PLATE XXXVIII.PLATE XXXIX.
PLATE XXXVIII.PLATE XXXIX.
PLATE XXXVIII.
PLATE XXXIX.
CHAPTER CXXV.Notes.
CHAPTER CXXV.Notes.
CHAPTER CXXV.
Notes.
For the significance of this most important chapter with reference to the religion and ethics of ancient Egypt I must refer to the Introduction. The notes in this place must be confined to the text and its elucidation.
No copy of the chapter is known of more ancient date than the eighteenth dynasty, but the oldest papyri contain the three parts of which the chapter consists. That the chapter is of much earlier date than the eighteenth dynasty is quite certain from the nature of the corruptions which had already made their appearance in the earliest copies which have come down to us. But the three parts are not necessarily of the same antiquity. The second part seems to have grown out of the first and to have been suggested by the mention of the “Forty-two” gods and the “negative confession,” as it is called, of certain sins. It is a tabulated form in which the gods are named and a sin is mentioned in connection with each god.The number of sins in this form is therefore forty-two; a higher number than in Part I.
The two catalogues agree to a certain extent, but they also disagree, and the second is evidently the result of a different process of thought than that which gave birth to the first. The author of Part I is not the author of Part II, unless perhaps at a different and later period. Nor is there any indication in Part I of the extraordinary examination to which the deceased person is subjected in Part III. This in itself would not be a serious objection, but the matter becomes more complicated if we remember that the picture of the Psychostasia has the right to be considered as a part of the chapter. The texts which are written upon it differ, indeed, according to the taste of the artist, and can therefore claim no canonical authority. But the question as to the order of succession in the trials, or the precise moment at which the deceased person is finally freed from all anxiety as to his fate, cannot be satisfactorily solved on the supposition that all these documents form parts of a consistent whole. It seems much more natural to consider them as really independent compositions brought together in consequence of their subject matter. The artists of the Ramseside period (in the papyri of Hunefer and Ani) add another scene[111]in which the deceased is judged not by the forty-two assessors of Osiris but by a smaller company of gods (twelve or fourteen), sitting on thrones and bearing the names of well known divinities.
The essential notion was that of a trial before Osiris, in which the man’s conduct or conscience was weighed in the Balance. This trial is referred to in various chapters of the Book of the Dead and in other texts which prove that, with reference to the details, free scope was allowed to the imagination of the scribes or artists.
The number of the Forty-two assessors might be thought connected with that of the Nomes of Egypt. But this number is only certain for the later periods of Egyptian history, and is not true for earlier times. Moreover the localities in which the gods are said to make their appearances do not correspond to the nomes, or places within them. Some of the localities occur more than once, and some of them, if not all, are localities not upon earth. Heaven occurs twice, the eleventh god makes his appearance at Amenta andthe forty-second in the Netherworld. But the names which have a more earthly sound may have a mystical meaning. The first god makes his appearance in Annu, so does the seventeenth and so does the twenty-fourth. But does this mean Heliopolis of Egypt? On referring to an important text in Mariette’sMonuments Divers, pl. 46, it will be seen that Annu is the EasternSolar Mountain⁂⁂⁂, where the sun rises, and where he is saluted by the Powers of the East. There cannot be a more striking illustration of “the Divine Babe who maketh his appearance in Annu” (the twenty-fourth Assessor), than thepictureI refer to.[112]
And Chemunnu,⁂⁂⁂⁂, is surely not the Hermopolis of Egypt, but the placeof the Eight gods⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, four to the Left and four to the Right of the rising sun, who hail his coming and help him to rise; where Shu, according to the MSS. of the 17th Chapter, raises up the Sky, and where “the children of Failure,” (that is, shades of darkness) are exterminated. It is not simply of Hermopolis nor yet of Lake Moeris that one may say⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂‘it is the place of the Eight deities where Rāriseth’riseth’(Zeitschr., 1872, p. 8).
The same considerations apply to such names as those of Sutenhunen and Tattu.
The presence of the divine “Babe,” of the god “of long strides” (Rā), of the god “of Lion form,” of the goddess Bast, of Nefer-tmu, of the “Striker” (Ahi, a name of Horus), and of Nehebkau, not to mention others, among the Assessors, would of itself be sufficient to convince us that, in spite of the strange and terrific names of some of these personages, they are not to be looked upon as fiends, like Malacoda, Scarmiglione, and the rest of the demon crew in the Inferno of Dante. They are not evil spirits, but gods, all of them, “subsisting on righteousness;” there is “nothingwrongabout them.”[113]They are the gods who accompany Osiris, and, according to Egyptian theology, are his Names, his Limbs, his Body. If the names of some of them appear harsh or cruel, it is because strict Justice is inexorable, and Mercy is a quality never thought of in Egyptian theology.
The exact notion of Maāt in Egyptian texts is discussed in another part of the present work. In this chapter I have translated itRighteousness, because the question here is aboutmoral conduct: and conformity to the strict Rule of Right towards one’s fellow men, one’s own self and the heavenly powers is what is meant by Righteousness. And here it is opposed to moral transgression or sin, not to physical evil, which itself is a very frequent result from the operation of the inexorable Maāt.
But in the expression, “Hall of Righteousness,” the word in Egyptian is used in the dual number: hence the erroneous or inadequate translations, “the Two Truths,” or “Double Justice,” and the guesses which have been made as to their meaning.
A very important determinative of the Egyptian word is found not only in the papyri but in the very earliest mention yet known of the Hall. The great inscription of the tomb of Peher at El Kab, calls it the⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The repetition of the sign⁂indicates a locality in which the Sun-god ispresent, as in the cases of⁂,⁂,⁂⁂and many others. Space is divided into two parts; one on the Southern and one on the Northern side of the god as he proceeds on his course. And when we have for determinatives two Uræi⁂⁂, or two ostrich Feathers⁂⁂, wehave to understand two goddesses Maāt, one to the Left and onetotothe Right side of Osiris.
These goddesses are Isis and Nephthys, who play very conspicuous parts in a symbolism discussed in note 2 of the present chapter.
It would be well if evidence could be brought with equal facility to bear upon all the difficulties with which the chapter abounds. But though a very lively interest was attracted to it ever since Champollion quoted extracts from it in his Grammar, the difficulties with which he did not attempt to cope have only increased with our knowledge of the language and its scientific treatment. The text is extremely doubtful in many important parts, the forty-two sins are not the same in all the manuscripts, and they are not assigned to the jurisdiction of the same gods. So important a papyrus as that of Sutimes omits some sins of which an Egyptian would certainly be expected to give an account. The same word is made to appear with different meanings in the same passage of the papyri when they are compared together. And there are not a few important words of which the meaning was first only guessed at by the first translators, but has been retained without sufficient warrant by their successors. The present translation is presented under the full consciousness of all its imperfections, and of the difficulties which have yet to be overcome before a version can be called satisfactory.
A very admirable contribution towards our acquaintance with the first part of the chapter was made as far back as 1866 by Dr. Pleyte in hisEtudes Egyptologiques. Since then other versions have appeared by MM. Devéria, Lefébure and Pierret.
The Demotic text of the chapter, first published by Brugsch, and now more recently, with a complete translation, by M. Revillout, is in itself most interesting, but written, as it is, in the days of imperial Rome, cannot always be appealed to as to an authoritative exposition of the ancient text.
1.The Day of searching examinationor reckoning. The word⁂⁂⁂has to be compared with the Copticⲕⲱϯin the sense ofsearch,enquiry, ζητεῖν, ζήτησις. This sense is derived from⁂⁂a circle(⁂⁂⁂sail round) and the notion of going completely round a thing and approaching it from all sides.
2.Thou[literallyhe] ofthe Pair of Eyes⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.[114]This title of Osiris is made clear by the 37th chapter, which begins with an invocation to theSister Pair of Goddesses, Merta⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,MertasignifyingTwo Eyes, and the divine Sister pair being Isis and Nephthys.
In vignettes of the chapter (see,e.g., Pl.XXXIIIandXXXIV, figs. 14 and 16 for instances) the two goddesses appear in human form with their brother Osiris within the naos where the judgment is delivered. It is not so easy to recognise them under the form⁂⁂which they have in the vignette ofPb.(see Pl.XXXI), or in the picture which is found in many papyri (e.g., those of Nebseni, Hunefer, Ani and the TurinTodtenbuch), wherein the cornice or top row of the decoration surmounting the forty-two judges has for central figure a man (Osiris) either supporting the Two Eyes or extending his hands above them (see Pl.XXXIV, fig. 14).
We have here a symbolism of such extreme importance as to justify a short excursus on the subject.
The Two Eyes⁂⁂are a most frequent symbol on all funereal monuments; on the most ancient coffins, such as those of Apaānchu, Antuf, Taka (Denkm., II, 98, 146, 147), Mentuhotep (Aelteste Texte, pl. 9 and 25), Sebak-āa (Gio. d’Athanasi, pl. 3) and Amamu, as on mummy cases generally, and on funereal tablets. Between the Eyes on many tablets we frequently find the sign⁂, and this is often followed by the sign of Water⁂or the Vase⁂, and very frequently by both. Very often we have two signs⁂, one by each Eye, and not less frequently a pair of jackals,⁂or⁂facing each other. No two tablets are exactly alike, but the meaning is always the same.
Nor is the meaning changed when the tablet is headed by the Winged Disk⁂or⁂even though the Eyes are not seen.Their place is supplied by two Uræi, sometimes crowned with the⁂and the⁂, insignia of Southern and Northern sovereignty.
On a fine tablet of the twelfth dynasty (Denkm., II, 136b), the sign⁂is attached to each Uræus, and this device is repeated on innumerable monuments.
According to another device the Two Eyes are represented within the Winged Disk (seee.g., Leemans,Mon., III,M., Pl. XVI).
“He of the Pair of Eyes” is always Osiris. But Osiris is a god “of many names,” as the Pyramid Texts show no less than the Book of the Dead, where in the seventeenth chapter he is identified with Tmu, Rā, the Bennu, Amsu and Horus, not to mention others, and where in the Scholia the Two Feathers, the Two Uræi, the Two Eyes and the Two Kites[115]are identified with the Sister pair Isis and Nephthys. And wherever these symbols occur inpairsIsis and Nephthys are meant, one for the right or northern side and the other for the left or southern. The same idea is conveyed under such forms as⁂,⁂, or⁂, and many others. Dr. Birch long ago (Zeitschr., 1877, p. 33) mentioned⁂⁂⁂as representing Osiris between his two sisters. Osiris is often represented as a living⁂, with eyes.
The royal crowns and their decorations, such as⁂,⁂,⁂,⁂, and⁂, abound in this symbolism.
The ancient coffin of Sebakāa at Berlin (Aelteste Texte, pl. 29), in the phrase⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, recognizes Isis as one of the Two Eyes. Down to the latest periods the Sisters were known as⁂⁂⁂,Eye of the Southernor Leftside(Isis), and⁂⁂⁂,Eye of the Northernor Rightside(Nephthys). On countless coffins and sarcophagi these goddesses are represented on opposite sides, in kneeling attitude, holding the⁂in their hands, like the equivalent Vultures of the North and South, with their claws, and the Uræi on their bodies.
The meaning of the sign⁂is well known. It is aring, and is applied to the circuit of the heavens made by the sun and other heavenly bodies. It is also applied to the yearly recurring flow of the Nile. It has numerically the signification of 10,000,000 or an indefinitely large number. As attached,⁂, to the sign of years⁂,⁂it meansEternity.
It is therefore an appropriate emblem of Osiris, the Lord of Years,⁂⁂⁂⁂,annosus,⁂⁂⁂theKing of Eternity.
The sign ofWater⁂, and theVase⁂, are also emblems of Osiris, one of whose names isWater of Renewal. A chapter of the Pyramid Texts, Teta, 176, Pepi I, 518, which begins by saying that Seb has given to the departed (identified with Osiris) the Two Eyes ofthat Great One,[116]and has done that through Horus who recognizes his father, proceeds after this to say: “He renews thee in thy name of⁂⁂⁂⁂, Water of Renewal.”
I cannot say if theVase⁂is a mere appendage to theWater, but if it is not it most probably was meant to contain the⁂, the divine and life-givingSapflowing from Osiris, which is mentioned in another Pyramid Text (Pepi I, 33), also speaking of theWater of Renewal, as a name of Osiris.
The goddesses Isis and Nephthys as mythological figures represent not merely the Light at Dawn and Sunset, but the Light thrown out right and left by the Sun in his entire course, whether in the heavens or in the Netherworld.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “he lightens up the earth with his two eyes,” an expression most frequent in the texts, is not confined to special moments, though it is said of these emphatically.
In all that has been said thus far, the Two Eyes have been considered as acting conjointly and discharging one and the same function. When they are distinguished one from the other as acting in different ways the symbolism is altered.
The ancient scholion on the 17th Chapter speaks of the Right Eye of Rā, and the more recent scholion of the papyri speaks of theEye as being in pain and weeping for its sister⁂⁂⁂. The Egyptian name for the Eye is here⁂⁂⁂⁂ut’ait. The frequent expression⁂⁂meansfull moon, and is constantly identified with the fifteenth day of the month⁂. The moon is in these texts called theLeft Eye⁂⁂, and Osiris is said to unite with her (or with her sister) in order to renew her revolution⁂⁂⁂⁂. And of the Eye it is said that ‘she renews her revolution on the fifteenth day’⁂⁂⁂⁂, and the god (Osiris) makes her full of hergloryorsplendour(⁂⁂⁂⁂)or what she requires,⁂⁂=⁂⁂⁂⁂. This explains the symbol⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂which is seen on certain tablets.
But what is the meaning of the passage at the end of Part I of this chapter—“when the Eye is full in Annu, on the last day of Mechir”⁂⁂⁂⁂, an expression which is repeated in the title of Chapter 140? The moon, which is always represented as full on the fifteenth of the month, cannot be full on the thirtieth. It must be the other Eye, the Sun. Now we know what is meant by the Full Moon, the Plenilunium, but what is the Full Sun?
M. de Rougé, in his commentary on the 17th Chapter, gave the key to this, by pointing out that the 30th Mechir was the last day of the sixth month of the year; that is the 180th day after the first of Thoth, which is supposed to coincide with the Summer Solstice. It is therefore at the time of theWinterSolstice that the Eye is said to be full. The inaccuracy, of course, arises from the length of the Egyptian year. But there can be no doubt that the time of the Winter Solstice is meant.
In the year 1470B.C.the Egyptian year began on July 20, and the 30th Mechir coincided with January 15 of the Julian calendar.
If the Eye (considered as the Sun) is said to befullat the Winter Solstice, it was most probably spoken of in the same way not only at the Summer Solstice, but also at the two Equinoxes. And this is the most probable reason why in the pictures representing the Four Rudders of Heaven (North, South, East and West)an Eye⁂is attached to each rudder. (See Vignettes of Chapter 148.)
The Two Eyes, considered as Sun and Moon, are attributed not only to Rā and Osiris, but to gods identified with these. Of the two passages which have been most frequently quoted, “Thy Right Eye is the Sun⁂⁂⁂and thy left is the Moon⁂⁂,” “His Right Eye is the Sun and his left is the Moon,” the first is addressed to Ptah (in the Pap. Berlin, VII, l. 42), and the second, which occurs on the Neapolitan Stele, is really addressed to Osiris as god of Suten-hunen, under the form of the Ram-headed deity Her-śefit. Reference is made towards the end of the inscription to the “divine Eyes which are in Suten-hunen.”
Horus according to the Pyramid Texts has two eyes, a Light one and a Dark one. But the “Eye of Horus” is most frequently spoken of in the singular number. It is certainly meant for the Sun, and the name of it is given to cakes and ale, wine, corn, oil, honey, and all the good things which come to maturity through the beneficent god: who has in himself all the attributes of ‘Ceres and Bacchus.’
I must bring this long note to an end with one or two observations.
Many goddesses will be found bearing the title of Eye of Rā. There is not one of these who is not identified with Isis or Nephthys, who are in fact one, and personify the Light of the Sun.
Shu and Tefnut, who are brother and sister, play the same parts as the two goddesses.
There is a picture, which appears in the vignette of Chapter 17 in most of the papyri of the second and later periods, of twomaledeities bearing the Eyes over their heads (see Pl.XXXV). If the beards upon their chins are not a mistake,[117]copied from one papyrus upon another, they must represent not Isis and Nephthys but the two Rehu⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂Rā and Thoth, Sun and Moon, instead of the⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
It is important to note that if Sun and Moon are Eyes of Osiris or Rā or Ptah, the deity is not to be confounded with them: they are but manifestations of himself.
3.Kindred,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The sign of plurality does not here, any more than in Chapter 1, necessarily imply more than one person. The crime in question is one to which men are easily tempted in certain stages of society. Abimelech, in the book of Judges (ix, 5), “slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubbaal.” Jephthah had to “flee from the face of his brethren.” Absalom had his brother Amnonassassinatedassassinated, and all the king’s sons fled in fear of sharing the same fate. Solomon put to death his elder brother Adonijah. Athaliah, the queen mother, “destroyed all the seed royal” of Judah. The annals of eastern[118]and even western[119]nations are full of such occurrences. But, in positions less exalted than that of claimants to royalty, ambition or covetousness are motives to crimes like that of the wicked uncle of ‘the Babes in the Wood.’[120]The reading⁂⁂⁂⁂, which has for determinative the sign⁂ofsmallness, seems to indicate that the victims of the crime areminors, perhapswards.
Some of the papyri (even that of Nebseni) have acalf,⁂, as determinative of the word, and as the ‘slaying of calves’ is not necessarily a crime, other scribes have added⁂⁂, ‘sacred,’ and thus made the sin one of sacrilege.
The same word, like the Greek μόσχος and the Latinpullus, might be applied to the young of all kinds of animals; but the Egyptian scribes have in such cases a propensity to use a determinative which forces a wrong sense upon the word.
4.Instead of truth,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. There are two ways according to which this expression may be translated, but only one of them can be the right one.⁂⁂⁂is a compound preposition,instead of,in loco,anstatt,au lieu de,بمنزلة. And this is evidently the right construction. If⁂be taken as the simple preposition governing⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the meaning will be that the deceased did not “tell liesin the cemetery.” The Pyramid Texts (Unas, 394) have the expression⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂(sic), “Right instead of Wrong.”
5.This is only an approximate version of a passage, the true text of which was lost at an early period. M. Maspero (Origines, p. 189) understands it as follows:“Je n’ai jamais imposé du travail à l’homme libre quelconque, en plus de celui qu’il faisait pour luimême!”The last words are the translation of⁂⁂⁂, according toTd.(tomb of Ramses IV) all the other ancient texts having⁂, ‘for me.’ But the chief difficulties occur at the beginning of the sentence.
6.Shorten the palm’s length,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Many papyri read⁂, which is a superficial measure, more in place under the next precept.
7.The fields’ measure,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
8.The beam of the balance,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The tongue[ratherplummet]of the balance,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The balance is so frequently represented in false perspective by Egyptian artists, that Sir J. G. Wilkinson has given an account of it, which is quite unintelligible to those who have ever so moderate a knowledge of statics. Mr. Petrie’s description is the true one. “The beam was suspended by a loop or ring from a bracket projecting from the stand.... Then below the beam, a long tongue was attached, not above the beam as with us. To test the level of the beam, a plummet hung down the tongue, and it was this plummet which was observed to see if the tongue was vertical and the beam horizontal.”—A Season in Egypt, p. 42.
In Pl.XXXVI, a few pictures will be found which give a morecorrect notion of the Egyptian balance than some of the absurd representations which defy a scientific explanation.
It is evident that if the tongue is fastened at a wrong angle, the beam will not really be horizontal when the tongue is shown by the plummet line to be vertical. This seems to be the fraud alluded to in the text.
The word⁂⁂,⁂⁂, the name given to the plummet, apparently signifies a cupfullof liquid. It is etymologically identical with⁂⁂⁂⁂,a toper(ⲑⲁϧⲓ,ϯϩⲉ,ebrius,ebrietas),⁂⁂⁂,ⲧⲓϧⲓ,a crane, and⁂⁂⁂the crane-god, Thoth.
The apparatus of which the plummet forms so important a part, whether for the balance or for building purposes, is called⁂⁂⁂(Denkm., III, 26),⁂⁂.
9.The manors of the gods,⁂⁂⁂. I understand⁂⁂as property acquired by royal grant. Aâhmes at El Kab says that he hasacquired(⁂⁂⁂⁂)much land through the royal bounty. The deceased in the later copies of the Book of the Dead (Ch. 1, 24), acquires the allotment of land,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, in the Garden of Aarru, and Ani (Pl. III) acquires “a permanent allotment(⁂⁂⁂)in the Garden of Hotepit like the followers of Horus.”
10.Ponds.The right reading is⁂⁂⁂, as Birch already noted in hisDictionary, from the excellent papyrusAoof the XVIIIth dynasty.
Hieratic papyri also give the determinative⁂.
The determinative⁂which some of the papyri give to the word, and which is a self-evident blunder, is probably copied either from⁂, or from⁂. The sign⁂, and a man striking with an instrument, which also occur, are mere symbols of the operation by which eitherquarries, orponds, arecut.
11.Thou of the Nose, or ratherBeak,⁂⁂⁂⁂, in allusion to one of the chief characteristic features of the Ibis god (πρόσωπον ἐς τὰ μάλιστα ἐπίγρυπον;Herodotus, II, 76, in his description of the bird). Thoth, the god of Chemunnu, is meant by this appellative.
He is so called,⁂⁂⁂, on the statue of the King Horus in the Museum of Turin (l. 8), and⁂⁂⁂on the very much more ancient altar, of the VIth dynasty, belonging to the same museum. The same appellative[121]is found in the list of gods upon each of the Memphite cubits described by Lepsius.[122]
12.Eater of the Shadow.The Demotic version interprets this of “his own shadow.” I am rather inclined to interpret it by “the gnomons which were without shadows at noon,” and the “well of Syene” (Strabo, 817) at the Summer Solstice; when the Sun was vertical.
13.Thou of Lion form,⁂⁂⁂⁂. The Demotic has “Shu and Tefnut.” But as there are only forty-two gods in all, we must here think of a single god with a lion’s head, as in such pictures asWilkinson, III, Pl. XLIX;Denkm., III, 276, and many sarcophagi (e.g., Leemans,Mon., III, L, Pl. III).
Even some of the Theban papyri have two divinities by way of determinatives to the group.
14.Sluggish,⁂⁂⁂;⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂,sluggishness. Copticϭⲛⲁⲩ. See my note (Proc. Soc. Bib. Arch., XI, p. 76) on the Inscription of Kum el Ahmar.
There are however other readings; none of them apparently of any value.
15.Thou of the Bright Teeth,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The Demotic equivalent is, “who openeth his teeth,” and so exhibits their brightness.
16.Âati,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, a name about which the copyists have bungled. It is one of the names of Râ in the Solar Litany, where it appears (l. 23) as⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, or⁂⁂. Whether applied to the Sun, to the Fish of the name, or to a Ship, the name meansCutter, ‘that which cleaves’ its way.
17.Ṭuṭu,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, with many variants, showing that the scribes did not understand the sense of the syllable⁂⁂, some of them adding the bird of evil⁂, others the⁂determinative ofmountain. The name on the Sarcophagus of Seti (Bon. II, A. 30) has a snake for determinative, and some papyri call himṬuṭu. The god may be recognised in later texts. In the Calendar of Esneh there is a feast on the 14th day of Thoth, in honour of⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Tutu, ‘the son of Neith,’ and the text gives the important determinative⁂, of aserpent,worm, orslug. I feel sure, therefore, that we should in the text read the name Tutu, and consider⁂as a determinative.[123]The symbolism would then be identical with that in Pl.XXIII, illustrative of Chapter 87. The Sun-god there rises up like a worm out of the Lotus of Dawn, whereas in another picture a slug (⁂) is seen moving upon the flower.
⁂⁂,Ati, where the god makes his appearance, is the name of the ninth Nome of Lower Egypt.
18.I trouble myself only with my own affairs.I understand this of the virtue spoken of by Cicero (de Officiis, I, 34),“nihil praeter suum negotium agere, nihil de alieno anquirere, minimeque esse in aliena republica curiosum.”It is the same to which Plato refers in theTimaeus, 72 A; εὖ καὶ πάλαι λέγεται τὸ πράττειν καὶ γνῶναι τὰ τε ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἑαυτὸν σώφρονι μόνῳ προσήκειν, not in the sense of a selfish indifference to a neighbour’s welfare or the public good, but in opposition to the ways of the busybodies, who tattle and “speak things which they ought not” (1 Tim., v, 13).
The Egyptian⁂⁂⁂is a rare word. Brugsch’s etymology of it is an impossible one, and his identification of it withϣⲱⲥⲙis not less unfortunate.
19.Amu, orAmit,⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂. This seems to be the favourite reading. It means thetown of Palm. But, as the name was written ideographically, it appears in some copies as the town of other trees, such asNehait, orNārit.
Amu was a place in the north of Egypt, which Brugsch thinkshe has identified with a town called Apis (the site of which is itself doubtful).
The most interesting thing known about Amu (Dümichen,Rec. de M., IV, Pl. XV, 90a), is that in the rites performed on the 16 Choiak, Horus is represented as raising up the body of Osiris out of the water in the form of a crocodile; and that Osiris was known under the name of⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,The Crocodile, Lord of Amu.
The 142nd chapter of the Book of the Dead, which gives a list of the names of Osiris, has (l. 17) that of⁂⁂, ‘Osiris of Crocodile form,’ or ‘with Crocodile head.’[124]The variants of this group, however, show the reading⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘king,’ or⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘of kingly form.’ There is but little doubt that (as M. Naville says,Zeitschr., 1882, p. 190)⁂⁂⁂⁂on the Turin tablet published by Professor Piehl, means ‘King of the gods,’ and that Ptahhotep in the Prisse papyrus (IV, 1) addresses not Osiris, but King Assa as ‘my Lord the King,’ Goodwin had already asserted this meaning in his “Story of Saneha,” and in theZeitschr., 1874, p. 38.
The orthography of the crocodile name here played upon is remarkably vague,⁂⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂, and⁂⁂⁂(rapax, Louvre, C, 26). It is this last form which enables us to see the paranomasia in⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,rapax sicut Raptor(crocodilus) of the Prisse papyrus (VII, 6), and brings the word into connection withȧta, orȧti, ‘he who is seized’ of the Sovereignty (seesupra, Ch. 40,note 10).
20.Chemiu,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘one who overthrows.’ His appearance is made atKauu,⁂⁂⁂⁂, the Canobic entrance to the Nile, which the Libyan invaders had taken possession of in the time of Rameses III (GreatHarris Pap., 77, 2).
Thetransgressionhere disavowed is understood by some of the scribes as a violation of ritual precepts, such as those regarding sacred seasons.
21.Who raisest thy voice...words of Righteousness,⁂⁂⁂⁂is an attribute assigned to Isis in the Hymn to Osiris (line 14) on the Stele of Amenemhait in the Bibliothèque Nationale; and it is there further defined through the addition of the words⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘withclearnessof utterance’ (cf.Ch. 1, note 2). One of the chief names of Isis is⁂⁂⁂⁂‘Mighty in Words of Power.’ She is also described in the Hymn as ‘Most potent of tongue(⁂⁂⁂⁂)and unfailing of speech.’[125]
Her nameUrit ḥekaitmay have suggested the nameUritas the place of her manifestation. But we do not know ifUritis to be taken as the name of a town or if some papyri are correct in reading⁂⁂⁂, which may meantribunal.
There were in ancient Egyptsixgreat courts of justice,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
A High Priest of Ptah of Memphis, named Ptahmes, in the early part of the eighteenth dynasty, who was President of these six Courts,[126]has left a very remarkable attestation relative to the 24th Precept, on a beautiful scribe’s palette in basalt (Louvre,Inv., 3026). The inscription, after saying that the whole country was subject to the jurisdiction of Ptahmes, proceeds⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. “He turned not a deaf ear to the truth, through the terrors of his Eye;” that is, “the terrors of his Eye” were not used for the perversion of Justice. But what is meant by his “Eye”? M. Pierret (in hisInscr. inédites du Louvre, pt. 1, p. 96) suggested the ‘Eye of Horus.’ I think it has referenceto the position of Ptahmes as⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. He was ‘the King’s Eye,’ ὁ βασιλέως ὀφθαλμός,[127]and had in consequence, an unlimited power of defeating justice had he been so inclined.
It is only by a blunder[128]that the papyrus of Ani makes⁂⁂⁂⁂(the nineteenth Nome of Upper Egypt) the scene of the divine Babe’s manifestation, which is unquestionably Heliopolis. The name of the Nome has numerous variants, but they always consist of two signs,a crooked staff(⁂,⁂,⁂,⁂)either double or witha twisted cord(⁂,⁂,⁂,⁂), and the final sound of the name (when expressed) is in⁂,⁂. The key to the phonetic reading of the name of the Heliopolitan Nome is to be found in the inscription at Edfu (J. de Rougé,Edfou, pl. 46);⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Here thecrookof the name is identified with thecrookandflail⁂⁂⁂⁂ams,⁂⁂⁂ȧms,⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂emsitof Osiris, who is called in the Book of the Dead (Todt., 142, 9)⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,theAugust Dismembered[129]one of the Powers of Annu. And this is how, in the important papyrusPc, we find⁂⁂⁂in Ch. 17 as the equivalent of⁂⁂⁂⁂, a few words after, in the same papyrus. Both groups are to be readȧmsu; which meansfurnished with the crook(or sceptre)and flail,⁂⁂or⁂.[130]
22.Hot of foot⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The Copticⲟⲩⲉⲙϩⲏⲧ,poenitentiam agere, would be the natural representative of⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, but the meanings of the terms cannot be the same. The latter is expressive of a passion, the indulgence in which may be laudable in the gods and yet blameworthy in men. For the divine wrath is necessarily just; whereas human anger, even when it seems to listen to reason, listens, as the philosopher says, but imperfectly.[131]
The 29th god,Kenemta,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, has also for determinative the sign⁂of a cynocephalus. This is explained by his identity with the constellation which occupies the whole month of Thoth in the list of the Decans. But though the name means ‘in Ape form,’ the word⁂⁂⁂in the Pyramid Texts (Pepi i, 408, and Merira 579) is used in the sense of ‘vested,’ ‘clad,’ perhaps simply ‘covered.’
Brugsch has identified the localityKenemitwith the Great Oasis at Khargeh. It may be asked if the Oasis bore this name at the time when this chapter was composed. The determinative⁂proves nothing beyond the actual sense of the word, but it suggests that theDarkmay be a sufficient translation. From the etymology I should like to assimilate it to the ποικιλείμων νὺξ of thePrometheus Vinctus, or to the‘furvo circumdata peplo’of the Latin poet.