The Egyptian Book of the dead
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 with _a 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
the _crook_ of the name is identified with the _crook_ and _flail_
⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ams_, ⁂⁂⁂ _ȧms_, ⁂⁂⁂ or
⁂⁂⁂ _emsit_ of Osiris, who is called in the Book of the
Dead (_Todt._, 142, 9) ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, _the August
Dismembered[129] one of the Powers of Annu_. And this is how, in the
important papyrus _Pc_, we find ⁂⁂⁂ in Ch. 17 as the
equivalent of ⁂⁂⁂⁂, a few words after, in the same
papyrus. Both groups are to be read _ȧmsu_; which means _furnished
with the crook_ (_or sceptre_) _and flail_, ⁂⁂ or ⁂.[130]
22. _Hot of foot_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The Coptic ⲟⲩⲉⲙϩⲏⲧ, _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 locality _Kenemit_ with 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 the _Dark_ may
be a sufficient translation. From the etymology I should like to
assimilate it to the ποικιλείμων νὺξ of the Prometheus Vinctus, or to
the ‘furvo circumdata peplo’ of the Latin poet.
23. _Of inconstant mind_, ⁂⁂⁂.
24. Another intelligible reading of the precept is, “I rob not the dead
of their wrappings”; but the text is so corrupt that none of the
readings are of any value.
The god is called ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, both of
which words I understand in the sense of _busy-minded_, _planning_,
_devising_, _crafty_, _wise_.
The appellative _Horned one_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, of the next
precept, is the exact equivalent of the Hebrew בַּעַל קַרְנַיִס, and is
the attribute of Osiris (_Todt._, 144, 4), especially in the character
of ⁂⁂⁂; under which name he was worshipped at Sutenhunen.
25. _Noisy in speech_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
26. _Striker_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂. A name of Horus, on which see ch. 103,
note.
27. There is no locality about which there is any agreement between the
older papyri, and many of them omit the mention of a locality; later
authorities, like the Turin text, read ⁂⁂ _Annu_.
28. _No unjust preferences_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂. There is no virtue more
frequently extolled on the funereal monuments than the absence of
favouritism. Great personages in their epitaphs are strong in their
declarations that they made no distinction between great and small, rich
or poor, wise or simple. The declaration of Ameni (_Denkm._, ii, 122),
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, is a type of many
others.
29. Of _raised head_, ⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, or (B.M. 9971)
⁂⁂⁂. This, like the last two, is a name of the Nile god, who
is one of the manifestations of Osiris.
30. _Who liftest an arm_, ⁂⁂, not ‘_amener_ son bras.’ ⁂, like
the Greek φέρειν, means _bear_ in the sense of _holding up_,
_supporting_. When it signifies _bring_ the collateral notion of
_motion_ is imported from the context. The god Shu, who is called
⁂⁂, _holds up_, _supports_, _the sky_, but does not _bring_ it.
The god _who holds up his arm_, is of course the ithyphallic Amon[132]
⁂, who in Ch. 17 is identified not only with Horus but with Osiris.
31. This introduction to Part III of this chapter occurs only in the
Papyrus of Nebkat (_Pe_). Another ancient manuscript (_Pb_) has the
words “Said upon approaching triumphantly to the Hall of Righteousness.”
But the texts generally begin with the invocation, “Hail ye gods, I know
you and I know your names.”
32. _Reverse of mine_, ⁂⁂, a turn of the wheel, which the
context implies to be unfortunate. A very absurd reading is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, as if the defendant were master of the
fates of his divine judges.
33. _The King who resideth within His own Day._ A very doubtful passage
at present. The words do not occur in the oldest text of the chapter
(that of Nebseni), and they are omitted here in the later recensions.
_Ad_ is, as far as I know, the only authority for ⁂⁂⁂⁂;
other papyri having merely ⁂, which might possibly correspond to
the ⁂⁂ immediately preceding. The Royal tombs have
⁂⁂⁂⁂, and one of the papyri has ⁂⁂⁂ instead of
⁂⁂⁂. All this reminds one of an obscure passage in Chapter
115, where Rā is speaking with ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
according to the Text of the Turin _Todtenbuch_. Goodwin conjectured
that King Amhauf belonged ‘to the race of mythical kings who preceded
Menes,’ and that his history is ‘a legend somewhat analogous to that of
Deucalion and Pyrrha.’ There is a much more probable solution of the
matter.
⁂⁂⁂ is meant for ⁂⁂⁂ _Sut_, and it was with this god
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂[133] ‘in his
_course_’ that Rā was speaking when the disaster happened to the latter
divinity, who for his talk had chosen a wrong _moment_, which really
belonged to his adversary. _Cf. supra_ note 3 on Chapter 110.
And here too I would instead of ⁂⁂ read ⁂⁂, and the
sense of the passage would be “let not reverse of mine come to pass
through Sutu, when his time cometh.”
34. _Cares_, ⁂⁂ in the later texts. The older texts differ
greatly from each other: ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ is the most frequent
reading.
35. _The Ass and the Cat in the house of Hept-ro._ The two personages
who take part in this dialogue are known from other portions of the Book
of the Dead. The Cat is Rā in the 17th chapter. And the Ass appears in
the 40th chapter, as the victim of the devouring Serpent. The Sun-god
overcome by darkness is Osiris; and he is so called by name in the
Demotic version of this chapter.
_Hepṭ-ro_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘god of the gaping mouth.’ The word
⁂⁂⁂ is not found elsewhere, but the meaning of it seems to be
indicated by the determinative. It is very probably akin to the more
common ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂, which does not mean ‘squat’ or ‘sit,’
but ‘stretch out,’ _distendi_. _Cf._ Note 6, Chapter 63B.
The ‘house of the god of the gaping mouth,’ seems to be the _Earth_,
considered as the universal tomb (ἀλλ’ αὐτοῦ γαῖα μέλαινα πᾶσι χάνοι,
Il. 14, 417). And here Osiris and Rā (the Ass and the Cat) meet daily,
‘Yesterday’ speaketh to ‘To-day.’
יוס ליוס יביע אמר
36. _Verdict_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂,
⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
A note of M. Guyesse in the _Recueil_, X, p. 64, contains references to
the chief passages in which this word occurs. I will add a very
important one, the picture of a god (Lefébure, _Tombeau de Seti_, p.
III, pl. 33) with sword in hand, whose name is this word. The
ideographic signs which express it imply (1) ‘a _cutting_ in two,
parting, division,’ (2) that the act is one of speech or intellect, such
as ‘judgment, decision, verdict.’ The phonetic equivalence of the signs
⁂ and ⁂ or ⁂ show that the value is that of _Seb_.
37. _Covereth._ The right Egyptian word here, as in a similar passage in
Chapter 17, is uncertain, but the meaning is plain enough. There are
many pictures showing a divinity (the sun or moon-god) hidden within or
behind a tree.
38. _That the Balance may be set upon its stand within the bower of
amaranth._
_Cf._ the passage (Rochemonteix, _Edfou_, p. 191) where mention is made
of the divine powers which animate the Princes who are in the train of
Osiris and who lift the Balance upon the stand before them
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Amaranth_ (see Note 3 of Chapter 26) is only one of the readings of
this doubtful text.
39. _Disasters_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ bad luck, misfortune.
See my note on this word, _T.S.B.A._, II, p. 313.
40. _Grasshoppers_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The similar word סלעם, which
only occurs in Lev. xi, 22, does not appear to be Semitic. It is a
sufficiently familiar word in Egyptian to serve as a term in comparison,
‘as plentiful as grasshoppers.’
41. The text here is quite uncertain. The Turin _Todtenbuch_ has “the
fourth hour of the Night and the eighth hour of the Day,” which does not
agree with any early reading. _Cd._ has “the fourth hour of the Night
and of the Day.” Several papyri have the “second hour of the Night and
the third ⁂⁂⁂ of the Day.” It was in this passage, as written
in B.M. 9904, that, in the year 1860, I found the phonetic value of the
Egyptian number 3: a discovery first ascribed by Brugsch[134] to
Goodwin, and afterwards by others to Brugsch himself.
42. _The hearts of the gods are appeased_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Cf._ ⲛⲁⲓ, ἱλάσκεσθαι, and ⲛⲁⲏⲧ, ἐλεήμων, οἰκτίρμων. This explains Pap.
Prisse XVII, 6 ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
43. _Let him come._ ⁂⁂⁂ is a tolerably certain reading, but it
is not possible to say what should be the word preceding this. The
scribes have written ‘there he cometh,’ ‘we grant that he come,’ ‘I
grant,’ ‘let him be brought in,’ and the like.
44. _He who groweth under the Grass_,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
45. _A thigh_, ⁂⁂⁂, also written ⁂⁂.
46. _See the greetings_: φωνῇ γαρ ὁρῶ, τὸ φατιζόμενον, _Oedip. Col._
138.
47. _The Leaf_, ⁂⁂⁂.
48. _Pointer_ [or _Plummet_] _of Truth_,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
49. _The Scale Pan_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂.
50. _The Dragon Brood_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
51. _The Truncheon of Hathor_, ⁂⁂⁂ does not appear to be a very
familiar word to the scribes, who write it in the most diverse ways
possible; one of them even understanding it as the ‘opening of heaven’
⁂⁂. All that we can say is that the word is shown by its
determinative to be of _wood_, and by its etymology (_cf._ ⁂⁂,
⁂) to serve for _striking_, _blinding_, or _slaying_. Some of the
texts name Hathor, and others Nephthys. The sign ⁂ occurs in both
names, and the scribes have read the rest of the name as best they
could.
52. _He who knoweth the heart and exploreth the person_,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. This is so exactly the
equivalent of “Searching the heart and trying the reins” of Jeremiah
(xvii, 10), that we might have expected to find something like it in the
Coptic version of the Bible. But there we have nothing but a close
adherence to the sense of the Septuagint, and even to such a word as
δοκιμάζειν.
53. _Who provideth for._ ⁂⁂⁂ is the equivalent of the Greek
φρονεῖν in the inscription of Tanis, and of μέριμνα in the Demotic text
of the verses of Moschion. The Coptic form is ⲙⲉⲩⲓ, ⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ, which stands
for φρονεῖν in Phil. iv, 10, “Your _care_ of me, wherein ye also were
_careful_.”
Thoth is thus represented as the divine Providence, which takes care of
the universe. The same view is found in a text at Edfu.
54. _The Eye_ of Horus; see latter part of Note 2, of this chapter.
-----
Footnote 111:
Apparently suggested by the scene in the tomb of Hor-em-heb (see
_Denkm._, III, 78), in the time of Amenophis III. (Plate XXXII, fig.
15.)
Footnote 112:
The picture of the Babe lifted up into the upper world by two
divinities speaks for itself. Of the birth of the Sun as the Winged
Scarab at the beginning of the first hour of the day, M. Maspero, in