copies have⁂⁂⁂. There has evidently been a confusion between⁂⁂and⁂⁂, and the determinative⁂of the latterword has been transferred to the first. I believe that the true word is⁂⁂⁂which is used in the ancient forms of conjuration (see the texts of Unas, 304, 311, 542, 545, 554,etc.). It is always used in expressions oflying downorfalling down⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, and it is also found in parallelism with⁂⁂⁂.
⁂⁂without a determinative is susceptible of different meanings, and the very recent texts have it written with the determinative of motion⁂or⁂, as significant of retreat. But the oldest determinative in this place is⁂, and this inclines me to identify the word with⁂⁂⁂, and translate it ‘stabber.’ But this is mere conjecture. Seenote 5on chapter 40.
2.Akar.The older MSS. differ hopelessly from each other as to the name of the god.
In order to understand the nature of the god⁂⁂⁂Akar, we have to imagine atunnelstarting from the spot where the sun sets, andextending through the earthas far as where the sun rises. Each end of the tunnel has a sphinx-like form. A human-headed lion stands at the entrance and also at the terminus. It is through the paws of this double sphinx that the galley of the Sungod enters on the Western horizon and comes out on the Eastern.
In the picture PlateXV, taken from the tomb of Rameses IV,⁂⁂,Fair Entrance, is written at one end of the tunnel;⁂⁂,Fair Exit, at the other. As the solar bark could not be represented inside the dark tunnel, it is placed above.
3.The proof.Lit.the taste,⁂⁂ṭepit, with the tongue as a determinative, in the sense of aprobe. The hand of an Egyptian hero is said totastehis enemy. In the Bremner Papyrus the godtastesApep four times. The same conception is found in the Homeric poems,
ἀλλ’ ἄγε, θᾶσσονγευσόμεθ’ ἀλλήλων χαλκήρσεσιν ἐγχείησιν.[56]
ἀλλ’ ἄγε, θᾶσσονγευσόμεθ’ ἀλλήλων χαλκήρσεσιν ἐγχείησιν.[56]
ἀλλ’ ἄγε, θᾶσσονγευσόμεθ’ ἀλλήλων χαλκήρσεσιν ἐγχείησιν.[56]
ἀλλ’ ἄγε, θᾶσσον
γευσόμεθ’ ἀλλήλων χαλκήρσεσιν ἐγχείησιν.[56]
though in Greek thetastecomes generally to thepatientrather than to the agent.
4.This passage, which would be most interesting if we could only get it accurately, is wretchedly corrupt. It is impossible from the variants to obtain a text grammatically intelligible. The Scorpion goddess is Isis.
55.⁂⁂⁂between,in the midst of,surrounded by.
55.⁂⁂⁂between,in the midst of,surrounded by.
56.Iliad, 20, 258.
56.Iliad, 20, 258.
PLATE XIV.
PLATE XIV.
PLATE XIV.
CHAPTER XL.
Chapter whereby the Eater of the Ass is kept back.
Chapter whereby the Eater of the Ass is kept back.
Chapter whereby the Eater of the Ass is kept back.
Back, serpent Haiu,(1) whom Osiris execrateth. May Thoth cut off thy head, and may there accrue to me whatsoever property proceedeth from thee [according to] what was decreed against thee by the Company of the gods for the accomplishment of thy slaughter.
Back, thou whom Osiris execrateth, from the Neshemet galley, which saileth towards the south with favourable breeze.
Pure are ye, all ye gods who overthrow the enemy of Osiris.
The gods upon the larboard utter loud acclamation.
Back, thou Eater of the Ass, whom the god Chas,(2) who is in the Tuat, execrateth.
Know me! (Repeatedfour times).
“Who art thou?”
I am....[57]
Down upon thy face!(3) thou who art eating at my sanctuary.
I am the Season, which cometh at its own will.
“Come not against me; thou who comest without being called, and who art unknown.”
I am the master of thine utterance, and the check upon thy pride.(4)
O Ha-as, whose horns(5) Horus doth cut: by my children, the cycle of gods in Pu and Tepit, thou art severed from thy fold and thy fold is severed from thee.
And he who cutteth thee off cometh forth as the Eye of Horus; thou art kept back and assailed, and stopped(6) by the breath of my speech.
O thou god who devourest all wrong, and carriest off with violence;(7) there is no wrong in me, my tablets(8) are free from wrong. Let me not suffer violence before the Divine Circle; let not disaster be hurled upon me.
I am he who giveth or taketh according to thy behest.
Let notNbe seized, let him not be devoured.(9)
He is Possessor of Life, and Sovereign Lord(10) on the Horizon.
Notes.
Notes.
Notes.
The translation of this chapter is based upon the important papyrus T 5 of Leyden, known asLb. This is the only MS. which contains the whole chapter. All other copies begin after the sixth line. The usual chapter begins inLbwith a⁂⁂, which is the ordinary way of indicating a various reading. But the difference of reading applies rather to a mere paragraph than to the whole chapter. In this case we should expect⁂or something equivalent.
The Eater of the Ass is a Serpent, but who is the Ass?
Here, as in each case of mythological name, the animal is not meant, but something which is connoted by it. The name of the ass is given to it in consequence of one of its characteristics. It is⁂⁂⁂. But this is one of the seventy-five names of the Sun-god in the Solar Litany.[58]And he derives this appellation from his fructifying power.
But if the Ass is the Sun, who is theEaterof the Ass? This must be Darkness or Eclipse of some kind.
1.Haiu, the serpent who devours the sun, is undoubtedly the same as⁂⁂⁂⁂Haiu, the serpent who in the Pyramid texts is ordered to lie down (Unas, 545, &c.), and cease from his attacks.
2.The god Chas,⁂⁂.
3.The usual chapter begins here. The text ofLbhas generally been followed, but in some places later authorities have been preferred.
4.Prideorboastings,⁂⁂⁂ānta, “glory,”cf.glorior. The speaker addresses his adversary as being amiles gloriosus.
5.Hornsorbarbed hooks,⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂⁂. The horns here spoken of, as possessed by a viper, are those of the deadly Cerastes, which are spines projecting from the arched eye-brows of the creature. See picture in Long’sEgyptian Antiquities of British Museum, II, p. 316, copied from the great French work.
But the Sun-god is also called in his Litany[59]⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. And a picture of the god[60]under the name⁂⁂⁂exhibits him as characterized by a pair of hooked weapons, suggested apparently by the mandibles of a beetle.
6.Stopped.There are three important variants here⁂,⁂, and⁂. And the last of these is possibly a corrupt reading from⁂⁂. The first two are synonymous.⁂may in certain contexts meandestroy, but it only signifies ‘bring to a limit, to an end, stop,’ like the τερ in τερ-μα,ter-min-o. It is used in many cases, such as the staunching of blood, where no destruction is intended.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂isstop in thy place.
7.There is a picture inDenkm., III, 279, of the god who carrieth off with violence⁂⁂⁂⁂. But it is a mummied form holding theT’āmsceptre.
8.Tablets,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. These are the tablets on which Thoth has written down the evidence taken at theWeighing of the Words, the examination at the Psychostasia. They are mentioned again at the end of Chapter 41.
9.Here I follow the general authority of the later texts.
10.Sovereign Lord⁂⁂⁂⁂. This word is closely connected, and was so from the first, with⁂‘seize.’ The best commentary upon it may be derived from the legal termsusucapio,saisine,seisin. The Sovereign Lord of Egypt is in our current legal phrase “seizedof the Two Earths,” that is of the whole Universe, North and South.
57. There is a lacuna here in the only MS. containing the text. The dialogue continues through the next line of the original.
57. There is a lacuna here in the only MS. containing the text. The dialogue continues through the next line of the original.
58. Naville,La Litanie du Soleil, p. 49 and 55, with the plates corresponding.
58. Naville,La Litanie du Soleil, p. 49 and 55, with the plates corresponding.
59. In the 64th invocation.
59. In the 64th invocation.
60.Lefébure Tombeau de Seti I, pl. XVII.
60.Lefébure Tombeau de Seti I, pl. XVII.
CHAPTER XLI.
Chapter whereby one avoideth the Slaughter which is carried out in the Netherworld.
Chapter whereby one avoideth the Slaughter which is carried out in the Netherworld.
Chapter whereby one avoideth the Slaughter which is carried out in the Netherworld.
O Tmu, let me be glorified in presence of the god in Lion form, the great god; that he may open to me the gate of Seb.
I prostrate myself to earth to the great god who is in the Netherworld. Let me be introduced into the presence of the company of gods who preside over those who are in Amenta.
O thou who art at the gate of Tebat; god with the Red Crown,(1) who art in Amenta; let me feed, let me live by the breath of air and accompany the great Cleaver,(2) and the Bark of Chepera.
Let me speak to the divine Boatman at the gloaming, let me enter in and let me go out; that I may see who is there; that I may raise him up and speak my words to him.
O Breathless one:(3) Let me live and be saved after death.
O thou Bearer of peace offerings, who openest thy mouth for the presentation of the tablets,(4) for the acceptation(5) of the offerings and for the establishment of Maāt upon her throne; let the tablets be brought forward, and let the goddess be firmly established.
I am Osiris, the great god, the eternal king, who numbereth his seasons and who lifted up his right arm, who judgeth the great ones and giveth mission to the gods of the great Circle(6) which is in the Netherworld.
Notes.
Notes.
Notes.
The most noteworthy difference between the older recension of this chapter and that of the Saitic and later periods is that in the latter the god addressed at the opening is Osiris Unneferu, who is identified with Tmu. In the older recensions the identification may be seen in another way. Tmu is the god invoked, and in answer he says that he is Osiris, the great god.
1.God with the Red Crown⁂⁂is⁂⁂⁂, one of titles of Osiris with the⁂crown. See PlateXVfrom Lefébure,Tombeau de Seti I, part IV, pl. 34. This title, derived from the crown⁂⁂, isNet-tȧorNait-tȧ. It was borne by the highpriest at Coptos (Brugsch,Dict. Geogr., pp. 1374, 1377), and the King of Egypt derived his title⁂from the Crown⁂of the North which he wore as representing Osiris, or rather theheirof Osiris, Horus.
2.The great Cleaver,⁂⁂⁂, the name of the god who cleaves his path through the sky.
3.Breathless one,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂Osiris.
4.Thoth is the person here addressed, and the speaker is Osiris. The tablets are those containing the evidence at the trial at the Balance.
5.Acceptation⁂⁂⁂peḳa, besides the physical sense ofcomprehendere, ‘to lay hold of’ with the hands, has that of ‘taking in, embracing with the mind,’ and perhaps ‘setting forth in words.’
6.On the Sarcophagus of Seti (Bonomi, pl. 3. D), and the other copies of the same text, there is a picture of these⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Such is the title written over them. But the text speaks of them as⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.