Chapter CL.

PLATE LIV.

Chapter CL.

Notes.

This is not a separate chapter: it stands to 149 as 16 to 15. It consists of the vignettes accompanying Chapter 149, and it is the end of many papyri. Curiously, there are fifteen domains instead of fourteen, one of them, the fifth, seems to have been divided into two.

At the corner of the picture are four serpents, which I consider as the four cardinal points.

Taking the domains in the same order as in the preceding text, we find them named in the following way in the papyrusAa:—

1. The good Amenta, the gods within which live onshensandtuloaves.

2. The garden of Aarru; the god in it is Rā.

3. The domain of the glorious ones.

4. The high and lofty mountain.

5. The basin, the fire of which is a blazing flame; the front of the fire, the god in it is the bearer of altars.

6. Amemhet, the god in it is he who knocks down the fishes.

7. Asset.

8. Hasert, the god in it is the bearer of heaven.

9. Akset, the god in it is Maatetf.

10. The face of the Kahu gods.

11. Aat, the god in it is Sothis.

12. The domain of Unt, the god in it is the destroyer of souls.

13. The surface of the water, the god in it is the mighty power.

14. The domain of Cher-āba, the god in it is the Nile.

CHAPTER CLI.

(a) Words of Anubis.

Thy right eye is in the Sektit boat, thy left eye is in the Âtit boat. Thy eyebrows are with(1) Anubis, thy fingers are with Thoth, thy locks are with Ptah Sokaris; they prepare for thee a good way, they smite for thee the associates of Sut.

(b) Said by Isis. I have come as thy protector,N., with the breath coming forth from Tmu. I shall strengthen for thee thythroat. I give thee to be like a god. I will put all thy enemies under thy feet.

(c) Said by Nephthys. I go round my brother OsirisN.I have come as thy protector. I am myself behind thee for ever, hearing when thou art addressed by Rā, and when thou art justified by the gods. Arise, thou art justified through all that has been done for thee. Ptah has smitten thy enemies; thou art Horus the son of Hathor. It has been ordered what should be done for thee. Thy head will not be taken away from thee for ever.

(d) Words of the figure of the Northern wall.

He who cometh to enchain, I shall not let him enchain thee. He who cometh to throw bonds, I shall not let him throw bonds on thee. I am here to throw bonds on thee. I am here to enchain thee; but I am thy protector.(2)

(e) Words of the Tat of the Western wall.

Come in haste, and turn away the steps ofKep-her. Bring light into his hidden abode. I am behind Tat, I am verily behind Tat, on the day when the slaughter is repelled. I am the protector ofN.(3)

(f) Words of the flame of the Southern wall.

I have spread sand around the hidden abode, repelling the aggressor that I might throw light on the mountain. I have illuminated the mountain. I have turned the direction of the sword. I am the protector ofN.(4)

(g) Said by Anubis in his divine hall, the lord of Ta-Tsert. I keep watch over thy head. Awake, thou on the mountain. Thy wrath is averted. I have averted thy furious wrath. I am thy protector.(5)

(h) The two figures of the soul, with raised hands.

The living soul, the powerful Chu ofN.worships the sun when he ariseth on the Eastern horizon of the sky.

The living soul ofN.adoreth Rā, when he setteth in the land of the living, on the Western horizon of the sky.

(i) Words of the two statuettes.(6)

O statuette 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, to plant fields, to water the soil, to convey the sand from East to West; here am I, whithersoever thou callest me.

Words of the genii of the four cardinal points.

(k) I am Kebehsenuf. I have come to be thy protector. I have joined thy bones. I have strengthened thy limbs. I have brought thee thy heart and put it in its place, into thy body. I will cause thy house to prosper after thee.

(l) I am Hapi thy protector. I have revived thy head and thy limbs. I have smitten thy enemies under thee. I give thee thy head for ever.

(m) I am Tuamautef. I am thy son Horus, I have come, and I rescue my father from the evil doer, whom I put under thy feet.

(n) I am Emsta. I have come, I am thy protector. I cause thy house to prosper permanently, according to the command of Ptah, according to the command of Rā himself.

Notes.

With Chapter 151 begins a series of texts written either on the walls of the funeral chamber or on the mummy cloth, or on various amulets. This series goes as far as 160, with the exception of 152 and 153, which have been inserted there without any apparent reason.

Chapter 151 is not so much a text as a picture. It represents the funeral chamber. The four walls, which should be vertical, are drawn lying flat on the ground. In the middle of the chamber, under a canopy, is the mummy, on which Anubis lays his hands; under the bed is a bird with a human head, the symbol of the soul of the deceased. We must suppose that the god Anubis is a priest, or a member of the family, who has put on a jackal’s head, and who pronounces the words said to be those of the god. At the foot of the bed are the two goddesses Isis and Nephthys.

Each of the four walls had a small niche of the exact size of an amulet, which was lodged in it. We know it from the four oriented steles of Marseilles (Naville,Les quatre stèles orientées du Musée de Marseille), where we find the text belonging to each wall,and also the niche cut in the stone for each amulet. On the North was a human figure, on the South a flame, on the East a jackal, on the West a Tat.

In the chamber were four so-called canopic vases, with the gods of the four cardinal points, each of whom has his words to say. Besides these were statuettes calledshabtiorushabti, the helpers of the deceased in his work in the Elysian fields. In the papyrus London, 10010 (Af.), from which this chapter is translated, one of them has the usual appearance, the other the head of Anubis.

The soul of the deceased is supposed to be in the chamber, and to worship the rising and the setting sun.

Very few papyri have this chapter as complete asAf., which is taken here as standard for text and vignettes, but there are fragments of it here and there. The Turin version is much shorter than the old one. The papyrus ofNu(ed. Budge) contains the texts of the four walls with rubrics very similar to those of the steles in Marseilles. They form a special chapter joined to 137A, with the title:What is done secretly in the Tuat, the mysteries of the Tuat, the introduction into the mysteries of the Netherworld.

In order to facilitate the understanding of the chapter, I have lettered the words spoken by the various figures.

1.Renouf would have translated (see Chapter 42), thy eyebrows arethose ofAnubis; but the following chapter shows that we have to translatewithAnubis, which should mean here, under the protection of Anubis.

2.The rubrics say the figure is made of palm wood, and is seven fingers high.

3.The rubric of this Tat is the following:said on a Tat of crystal, the branches of which are of gold. It is folded up in fine linen.

There is another chapter of the Tat put on the neck of the deceased (Chapter 155), the words of which are totally different.

4.According to the rubric, the flame is a torch made of reeds⁂⁂⁂⁂(Loret).

5.The Anubis was made of clay.

6.Words engraved on the funerary statuettes called⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, an abridged form of Chapter 6, for which I take Renouf’s translation.

CHAPTER CLIAbis.

Said by Anubis Amut, in his divine hall, when he puts his hands over the body ofN., and provides him with all that belongs to him.

Hail to thee, beautiful face, lord of sight, sacred eye lifted up by Ptah Sokaris, raised by Anubis, and to which Shu has given its stand.

Beautiful face, which art among the gods, thy right eye is in the Sektit boat, thy left eye is in the Âtit boat; thy eyebrows are a pleasant sight among the gods. Thy front is in the protection of Anubis, thy back is pleasant to the venerable hawk. Thy fingers(1) are well preserved in writing before the lord of Hermopolis, Thoth, the giver of written words. Thy locks are beautified before Ptah Sokaris.

N.is welcome among the gods; he sees the great god, he is led on the good roads, he is presented with funerary offerings, his enemies are beaten down under him in the house of the Prince of Heliopolis(2).

Notes.

The words spoken by Anubis in Chapter 151 have been taken out and made into a special chapter, which in papyrus London, 9900 (Aa) occurs in two different forms. I called them CLIAbisand CLIAter, the second one being only an abridgement of the first. Vignettes and titles are not the same for these two chapters. That translated, CLIAbis, is the longest of the two. The title of the other one is: theChapter of the Mysterious Head, and the vignette thereof consists of a mummy’s head.

In comparing this chapter with the words of Anubis we had before, we find the explanation of expressions like this: thy eyebrows are with Anubis.

1.⁂. This word has always been translatedfingers, a sense which is evidently wrong in this place, where parts of the head only are mentioned, and when one would expect the hair or the beard.

I suppose that this obscure sentence means that since everything in him is divine the design or colour of his fingers (?) was taken from the books of Thoth.

2.Seenote 8on Chapter 1.

CHAPTER CLII.

The Chapter of building a house(1)on earth.

O rejoice, Seb,N.has been set in motion with his vital power ... he has given to men and gods their creative strength.

There is cheering, when it is seen that Seshait(2) has come towards Seb; when Anubis has commanded toN.: build a house on earth, the foundations of which be like On, and the circuit like Cher-ābā; let the god of the sanctuary be in the sanctuary. I also decree that it should contain the sacrificial victim, brought by slaves, and held up by ministrants.

Said by Osiris to the gods in his following: come hastily, and see the house which has been built for the glorified, the well equipt, who cometh every day. Look at him, hold him in awe, and give him praise, which is well pleasing to him.

(3)You see what I have done myself, I the great god who cometh every day. Look ye, Osiris brings me cattle, the south wind brings me grain, the north wind brings me barley as far as the end of the earth.

I have been exalted by the mouth of Osiris(4), applause surrounds him(5) on his left and on his right.

Look ye, men, gods, and Chus, they applaud him, they applaud him, and I am well pleased.

Notes.

The text here translated is that of the Papyrus ofNu, with a few variants taken from contemporary texts.

1.The⁂⁂here mentioned is the abode of the⁂, where it is worshipped and receives offerings. In the vignette of Pap. Busca (Ik), the plan of this abode is like the funerary constructions discovered at Nagadah and Abydos.

2.The goddess⁂is often connected with building (Chapter 52).

3.Here the deceased begins to speak himself.

4.I translate⁂⁂the beating in measure as the musicians do, the regular applause so often heard in the East.

5.The person changes, as is often the case in such texts. The deceased speaks of himself in the third person.

PLATE LV.

CHAPTER CLIIIA.

The Chapter of coming out of the net.(1)

O he who turns backwards, mighty of heart, who spreads his net before him, who entereth the earth! O you the fishermen sons of their fathers(2), who go round in the midst of the stream, you will not catch me in your net, in which you catch the disabled, and you will not carry me away in your canvas, in which you take away the evil ones in the earth; the frame of which reaches the sky, and the weights of which are on the earth.

For I will come out of its meshes and shine like Hunnu (Sokaris). I will come out of its bars(3) and shine like Sebak. I shall fly against you like a fisher whose fingers(4) are hidden.

I know the fork(5) which belongs to it. It is the great finger of Hunnu (Sokaris). I know the stake(6); it is the leg of Nemu(7). I know its pointed head, it is the hand of Isis. I know the name of its blade; it is the knife of Isis with which she cut the meat for Horus.

I know the name of the frame and of the weights. They are the feet and the legs of the Sphinx(8).

I know the name of the ropes with which fishing is done; they are the bonds of Tmu.

I know the names of the fishermen who are fishing. They are the worms(9), the ancestors of the blood drinkers(10), who pour their flow on my hands, when the great god the lord listens to the words in Heliopolis, in the night of the 15th of the month(11), in the temple of the moon.

I know the marked space(12) in which they are enclosed. It is the soil of iron on which the gods stand.

I know the name of the divine supervisor who takes hold of the fishes, and marks them on the tail. He is the supervisor of the divine property.

I know the name of the table on which he lays them (the fishes); it is the table of Horus.

He sits alone in the night; nobody sees him; the future ones(13) see him, and the present ones give him their acclamations.

I shine like Horus; I govern the land, and I go down to the landin the two great boats. Horus introduces me into the house of the Prince(14).

I have come as a fisher; the fork has been given into my hand; my blade is in my hand, my knife is in my hand. I come forth; I go round about, and I entangle in my net.

I know the name of the fork which closes the mouths vomiting (fire?). It is the great finger of Osiris.

The fingers (prongs) which hold fast, they are the fingers of the ancestors of Rā, the claw of the ancestor of Hathor.

I know the strings which are on this fork, they are the bonds of the lord of mankind.

I know the name of the stake; the thigh of Nemu. Its point is the hand of Isis, its coil, the cord of the first-born god, its cordage the rope of Rā.

I know the name of the fishermen who are fishing; they are the worms, the ancestors of Rā, the creatures(15), the ancestors of Seb.

When what thou eatest is brought to thee, what I eat is brought to me. Thou eatest what is eaten by Seb and Osiris.

O(16) thou who turnest backwards, mighty of heart, who fishes and entangles him who enters the earth; O you fishers, sons of their fathers, and ye fowlers who are in Nefer-sent; you will not catch me in your nets, and you will not entangle me in your meshes, wherein you catch the disabled, and where you catch those who are in the earth; for I know it (the net), its frame above, and its weights below. Behold, I come, my stake is in my hand; the point is in my hand, the blade is in my hand.

I come, I arrive to my ... (?) I have come myself; I have come to bind it, to put it in its place. My knife is sharpened. I put it in its place.

The stake which is in my hand is the thigh of Nemu; the fork which is in my hand is the fingers of Sokaris; this point which is in my hand is the claws of Isis; the blade which is in my hand is the knife of Nemu.

Behold I have come, I sit in the boat of Rā, I sail on the lake of Cha(17) and on the lake of the Northern sky.

I hear the words of the gods. I do what they are doing, I give praises to their persons, I live as they live.

N.appears on the ladder which was made for him by his father Rā, when Horus and Sut take hold of him.

Notes.

In the Theban version the Chapter of the Net is divided into two, 153Aand 153B, which have different titles and different vignettes. 153Ais called the “Chapter of coming out,” or, as might be translated, “of escaping from the net.” The vignettes represent a clap-net, used for waterfowl. The second Chapter is called “the Chapter of escaping from those who catch⁂⁂⁂⁂,” which, from the etymology, might be translatedfoulorfetid fish. There the vignette represents a drag-net containing fishes, and drawn by apes.

It is probable, one may suppose, that originally one Chapter referred to the fowlers, the⁂⁂⁂⁂, who use the clap-net, and the other to the fishermen, the⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, who use the drag-net. But in the form in which these Chapters appear in the three best texts where they have been preserved, London, 9900 (Aa), Paris, III, 93 (Pb.), and the papyrus ofNu, fowlers and fishermen are mixed together.

The text of 153Ais very corrupt, and seems to differ greatly from the original. The variants between the chief documents are considerable, and show that the understanding of it was nearly lost. It probably had two different versions, which have been cast into one, since after the first two-thirds it begins over again and nearly repeats itself.

The Turin text contains only 153A, and that even much shorter, but it is followed by a rubric, which is absent from the Theban version.

The translation is made from the three above-named documents.

The vignette of 153A, in the papyrus III, 93, of the Louvre (Pb), shows a clap-net drawn by four men. Behind it comes the deceased, holding in his hand two instruments mentioned in the text: the⁂and the⁂, called⁂⁂⁂⁂or⁂⁂⁂each of them consists of different parts having a distinct name.

In the papyrus ofNuthe deceased is seen drawing the rope of the net.

In the vignette of London, 9900 (Aa), he is supposed to do the same.

1.Among the dangers to which the deceased is exposed is that of being caught in a net by hidden genii, who will treat him as is done to water-fowl or fishes. But he escapes from this peril, because he knows the names of the fowlers and fishermen who intend to attack him, and also of the net itself, and of the various parts of which it consists. All these names are mystical; they are connected with some divinity, and this gives them a magical power, owing to which the deceased can make his escape.

2.I suppose this means fishermen, sons of fishermen.

3.Litt. the hands: the bars, the sides of the frame of the net.

4.The fingers are often mentioned when we should say the hand. The act or the wound is attributed to the fingers. “Whose fingers are hidden,” means he who hides the hand with which he will strike.

5.⁂. The instrument in the hand of the deceased. Though the determinative is⁂, it does not necessarily mean that it is made of wood; it may be the determinative of weapons in general. It has prongs, which are compared to nails or claws, so that it probably is a weapon like the bident for spearing fishes, the tines of which are held together by a string (Wilkinson,Manners and Customs, 2nd edition, Vol. II, p. 107). Otherwise it is not unlike a netting needle (Wilkinson,loc. cit., p. 175). If it is a weapon, one does not very well understand why it is said to belong to the net.

6.The⁂⁂⁂⁂is evidently the stake or peg to which the end of the clap-net is fastened. But it must be noticed that in the vignette of London, 9900, this peg is a dagger.ThereforeThereforeone may speak of its pointed head⁂(Brugsch,Dict. Suppl., p. 85), and of its⁂⁂⁂, blade.

7.Nemu is perhaps a local name of Horus (Brugsch,Dict. geog., p. 71).

8.⁂⁂⁂. “The god in Lion form” (Renouf) is the name of the Sphinx (Sphinx, Vol. V, p. 193).

9.See Chapter 149,note 5.

10.We know from an inscription at Dendereh that the⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the drinkers, feast on blood,⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂(Brugsch,Dict. Suppl., p. 18).

11.The late recension of Chapter 153 ends here, and does not contain 153B. It is followed by this rubric:

Said on a figure of the deceased which is placed in a boat. Thou shalt put the Sektit boat on his right, and the Âtit boat on his left. Offerings will be made to him of cakes, beer, and all good things, on the day of the birth of Osiris. He to whom these things have been done will be a living soul for ever, and will not die a second time.

12.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. I consider this word as derived from⁂⁂⁂,⁂⁂⁂, which means to mark an object with a cut or with fire, for a religious purpose, or simply as an indication of property. A little further it is spoken of fishes⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂“marked on the tail.”

13.We have here the opposition between⁂⁂“those who are,” and⁂⁂“those who are not,” that is, those who are not yet, the future ones. The negative, which often expresses the idea of anteriority, is one of the usual ways of rendering the future; that which has not yet taken place, which is to come. An official of the XIIth dynasty says: “the king⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂made me his commissioner of works, having charge of present and future work” (Zeitschr., 1882, p. 8, note). It is said of Isis that “she issues her directions for what is and what will be”⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂(Stèle Metternich, Brugsch,Dict. Suppl., p. 355).

14.See Chapter 1,note 8.

15.⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. As they are sometimes mentioned before the gods, I believe the word might be translated, the first beings, the first creatures: “die Urwesen.”

16.Here begins the second version of the chapter which has been added to the other one.

17.⁂⁂⁂⁂. This lake is often mentioned in the texts of the pyramids. It is one of the celestial lakes not very distant from the Elysian fields.

PLATE LVI.

CHAPTER CLIIIB.

The Chapter of escaping from the catchers of fish.

O ye snarers (?), O ye fowlers, O ye fishers, sons of their fathers, know ye(1) what I do know, the name of this very great net: the embracer is its name.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its cordage: the bonds of Isis.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its stake: the thigh of Tmu.

Know ye what I do know, the name of the fork: the finger of Nemu.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its point: the nail of Ptah.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its blade: the knife of Isis.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its weight: the iron which is in the sky.

Know ye what I do know, the name of its flowers(2): the feathers of the hawk.

Know ye what I do know, the name of the fisherman: the cynocephalus.

Know ye what I do know, the name of the ground(3), where are its limits: the house of the moon.

Know ye what I do know, the name of him who fishes there: the great prince who sits on the east of the sky...(4).

I am Rā,(5) who proceedeth from Nu, and my soul is divine. I am he who produceth food, but I execrate what is wrong.

I am Osiris, the possessor of Maāt, and I subsist by means of it every day.

I am the eternal one, like the bull.(6) I am feared by the cycle of the gods in my name of the eternal one.

I am self-originating, together with Nu, in my name of Chepera, from whom I am born daily.

I am the lord of Daylight, and I shine like Rā; he gives me life in these his risings in the East.

I come to heaven, I take hold of my place in the East.

The children of the great god nourish him to whom they have given birth, with sacred offerings.

I eat like Shu. I ease myself like Shu. The king of Egypt(Osiris) is present. Khonsu and Thoth(7) their laws are within me. They impart warmth(8) to the heavenly host.

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