The Egyptian Book of the dead
understand how the Egyptians expressed abstract ideas. When we speak of
passion, shame, remorse, hope, we have so thoroughly lost sight of the
concrete element in these words, that we are apt to forget that
originally they must have been metaphors, and that they must have
expressed something striking the senses, and connected with the material
world. An instance will illustrate the difficulty in this translation.
Chapter 112 relates how, owing to an imprudent request, Horus was the
victim of Sutu, who inflicted a wound on his eye, which caused him great
suffering, and the text adds: ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, _lo! he
ate his heart_. Renouf translates, “and wrath devoured his heart.” I
should prefer, “he regretted sorely (his foolish request).” I believe to
eat one’s heart to mean, “to feel regret, repentance, or remorse.” There
the abstract meaning is not difficult to find out; but in other cases,
as long as we have not discovered the key to the metaphor, we may go far
astray, or if we do not go beyond the literal explanation, we miss the
abstract sense, which is the true one.
However, because the work will not bear the character of finality,
because some obscurities will not be removed, and some difficulties
remain unsolved, there is no reason why a scholar like Renouf should
have shrunk from attempting the translation of the Book of the Dead, a
work which he had before his eyes for years, and which he considered as
the crown of his Egyptological labours.
The lecture quoted above gives us Renouf’s ideas as to the purpose and
the sense of the book: it is the beatification of the dead considered in
three aspects:
The renewed existence “as upon earth.” The deceased enjoys an existence
similar to that which he has led upon earth; he has the use of his
limbs, he eats and drinks and satisfies every one of his physical wants
exactly as in his former life. The gods themselves minister to him
occasionally, and contribute to his welfare and to his pleasures. The
bliss of the future state consists chiefly in the pleasures of
agricultural life.
Transformation. The deceased has the range of the entire universe in
every shape and form he desires. He can assume any appearance he likes.
But these transformations are not forced upon him; he has no definite
series to go through; they depend simply on his pleasure.
Identification with Osiris and other gods. The identification with
Osiris, which is already mentioned in the earliest parts of the book, is
taken for granted later on, since the name of the deceased is always
preceded by “Osiris.” He may be assimilated to other gods; for instance,
in the 42nd chapter every limb is assimilated to a different deity. This
Osirian nature gives the deceased the power to triumph over the numerous
enemies whom he has to face.
To these three benefits which the book confers on the deceased we should
add a fourth: viz., complete preservation from dismemberment and decay.
There is evidently in some of the prayers a remembrance of a time when
the deceased were dismembered at their burial; and this way of treating
the corpse is for the deceased an object of horror. The frequent mention
of reconstituting the body, the promises that no part of it shall be
taken away, all this shows of what supreme importance it was for him
that his body should remain intact. Without a well preserved body there
could be no life in the other world; its destruction implies the
destruction of the whole individual. This belief is the origin of
mummification, for decay is the strongest agent of dismemberment and the
certain ruin of the body.
These are the outlines of the principal tenets of the Book of the Dead.
If we inquire where they originated, there is no doubt that the bulk of
the book came from Heliopolis. It is the doctrine of that ancient city
and of its priests. Some of the chapters may be attributed to the
priests at Abydos, as M. Maspero suggests; but it seems certain that,
except for a small part, the birthplace of the Book of the Dead is the
city of Ra Tmu, the place connected with the oldest religious traditions
of the country, and which may rightly be called the religious capital of
Egypt.
_January, 1904._
EDOUARD NAVILLE.
-----
Footnote 1:
See _Introductory Note to Chapter CXL_.
Footnote 2:
The Hibbert Lectures, 1879, p. 172.
Footnote 3:
See also _Life Work_, t. III, p. 51, “The title of the Book of the
Dead,” and p. 59, “The Egyptian Book of the Dead.”
Footnote 4:
_Das Aegyptische Todtenbuch der XVIII bis XX Dynastie_,
zusammengestellt und herausgegeben von Edouard Naville, Berlin, 1886.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
CHAPTER I.
(1.)_The Beginning of the Chapters of Coming forth by Day, of the_
(2.)_Words which bring about Resurrection and Glory, and of Coming out
of and entering into Amenta. Said upon the Day of Burial of_ N, _the
Victorious,_(3.) _who entereth after coming forth_.(4.) _Here is_ N
_the Victorious. He saith_—
O (5.)Bull of Amenta, It is Thoth, the everlasting King, who is here.
I am the great god in the Bark, who have fought for thee.
I am one of those gods, the (6.)Powers who effect the triumph of Osiris
over his adversaries on the day of the Weighing of the Words: I am thy
kinsman, Osiris.
I am one of those gods to whom Nut hath given birth, who slay the
adversaries of Osiris and imprison the (7.)Sebau, on his behalf: I am
thy kinsman, Horus.
I have fought for thee, and have prevailed for thy name.
I am Thoth who effect the triumph of Osiris over his adversaries on that
day of Weighing of the Words in the (8.)House of the Prince, which is in
Heliopolis.
I am (9.)Tatti, the son of Tatti, conceived in Tattu and born in Tattu;
and Tattu is my name.
I am with the mourners and weepers who wail over Osiris in (10.)Rechit,
and who effect the triumph of Osiris over his adversaries.
Rā issued the mandate to Thoth, that he should effect the triumph of
Osiris against his adversaries, and the mandate is what Thoth hath
executed.
I am with Horus on the day of covering (11.)Teshtesh and of opening the
fountains for the refreshment of (12.)the god whose heart is motionless,
and closing the entrance to the hidden things in (13.)Restau.
I am with Horus, as the avenger of that left arm of Osiris which is in
(14.)Sechem.
I enter in, and I come forth from the (15.)Tank of Flame on the day when
the adversaries are annihilated at Sechem.
I am with Horus on the day when the festivals of Osiris are celebrated,
and when offerings are made [to Rā], on the Feast of the Sixth day of
the Month, and on the Feast of Tenait(16.) in Heliopolis.
I am the Priest(17.) in Tattu and exalt him who is on the Height.(18.)
I am the Prophet in Abydos on the day when the earth is raised.
I am he who seeth what is shut up at Restau.(19.)
I am he who reciteth the liturgies of the (20.)Soul who is Lord of
Tattu.
I am the Sem-priest in all that pertaineth to his office.
I am the Arch-Craftsman, on the day in which the Ship of Sokaru is laid
upon its stocks.(21.)
I am he who seizeth the mattock, on the day of the Feast of Hoeing in
Suten-henen.(22.)
O ye who bring beneficent souls into the house of Osiris, do ye bring
the soul of _N_ together with you into the house of Osiris; let him see
as you see, let him hear as you hear, let him stand as you stand, and
sit as you sit [in the house of Osiris].
O ye who give bread and beer to beneficent souls in the house of Osiris,
do you give bread and beer at the two periods to the soul of _N_ who is
with you.
O ye who unclose the ways and open the roads to beneficent souls in the
house of Osiris, unclose then the ways and open the roads to the soul of
_N_ who is with you, let him enter boldly and come forth in peace at the
house of Osiris, without hindrance and without repulse. Let him enter at
his pleasure and go forth at his will, triumphantly with you; and let
that be executed which he shall order in the house of Osiris.
No lightness of his in the scale has been found and the Balance is
(23.)relieved of his case.
PLATE I.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
NOTES.
The text taken for the basis of the translation of Chapter I is that of
the papyrus of Huneferu; _Ag_ of M. Naville’s edition.
1. The title here translated is that usual in all the papyri
representing the third period of the text. It occurs however in the
papyrus _Ag_ of Huneferu, who lived in the days of Seti I, at the
beginning of the XIXth dynasty. It is also found in the papyrus of Ani.
The most common title of Chapter I in the older manuscripts is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “Chapter of coming to the
divine Powers attached to Osiris.” These divine Powers are Amsta, Hapi,
Tuamautef and Qebehsenuf, the children of Horus, who stand upon the
lotus which springs from the water beneath the throne of Osiris, in
pictures of the Psychostasia. Chapter 124 bears the same title in the
older manuscripts, which sometimes begin with it.
2. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. These are two very difficult words,
and very different meanings have been assigned to them. But when the
entire evidence is examined the result is plain enough. Each of the
words has for determinative the sign, ⁂, expressive of some kind of
utterance. It is a λόγος of some kind has for its first letter the
causative ⁂. The question therefore is, what are the meanings of the
simpler forms ⁂⁂, _tes_, and ⁂⁂⁂, _ḫu_?
The most common, indeed the only true, meaning of ⁂⁂ is
‘rising,’ and even ‘raising.’ This is too well-known to require proof.
⁂⁂ is ‘causing to rise.’ The Pyramid text of Teta says (l. 270),
“Horus hath given his children that they may raise thee up
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.” In the same religious text, l. 248,
⁂⁂ is the _rising from the funereal couch_ after the ⁂⁂,
the recitations made over the dead.
The ‘raising up’ or ‘resurrection’ here spoken of is said not only of
the soul but of the body of the deceased person. The papyrus of Nebseni
has preserved two chapters, to which M. Naville has assigned the numbers
177 and 178.
177. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Chapter of raising up the Chu, and giving life to the Soul in the
Netherworld._
178.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Chapter of raising up the body, of giving it eyes and the possession of
ears, and establishing the head, made firm on its props._
⁂, _ḫat_, is not simply the body; it is the _dead body_, that which
has _fallen_, like the Latin _cadaver_, the Greek πτῶμα, the Hebrew
מַפֶלֶח. (See _Transactions Soc. Bib. Arch._, Vol. VIII, p. 221, note 2.)
The true meaning of ⁂⁂⁂ _ḫu_ is not ‘luminous’ but
‘clear, distinct, glittering, ‘_coruscans_,’ and hence ‘bright,
splendid, illustrious, glorious,’ and the like. Like the Greek
λαμπρός, the Latin _clarus_, the Hebrew עהל, or the French
_éclat_, it is applied to sound as well as to light. It is said of
Thoth (in the wretched orthography[5] of a tablet of the XIXth
dynasty) ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “he glorified
them with the clear utterances of his mouth.” ⁂⁂⁂
corresponds to the Greek λαμπροφωνία. As a verb ⁂⁂ is
_clareo_, and is ⁂⁂⁂ _clarifico_, _glorifico_.
There are, it is true, variants in the title of Chapter 17, giving the
form ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. In spite of the excellent authority of
these variants, they must be considered as giving an erroneous reading.
The words ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘remember,’ and ⁂⁂⁂ are
different in origin and meaning. The latter signifies ‘confer glory,’
and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ are religious formularies recited by
priests, identifying the deceased person with Osiris and other
divinities. There are numerous pictures in the tombs representing