The Egyptian Book of the dead
Some years before his untimely death M. de Rougé read his translation of
this chapter before the Académie des Sciences. It is much to be lamented
that this has never been published. I have, in addition to the versions
of other scholars, a copy of one by Mr. Goodwin, with whom I read this
and other chapters nearly thirty years ago. But this kind of literature
is not one of those in which his marvellous sagacity showed to
advantage.
In reading this and almost every other chapter of the _Book of the
Dead_, it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind that different divine
names do not necessarily imply different personalities. A name expresses
but _one_ attribute of a person or thing, and one person having several
attributes may have several names. It is not implied in this chapter
that the Sun is the Nile or the Inundation, but that the same invisible
force which is manifested in the solar phenomena is that which produces
the inundation; He is the Inundator. But he has many other names and
titles. In this chapter, as in others before it, the speaker at one time
talks in terms identifying him with some divinity, and at another as a
simple mortal petitioning some favour.
1. ⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or, at a later period ⁂⁂, signifies
_one whose force is concealed or unseen_. It is a theological term,
frequent at all periods of the Egyptian religion, and implies that the
deity is not to be confounded with its external manifestation. The Sun
that we see _hides_ as truly as it reveals the Sun-god; who, as this
chapter shows, has other manifestations.
2. _Those in the Tuat_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ called in the Pyramid Texts
⁂⁂⁂⁂, Pepi I, 185. The more recent texts read
⁂⁂⁂⁂ “the gods of the West.”
3. _Cf._ Pepi I, 174.
4. _Two divine Hawks upon your gables._ They are mentioned in the
Pyramid Texts[77] as ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Teta, 183. They represent
the two divisions, North and South, of the kingdom of Horus. _Cf._
Rochemonteix, _Edfu_, p. 55 and many other such passages as that found
there.
5. _The Shrine which standeth in the centre of the Earth._ This Shrine
is also mentioned in the ‘Book of Hades.’ _Cf._ Bonomi, Sarc. 4c.
6. _He is I, and I am He._ _Cf._ the Pyramid Text—“Oh Râ.... Teta is
thou, and thou art Teta...., thou risest as Teta, and Teta riseth in
thee, etc.,” Teta, 337.
7. _Ptah floateth over his firmament._ The meaning of the verb is shown
in early texts by the determinative, as in the parallel passage of the
17th chapter.
8. _Oh gracious Power_, ⁂⁂⁂. The adjective is also written
⁂⁂⁂. The usual determinative ⁂ has its origin in the
hieratic form of ⁂, see Prisse Papyrus.
9. _Kam-urȧ_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, “The great Extender,” a name applied to
Osiris, as the Nile. “Thy two sisters, Isis and Nephthys, come to thee,
and they convey to thee _Kamit urit_ [the great Extent] in thy name of
_Kam-urȧ_ [the great Extender].” Teta, 274.
10. _I bring to its fulness, etc._ The yearly inundation is the mature
result of the innate force belonging to the god; the ἐνέργημα of his
ἐνεργεία. This translation remains the same whether the reading be ⁂
or ⁂.
11. _Shoreless_, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂ or ⁂, implies an enclosed space,
a basin or channel with fixed limits. The inundation has no determinate
banks. Its course is from south to north, hence the reference to the
deities of the South.
12. _Shoulder_ and _Haunch_. The usual sacrificial joints. This passage
was at an early date added to the paragraph which opens the chapter.
13. _The two goddesses of the West_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
It is said of Râ at Edfu ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. “He setteth in the West.”
The deities in question are Isis and Nephthys, who are also the deities
of the East or Sunrise under the name of ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂;
Unas, 461.
In the passage of the Pyramid Texts just referred to it is stated that
these “divinities in _Ununait_ open their arms to the god as he stands
up erect on the eastern side of the firmament.”
_Ununait_ is the place of _rising_, _springing up_.
14. _The Tenait in Abydos._ This feast has already been mentioned in
Chapter I. It was one of those commemorative and representative of the
death of Osiris, of his mutilation, mummification and burial.
Prescriptions for carrying it out are found in the great text at
Denderah, published by Dümichen and Mariette, and translated by Brugsch,
and Loret, and (in part) by Dümichen.
_Tenait_ is also the name of certain days of the month, and (Teta, 229)
of the fifth hour of the day.
15. _The bolts made fast on the gateways._ The Pyramid Texts
on behalf of the deceased invoke the
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘the bolt
which closes the gateway of Heaven,’ with a prayer that it may open to
him (Teta, 235, compare line 200).
16. _He who lulleth me_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The word is here
in the dual, as corresponding to the double lion. _Cf._
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Teta 261. The
important variant ⁂⁂⁂ is found at Edfu (Rochemonteix, p. 78).
17. _I sever the horns._ _Cf._ Psalm lxxv, 11.
18. The _lands_. The Egyptian word varies in the texts. The most
authorized reading ⁂⁂ is used in different senses: one of which
(and perhaps the original one) is _put_, _put on_; _ponere_, _locare_,
_induere_, _figere_, _addere_. Here it would seem from the context to
mean locality, post, spot of earth. And I am inclined to identify
⁂⁂ in this place with the well-known ⁂, or ⁂⁂⁂, as an
equivalent if not as a phonetic variant.
19. _Blessed are they who see_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ written
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ in the Pyramid Texts (Unas, 584, Teta, 42,
Pepi I, 181 and 199), where it is in parallelism with ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
20. _The Bourne_, ⁂⁂⁂. On the goddess ⁂⁂⁂⁂,
_Menait_, _cf._ Teta 288, Pepi I, 70, 154, 163.
21. _The Sycomore_ of Dawn repeatedly mentioned in the Book of the Dead.
The Pyramid Texts also (Pepi I, 174) speak of the tall Sycomore of Sut
in the Eastern Sky on which the gods congregate and sit, in expectation
of the arrival of the Glorified one.
22. _To hold the Eye_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Later texts, like
the Turin copy, have ⁂⁂⁂⁂. The two verbs here (like
⁂⁂⁂⁂ which is also found as a variant) are synonymous in the
sense of _embracing_, _holding_,[78] _enclosing_, _fastening_,
_staying_, _propping_.
According to the ancient myth Sut deprived Horus of his Eye, which was
recovered by Thoth, and by him restored to its owner. The following
passage from an inscription at Edfu (Rochemonteix, p. 25) is in strict
accordance with the oldest mythological texts.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
“Asten, who restored the Eye of Horus to its Lord, who preserved the Eye
(_ut’ at_) from suffering harm, who made fast the Eye (_nutrit_) in its
place, and who pacified Horus with his Eye.” The different synonyms
designating the Eye are important as showing that the word
⁂⁂⁂⁂ is here used in the sense of the _daily_ light of the
sun.
The other part of the same text as Edfu gives additional variants.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
and ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Here the Eye is called ⁂⁂,
⁂⁂, and ⁂⁂. But in other places the _Ut’ at_ stands for a
less frequent moment of the solar progress. In the Pyramid Texts for
instance ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “holder of the _Southern_ Eye
of Horus” might perhaps designate the Summer Solstice. And a later text
connects the Eye with the opening of the year.
The priestly title ⁂⁂⁂, ‘holder of the Eye,’ is like all such
titles, that of the divinity whom the priest personates. The god himself
is hieroglyphically represented by the sign ⁂⁂ of an ape holding
the Eye.
23. _The tunnels_, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, Teta, 291;
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Horhotep, 213. See my note _Proc. Soc.
Bibl. Arch._, 1873, p. 385. The Coptic ⲁⲕⲟⲣⲓ, which is generally
supposed to be a serpent, is more probably an _earth-worm_, like
⁂⁂.
The Pyramid Texts have another word which I understand of the
tunnels through which the Sun, Moon, and Stars pass from West to
East, ⁂⁂⁂, as opposed to ⁂⁂⁂, the paths of the
upper world. Anubis is called ⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Pepi I, 80), and
these passages are ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
(_ib._, 73), “between the two divine forms” (a lion at each end).
_Cf._ Teta, 319, where it is said of the Stars
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,
that at their triumphant course through the tunnels the bones of
the Akeru gods quake.
24. _The god of the Hennu Bark_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, he who
resides in the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ ship referred to in chapter I. The god
of this ship is commonly named Sekaru in the texts, but Hennu is also
one of the names of Horus. On the connection between the two names see
Teta, line 270.
25. King Septa ⁂ of the 1st dynasty, who has been identified with the
Usaphais of Manetho.
The other account of the discovery of the chapter is thus described in
the rubric of the second recension.
_This chapter was discovered at Hermopolis upon a slab of alabaster,
inscribed in blue, under the feet of this god_ [Osiris], _at the time of
King Menkarā, the victorious, by the royal prince Hortâtâf, when he was
journeying for the purpose of inspecting the temples_ ...[79] _and he
carried off the slab in the royal chariot, when he saw what was on it._
The rubric farther prescribes that a scarab of hard stone encircled and
purified with gold[80] should be placed upon the place of the heart of
the deceased, and that the ‘words of power’ contained in the 30th
chapter, “Heart mine of my mother,” etc., should be repeated. The gold
leaf or plate has been found on some scarabs, but has disappeared from
nearly all.
The ‘Ritual of Parma,’ which speaks of two metals, ⁂⁂⁂ _smu_,
and silver (the latter for the rim), directs that the scarab should be
put at the throat of the deceased. According to this authority it was
the 30th chapter, not the 64th, which was discovered by Prince Hortâtâf
in his inspectorial tour.
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Footnote 73:
The text is too corrupt here for any plausible translation.
Footnote 74:
_Not_ is omitted in many copies.
Footnote 75:
The copies of this paragraph are as discordant as they are
unintelligible. It is idle to guess at the meaning until a better text
can be discovered.
Footnote 76:
Etudes Egyptologiques; sixième livraison.
Footnote 77:
Here as in the name of ⁂ Tmu, the _long_ sign is written first
though read last.
Footnote 78:
_Cf._ the expressions ⁂⁂⁂⁂ as, Teta, 258, 262, and
⁂⁂⁂⁂. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is not a mere _gate_, but
a _hold_, or _keep_.
Footnote 79:
There is no certainty about the text of the next few words.
Footnote 80:
I understand by this that the gold is intended to krep the scarab free
from defilement.
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CHAPTER LXV.
_Chapter whereby one cometh forth by day and prevaileth over the
adversaries._
Oh thou who shinest forth from the Moon, thou who givest light from the
Moon, let me come forth at large amid thy train, let me be revealed as
one of those in glory. Let the Tuat be opened for me. Here am I: let me
come forth upon this day, and be glorified. Let the glorified ones grant
to me that I live and that mine adversaries be brought to me in bonds
before the divine Circle; may the Genius of my mother be propitiated
thereby, as I rise up upon my feet with a sceptre of gold in my hand,
and lop off the limbs. May I rise up, a Babe [from between] the knees of
Sothis, when they close together.(1.)
NOTES.
The first part of this chapter is nearly identical with Chapter 2. No
copy of it is found in the papyri of the older period. In place of it M.
Naville has published a chapter bearing the same title, and which is
found in five ancient papyri. These texts however are extremely
discordant and corrupt, and in the more difficult, and to us more
interesting, passages must have been quite unintelligible to the
copyists. The second word, for instance, of line 8 is _ri_ in _Ca_, the
corresponding word is .. _ḥtu_ in _Ta_, _ṭāi_ in _Pb_, _rāu_ in _Ia_ and