The Egyptian Book of the dead
Marseille_), where we find the text belonging to each wall, and also the
niche cut in the stone for each amulet. On the North was a human figure,
on the South a flame, on the East a jackal, on the West a Tat.
In the chamber were four so-called canopic vases, with the gods of the
four cardinal points, each of whom has his words to say. Besides these
were statuettes called _shabti_ or _ushabti_, the helpers of the
deceased in his work in the Elysian fields. In the papyrus London, 10010
(_Af._), from which this chapter is translated, one of them has the
usual appearance, the other the head of Anubis.
The soul of the deceased is supposed to be in the chamber, and to
worship the rising and the setting sun.
Very few papyri have this chapter as complete as _Af._, which is taken
here as standard for text and vignettes, but there are fragments of it
here and there. The Turin version is much shorter than the old one. The
papyrus of _Nu_ (ed. Budge) contains the texts of the four walls with
rubrics very similar to those of the steles in Marseilles. They form a
special chapter joined to 137A, with the title: _What is done secretly
in the Tuat, the mysteries of the Tuat, the introduction into the
mysteries of the Netherworld._
In order to facilitate the understanding of the chapter, I have lettered
the words spoken by the various figures.
1. Renouf would have translated (see Chapter 42), thy eyebrows are
_those of_ Anubis; but the following chapter shows that we have to
translate _with_ Anubis, which should mean here, under the protection of
Anubis.
2. The rubrics say the figure is made of palm wood, and is seven fingers
high.
3. The rubric of this Tat is the following: _said on a Tat of crystal,
the branches of which are of gold. It is folded up in fine linen._
There is another chapter of the Tat put on the neck of the deceased
(Chapter 155), the words of which are totally different.
4. According to the rubric, the flame is a torch made of reeds
⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Loret).
5. The Anubis was made of clay.
6. Words engraved on the funerary statuettes called ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
or ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, an abridged form of Chapter 6, for which I take
Renouf’s translation.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CLIA _bis_.
Said by Anubis Amut, in his divine hall, when he puts his hands over the
body of _N._, and provides him with all that belongs to him.
Hail to thee, beautiful face, lord of sight, sacred eye lifted up by
Ptah Sokaris, raised by Anubis, and to which Shu has given its stand.
Beautiful face, which art among the gods, thy right eye is in the Sektit
boat, thy left eye is in the Âtit boat; thy eyebrows are a pleasant
sight among the gods. Thy front is in the protection of Anubis, thy back
is pleasant to the venerable hawk. Thy fingers(1.) are well preserved in
writing before the lord of Hermopolis, Thoth, the giver of written
words. Thy locks are beautified before Ptah Sokaris.
_N._ is welcome among the gods; he sees the great god, he is led on the
good roads, he is presented with funerary offerings, his enemies are
beaten down under him in the house of the Prince of Heliopolis(2.).
NOTES.
The words spoken by Anubis in Chapter 151 have been taken out and made
into a special chapter, which in papyrus London, 9900 (_Aa_) occurs in
two different forms. I called them CLIA _bis_ and CLIA _ter_, the second
one being only an abridgement of the first. Vignettes and titles are not
the same for these two chapters. That translated, CLIA _bis_, is the
longest of the two. The title of the other one is: the _Chapter of the
Mysterious Head_, and the vignette thereof consists of a mummy’s head.
In comparing this chapter with the words of Anubis we had before, we
find the explanation of expressions like this: thy eyebrows are with
Anubis.
1. ⁂. This word has always been translated _fingers_, a sense which
is evidently wrong in this place, where parts of the head only are
mentioned, and when one would expect the hair or the beard.
I suppose that this obscure sentence means that since everything in him
is divine the design or colour of his fingers (?) was taken from the
books of Thoth.
2. See note 8 on Chapter 1.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER CLII.
_The Chapter of building a house_(1.) _on earth._
O rejoice, Seb, _N._ has been set in motion with his vital power ... he
has given to men and gods their creative strength.
There is cheering, when it is seen that Seshait(2.) has come towards
Seb; when Anubis has commanded to _N._: build a house on earth, the
foundations of which be like On, and the circuit like Cher-ābā; let the
god of the sanctuary be in the sanctuary. I also decree that it should
contain the sacrificial victim, brought by slaves, and held up by
ministrants.
Said by Osiris to the gods in his following: come hastily, and see the
house which has been built for the glorified, the well equipt, who
cometh every day. Look at him, hold him in awe, and give him praise,
which is well pleasing to him.
(3.)You see what I have done myself, I the great god who cometh every
day. Look ye, Osiris brings me cattle, the south wind brings me grain,
the north wind brings me barley as far as the end of the earth.
I have been exalted by the mouth of Osiris(4.), applause surrounds
him(5.) on his left and on his right.
Look ye, men, gods, and Chus, they applaud him, they applaud him, and I
am well pleased.
NOTES.
The text here translated is that of the Papyrus of _Nu_, with a few
variants taken from contemporary texts.
1. The ⁂⁂ here mentioned is the abode of the ⁂, where it is
worshipped and receives offerings. In the vignette of Pap. Busca (Ik),
the plan of this abode is like the funerary constructions discovered at
Nagadah and Abydos.
2. The goddess ⁂ is often connected with building (Chapter 52).
3. Here the deceased begins to speak himself.
4. I translate ⁂⁂ the beating in measure as the musicians do, the
regular applause so often heard in the East.
5. The person changes, as is often the case in such texts. The deceased
speaks of himself in the third person.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLATE LV.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER CLIIIA.
_The Chapter of coming out of the net._(1.)
O he who turns backwards, mighty of heart, who spreads his net before
him, who entereth the earth! O you the fishermen sons of their
fathers(2.), who go round in the midst of the stream, you will not catch
me in your net, in which you catch the disabled, and you will not carry
me away in your canvas, in which you take away the evil ones in the
earth; the frame of which reaches the sky, and the weights of which are
on the earth.
For I will come out of its meshes and shine like Hunnu (Sokaris). I will
come out of its bars(3.) and shine like Sebak. I shall fly against you
like a fisher whose fingers(4.) are hidden.
I know the fork(5.) which belongs to it. It is the great finger of Hunnu
(Sokaris). I know the stake(6.); it is the leg of Nemu(7.). I know its
pointed head, it is the hand of Isis. I know the name of its blade; it
is the knife of Isis with which she cut the meat for Horus.
I know the name of the frame and of the weights. They are the feet and
the legs of the Sphinx(8.).
I know the name of the ropes with which fishing is done; they are the
bonds of Tmu.
I know the names of the fishermen who are fishing. They are the
worms(9.), the ancestors of the blood drinkers(10.), who pour their flow
on my hands, when the great god the lord listens to the words in
Heliopolis, in the night of the 15th of the month(11.), in the temple of
the moon.
I know the marked space(12.) in which they are enclosed. It is the soil
of iron on which the gods stand.
I know the name of the divine supervisor who takes hold of the fishes,
and marks them on the tail. He is the supervisor of the divine property.
I know the name of the table on which he lays them (the fishes); it is
the table of Horus.
He sits alone in the night; nobody sees him; the future ones(13.) see
him, and the present ones give him their acclamations.
I shine like Horus; I govern the land, and I go down to the land in the
two great boats. Horus introduces me into the house of the Prince(14.).
I have come as a fisher; the fork has been given into my hand; my blade
is in my hand, my knife is in my hand. I come forth; I go round about,
and I entangle in my net.
I know the name of the fork which closes the mouths vomiting (fire?). It
is the great finger of Osiris.
The fingers (prongs) which hold fast, they are the fingers of the
ancestors of Rā, the claw of the ancestor of Hathor.
I know the strings which are on this fork, they are the bonds of the
lord of mankind.
I know the name of the stake; the thigh of Nemu. Its point is the hand
of Isis, its coil, the cord of the first-born god, its cordage the rope
of Rā.
I know the name of the fishermen who are fishing; they are the worms,
the ancestors of Rā, the creatures(15.), the ancestors of Seb.
When what thou eatest is brought to thee, what I eat is brought to me.
Thou eatest what is eaten by Seb and Osiris.
O(16.) thou who turnest backwards, mighty of heart, who fishes and
entangles him who enters the earth; O you fishers, sons of their
fathers, and ye fowlers who are in Nefer-sent; you will not catch me in
your nets, and you will not entangle me in your meshes, wherein you
catch the disabled, and where you catch those who are in the earth; for
I know it (the net), its frame above, and its weights below. Behold, I
come, my stake is in my hand; the point is in my hand, the blade is in
my hand.
I come, I arrive to my ... (?) I have come myself; I have come to bind
it, to put it in its place. My knife is sharpened. I put it in its
place.
The stake which is in my hand is the thigh of Nemu; the fork which is in
my hand is the fingers of Sokaris; this point which is in my hand is the
claws of Isis; the blade which is in my hand is the knife of Nemu.
Behold I have come, I sit in the boat of Rā, I sail on the lake of
Cha(17.) and on the lake of the Northern sky.
I hear the words of the gods. I do what they are doing, I give praises
to their persons, I live as they live.
_N._ appears on the ladder which was made for him by his father Rā, when
Horus and Sut take hold of him.
NOTES.
In the Theban version the Chapter of the Net is divided into two, 153A
and 153B, which have different titles and different vignettes. 153A is
called the “_Chapter of coming out_,” or, as might be translated, “_of
escaping from the net_.” The vignettes represent a clap-net, used for
waterfowl. The second Chapter is called “_the Chapter of escaping from
those who catch_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂,” which, from the etymology, might
be translated _foul_ or _fetid fish_. There the vignette represents a
drag-net containing fishes, and drawn by apes.
It is probable, one may suppose, that originally one Chapter referred to
the fowlers, the ⁂⁂⁂⁂, who use the clap-net, and the
other to the fishermen, the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, who use the
drag-net. But in the form in which these Chapters appear in the three
best texts where they have been preserved, London, 9900 (_Aa_), Paris,