The Egyptian Book of the dead
protection to my flesh.
I shall not be grasped by my arms or seized by my hands.
Not men or gods, or the glorified ones or the damned; not generations
past, present, or future, shall inflict any injury upon me.
I am he who cometh forth and proceedeth, and whose name is unknown to
man.
I am Yesterday, “Witness of Eternity” is my Name: the persistent
traveller upon the heavenly highways which I survey. I am the
Everlasting one.
I am felt and thought of as Chepera. I am the Crowned one.
I am the Dweller in the Eye and in the Egg.
It is an attribute of mine that I live within them.
I am the Dweller in the Eye, even in its closing.
I am that by which it is supported.
I come forth and I rise up: I enter and I have life.
I am the Dweller in the Eye; my seat is upon my throne, and I sit
conspicuously upon it.
I am Horus, who steppeth onwards through Eternity.
I have instituted the throne of which I am the master.
As regards my mouth: whether in speech or in silence, I am right and
fair.
As regards my attributes: I hasten headlong, I the god Unen,[61] with
all that pertaineth to me, hour proceeding from hour, the One proceeding
from the One, in my course.
I am the Dweller in the Eye; no evil or calamitous things befall me.
It is I who open the gates of Heaven; it is I who am master of the
throne, and who open the series of births upon this day.
I am the Babe, who treadeth his path of Yesterday.
I am “This Day” to generation of men after generation.
I am he who giveth you stableness for eternity, whether ye be in heaven
or upon earth; in the South or in the North, in the West or in the
East—and the fear of me is upon you.
I am he who fashioneth with his eye, and who dieth not a second time.
A moment of mine belongeth to you, but my attributes belong to my own
domain.
I am the Unknown one, but the gods of Ruddy Countenance belong to me.
I am the Gladsome one, and no time hath been found, but served to create
for me the Heaven and the increase of Earth, and the increase of their
offspring.
They sever and join not—they sever my name from all evil things,
according to the words which I say unto you.
It is I who rise up and shine forth; strength proceeding from
strength(9.), the One proceeding from the One.
There is not a day devoid of that which belongeth to it; for ever and
for ever(10.).
I am Unbu,[62] who proceedeth from Nu, and my mother is Nut.
O thou who hast set me in motion(11.)! for I was motionless, a mighty
link within the close of Yesterday; my present activity is a link within
the close of my hand.
I am not known, but I am one who knoweth thee.
I am not to be grasped, but I am one who graspeth thee.
[Oh Dweller in the Egg! Oh Dweller in the Egg!]
I am Horus, Prince of Eternity, a fire before your faces, which
inflameth your hearts towards me.
I am master of my throne and I pass onwards. The present time is the
path which I have opened, and I have set myself free from all things
evil.
I am the golden Cynocephalus, three palms in height, without legs or
arms in the Temple of Ptah(12.); and my course is the course of the
golden Cynocephalus, three palms in height, without legs or arms in the
Temple of Ptah.
_Let these words be said—Âbabak ṭer-ek_(13.).
NOTES.
This chapter is in itself most interesting, and it is one of the most
important as illustrative of Egyptian mythology. It is impossible at
present to explain every detail, but the general drift of the chapter is
not to be mistaken. And the same drift is to be recognised in the whole
course of Egyptian religious literature from the beginning.
The speaker throughout identifies himself with the divinity whose
manifestation is the Sun; he is not the Sun of this or that moment but
of Yesterday, To-day and of all eternity, the “One proceeding from the
One.”
1. _Sutenḥenen._ The later texts say the “Netherworld.”
2. The _Babe_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, an appellative applied to the rising
Sun. _See_ Brugsch, _Rev._ II, pl. 71, 3, where this babe is
compared to the Lotus coming forth from the great stream
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The word signifies that which is “lifted up,” “un élève,” ⁂⁂⁂.
3. _Serpent Ab-ur_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The two important MSS. _Ca_
and _Pb_ seem to imply a female personage, but as the verb in connection
with the name is masculine the final ⁂ cannot be meant for a feminine
ending, and it is peculiar to those two MSS. _Ȧb-ur_ “the very thirsty,”
as the appellative of a viper, recalls that of the διψάς, whose bite
caused intense thirst. But it may have originated in the fact that these
reptiles are in the habit of lying in wait by the water side for the
sake of the animals who come there to drink.
4. _To soil_: ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is the type of the word in the earlier
texts. The late ones have the well known ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
5. _The Link_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂. Another appellative of the Sun god,
applied to Tmu and Horus in the oldest texts. The notion of ⁂ is
that of _concatenation_, _connecting_, _combining_, _fastening_,
_binding_, _setting in order together_, σύνταγμα, σύνταξις, as in
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _nectere coronam_. Hence its occurrence in words
signifying ‘the vertebral column,’ ‘a row of teeth,’ ‘a chain of
hills,’ ‘a body of troops’ (σύνταγμα ἱππέων or πέζων), or their
‘captains,’ literary ‘composition’ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
(Pap. Prisse V, 6), and the seven divine ⁂⁂⁂⁂ οἱ
συντάσσοντες, the first authors of artistic composition. See note to
chapter 71.
6. _The god within the Tamarisk._ The rising sun under his various names
is frequently represented as being in a tree or bush, which partly
conceals him. This is a mythological way of treating the light cloud or
mist which so commonly accompanies the sun’s first appearance.
_Tamarisk_ is only a provisional translation of ⁂⁂⁂. The god
Apuat, who is identical with Osiris, is said in the Pyramid Texts
(_Unas_ 107, _Teta_ 66) to come forth from the ⁂⁂⁂.
7. _Who connecteth._ This I believe to be the sense of ⁂⁂⁂ if
the next word is ⁂⁂. But the text is quite uncertain.
⁂⁂⁂ is a _rope_ or _cable_ (Bonomi, Sarc. II, c, 34), and like
the Latin _copula_ or the Semitic חבל, حبل has the sense of _tie_,
_bond_, _connection_.[63]
When the prince of Tennu (_Berlin Pap._ 1, line 31) proposed a family
alliance to Senehat, he said to him ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _lie-toi
avec moi!_ And he gave him his daughter to wife.
In the expression ⁂⁂⁂⁂, _nefrit_ signifies _continuously_,
_connectedly_, and the sense of _until_ is only completed by the
addition of the preposition ⁂.
Instead of ⁂⁂ ‘the Solar orb,’ some MSS. read ⁂⁂⁂,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, or ⁂⁂⁂ and in each of these
cases ⁂⁂ must be understood as an adjective raised to the
comparative degree by the preposition ⁂: “More beautiful [my]
splendour (colour, hair or veil) than Yesterday.” None of these readings
seem very attractive.
8. Here follows the identification of the limbs of the deceased person
with those of various gods. There are many similar texts belonging to
all the periods of the Egyptian religion. For the Pyramid Texts, _see
e.g. Unas_, line 218 &c., _ib._ line 570, &c., _Pepi I_, line 565, &c.
Compare the _Coffin of Amamu_, pl. XXIV, line 11, &c., Naville, _Litanie
de Râ_, p. 96, and Golenischeff, _Metternichstele_, lines 9-35.
9. _Strength_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, literally a _wall_ or _tower_, like the
מגדל־עז of Ps. XI, 4.
10. ⁂⁂⁂ ‘continuously, continuously.’
11. The interjection ⁂⁂ seems to imply that a second person is
addressed. The passage would otherwise be translated, “I have set myself
in motion,” which would be more consistent with the doctrine contained
in this chapter.
12. All the more recent copies have ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the Sanctuary
of Ptah at Memphis.
13. _Âbaba-k ṭer-ek._ This is only one of the readings of a formula
which had soon become utterly unintelligible to the copyists. Hieratic
copies like _Louvre_ 3079, published by M. de Rougé, B.M. 10,257
(Rollin) and Leyden, T. 16, record several conjectural emendations, to
which modern scholars might add others, were they so disposed.
-----
Footnote 61:
Another reading is Unneferu.
Footnote 62:
See note 1 on chapter 28.
Footnote 63:
“حبل non modo _funem_, sed et in Alcorano saepe _foedus_ significat.”
Gesenius, _Thesaur in voc._ חבל.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XLIII.
_Chapter whereby the head of a person is not severed from him in the
Netherworld._
I am a Prince, the son of a Prince; a Flame, the Son of a Flame, whose
head is restored to him after it hath been cut off.
The head of Osiris is not taken from him, and my head shall not be taken
from me.
I raise myself up, I renew myself, and I grow young again.
I am Osiris.
NOTE.
An early recension of this chapter is found in the tomb of Horhotep
(_Miss. Arch. II_, p. 159), and an apparent reference on the _Coffin of
Amamu_.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XLIV.
_Chapter whereby one dieth not a second time._
Let the Cavern of Putrata(1.) be opened for me, where the dead fall into
the darkness, but the Eye of Horus supporteth me, and Apuat reareth me
up. I hide myself among you, O ye Stars that set not. My front is that
of Râ, my face is revealed, according to the words of Thoth; my heart is
in its place, my speech is intelligent.
I am Râ himself, I am not to be ignored, I am not to be molested.
Thy father liveth for thee, O Son of Nut! I am thy son Horus, I see thy
mysteries, and am crowned as King of the gods. I die not a second time
in the Netherworld.
NOTE.
1. _Putrata_ ⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. This name has
disappeared in nearly all the MSS. It is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts
(_Pepi I_, 332, Merirā 635) as a lake traversed by the glorified
personage.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XLV.
_Chapter whereby one escapeth corruption in the Netherworld._
Here is the Osiris _N._, motionless, motionless like Osiris; motionless
his limbs like Osiris—let them not remain motionless, let them not
corrupt. They move not, they stir not: be it done for me as for Osiris.
I am Osiris.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XLVI.
_Chapter whereby he that is living is not destroyed in the Netherworld._
Oh ye recent offspring of Shu, who dawn after dawn is possessor of his
diadem at sunrise; ye future generations of men, my springing forth[64]
is the springing forth of Osiris.
NOTE.
This chapter is addressed to the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _hammemit_,
who are known from other quarters to be _human beings_, as the
younglings of the god Shu. But the reference is not to men who have yet
lived upon the earth. They are spoken of as _men of a future
generation_. Queen Hatshepsu on her obelisk when speaking of them
connects them with the period of 120 years, that is as if we said “men
of the next century.” Before their appearance upon the earth they circle
round the Sun, and the glorified dead hold converse with them (chapter
124, 6).
The Egyptians, like many other ancient nations, held the doctrine of the
preexistence of souls. They held it not like philosophers or poets, but
as an article of their popular and traditional creed.
-----
Footnote 64:
The _Day-Spring_.
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PLATE XVII.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
CHAPTER XLVII.
CHAPTER L.