The Egyptian Book of the dead
glorious ones can possess, for its water is of fire, its stream is
burning, and its heat is of blazing flame, so that they may not drink
its water in order to quench the thirst which is within them, for their
mighty fear, and their great terror.
The gods and the glorious ones look at its water from afar, they do not
quench their thirst, and their heart is not set at rest, because they
may not go near it.
When the river is full and green like the flowing sap which comes out of
Osiris, I take its water, I draw from its flood like the great god who
is in the domain of the water, and who keeps watch over it for fear that
the gods may drink from its water, and who inspires dread to the
glorious ones.
Hail to thee, thou great god, who art in the domain of the water. I have
come to thee. Grant me to take of thy water, to take of thy stream, as
thou doest to this great god.
When the Nile will come, when he will give birth to the plants, and
cause the herbs to grow; as it is given to the gods, when he appears in
peace, grant that the Nile may come to me, and that I may take his
plants; for I am thy own son for ever.
The fourteenth domain. O this domain of Cher-āba(15.), which drives the
Nile towards Tattu, and which causes the Nile to go and spend its corn
in his course from _Rokekmu_(16.); thou which presentest offerings to
the dead, and mortuary gifts to the glorious ones.
There is a serpent belonging to it, who comes from the two wells at
Elephantine, at the gate of the water. He goes with the water, and stops
at the stream of Cher-āba, near the powers of the high flood; he sees
his hour of the silent evening.
Ye gods who live in the water of Cher-āba, ye powers of the high flood,
open to me your ponds, open to me your lakes, that I may take of your
water, and that I may rest in your stream, that I may eat of your corn,
that I may be satisfied with your food.
I have risen, my heart is high, for I am the great god in Cher-āba.
Make me offerings. I have been filled with the vital sap coming out of
Osiris. I shall not be despoiled of it. The end.
NOTES.
This is one of the interesting chapters of the Book of the Dead. It is
more frequently met with than the other ones, and it generally
constitutes the end of the Theban papyri. It is the chapter of the
various domains which the deceased has to reach, and in which he enjoys
special privileges.
The vignettes generally give the plan of the domain, and very often the
colour with which it is painted; they are either green ⁂⁂⁂ or
light yellow ⁂⁂⁂. In most of the papyri there are only four
yellow—3, 9, 10, and 14.
Renouf translates ⁂⁂⁂ “domain” (p. 208). Dr. Budge keeps the
word _aat_, and considers them as the divisions of the Elysian fields.
Pierret translates _demeure_, Brugsch _siège_, _demeure_, _habitation_.
I shall adopt Renouf’s word, though _residence_ or _habitation_ seems to
me preferable. An ⁂⁂⁂ is an enclosed space which has
inhabitants described or mentioned in the text. The deceased calls first
on the domain, and often in the same breath goes over to the inhabitants
without any transition.
1. The second domain is the horizon. The text of the vignette says: the
god who is in it is Harmachis. The text to this domain being a
repetition of chapter 109, I adopt Renouf’s translation (p. 181.)
2. The third domain is called “that of the glorious ones.”
3. The moon. _Ab_ reads: ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
“on the face of the sun, and on the face of the moon.”
4. The deceased speaks of himself as a magician who can cover the head
of the serpent without being hurt. The eyes of the serpent, which have
the power of paralyzing, of making impotent (see seventh domain), are
given him; the result is, that when he goes to the mountain on which the
serpent shows his strength, this strength collapses, as the deceased
says: thy strength is in my hand; I am he who lifts, who takes away the
strength.
5. Renouf generally translates ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ tunnels. See p. 126,
and Proc., 1893, p. 385; but here we must adopt the other sense, serpent
or worms. Copt. ⲁⲕⲟⲣⲓ.]
6. Or _Secher-remu_, he who knocks down the worm, or he who knocks down
the fishes.1
7. _Ka_ and serpent have killed each other.
8. The lynx (see note, p. 82, on chapter 34). It seems to be the cat who
is represented in the vignettes of chapter 17, cutting off the head of
the serpent.
9. This is a chapter found on the sarcophagus of Amam in the British
Museum; it has the title ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “taking the
form of a vulture” (see p. 139): I should rather say a goose.
10. The ninth domain, Akset or Aksi, has the form of a vase, which a
crocodile called Maatetf touches with his snout.
11. The words are obscure. I believe them to mean: Akset was made such
as it is, in order that, &c.
12. The tenth domain is called that which is at the mouth of the stream.
13. I cannot translate the following words.
14. The destruction of the name means absolute destruction of the
person.
15. I have kept the reading Cher-āba, which Renouf advocates, in
opposition to Cher-aha, adopted by most egyptologists.
16. I believe this name, which is spelt differently in each papyrus, to
be the origin of the Κρῶφι and Μῶφι, these two rocks mentioned by
Herodotus (II, 28), out of which issues the Niles.
There are hardly any variants in the vignettes which accompany the text
of the chapter of the domains.
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PLATE LIV.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
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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 papyrus _Aa_:—
1. The good Amenta, the gods within which live on _shens_ and _tu_
loaves.
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.
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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 thy throat. 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 Osiris _N._ 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 of _Kep-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 of _N._(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 of _N._(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 of _N._ worships the sun when he
ariseth on the Eastern horizon of the sky.
The living soul of _N._ 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