The Egyptian Book of the dead
CHAPTER CLXVIII.
Chapter 168 should not have been placed among those of the Book of the
Dead, it belongs to another book similar to the ⁂⁂, the book
engraved on the walls of the royal tombs. It describes gods and genii of
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _the bounds(1.) in the Tuat_ who confer certain
blessings on the deceased; such as this: “those who lift up their faces
towards the sky at the prow of the boat of Rā, grant that Osiris _N._
may see Rā when he rises.” A vignette gives the appearance of the god or
genius spoken of. Every one of them is followed by this sentence: “for
the libation of a vase has been made on earth by Osiris _N._ who is
(now) the lord of abundance, and goes round the garden of Hotepit.”
The three versions which have been preserved of this text are very
fragmentary. The most complete, papyrus 10478 of the British Museum,
contains only the ⁂⁂⁂ 7 to 12. As the interest of this text,
the character of which is chiefly pictorial, lies in the vignettes, it
has been thought unnecessary to give a translation of it.
1. See note 2, Chapter 127.
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CHAPTER CLXIX.
_Chapter of raising the funereal Bed._
Thou art a lion, thou art a sphinx, thou art Horus who avengeth his
father; thou art these four gods, those glorious ones who are shouting
for joy, who are making incantations, and who bring out water by the
power of the tramp of their feet. Thou risest on the right, thou risest
on the left. Seb has opened thy blind eyes,(1.) he has loosened thy legs
which were fettered. Thou hast received thy heart of thy mother, thy
whole heart of thy own body; thy soul is in the sky, thy body is under
the ground. There is bread for thy body, water for thy throat, sweet
breeze for thy nostrils.
Thou restest in their funereal chambers, which those who are in their
coffins have opened for thee and for thy ... when thou journeyest; thou
art firm on thy pedestal, of thy existence, thou appearest in heaven,
and thou fastenest the tackle(2.) by the side of Rā.
Thou fishest with the net on the river, the water of which thou
drinkest; thou walkest on thy feet, and thou dost not walk headlong.
Thou appearest on the surface of the earth, and thou doest not come
forth from under solid ground, the strength(3.) which is in thee will
not be shaken through the action of the god of thy domain.
Thou art pure, thou art pure, thy forepart is purified, thy hindpart is
cleansed with _bet_ and natron, and cooled with incense.
Thou art purified with the milk (given to) Apis, and with beer of the
goddess Tenemit, with natron which removes all what is wrong in thee,
and which was provided by the daughter of Rā when she gave it to her
father Rā; and when she raised for thee the mountain where is buried her
father Osiris.(4.)
I have taken a bite of these sweet things which are on the hands (?) of
Osiris _N._ the loaves (?) from above, which belong to Rā, made of grain
of Abu, and four loaves from below which belong to Seb, made of grain
from the South. The god(5.) of thy domain brings thee the Field of
Hotepit, his hands are before thee.
Thou goest out like Rā, thou art powerful like Rā, thou art in
possession of thy feet. Osiris _N._ is in possession of his feet at all
times and at all hours; thou wilt not be judged, thou wilt not be
imprisoned, thou wilt not be guarded, thou wilt not be put in bonds,
thou wilt not be placed in the house where are the enemies. Cakes are
piled up before thee, and offerings are well guarded for thee.
There is no one to oppose thee and to prevent thee from going out.
Thou receivest thy clothing, thy sandals, thy stick, thy linen, thy
weapons, with which thou wilt cut off heads, thou wilt twist round the
necks of thy foes; these enemies who would bring death to thee, they
will not approach thee.
The great god speaks to thee: Let him be brought here for all that will
happen. The hawk rejoices in thee, the cackler cackles to thee, Rā opens
to thee the doors of the sky. Seb opens for thee the earth.
Thou art great, a mighty(6.) Chu, whose name is not known, the soul
which opens the Amenta. It is mighty this soul of _N._, for he(7.) is
beloved of Rā and well pleasing to his circle, he joins (?) the ways, he
guards the men, and guides the lion to the place where his _ka_ is
propitiated. _N._ ... the lord of mankind causes thee to live and that
thy soul be sound, that thy body may be enduring and great, that thou
mayest see the light(8.) and breathe the wind, that thy face may be
revealed in the house of right, that thou mayest be stationed in the
meadow, and not see any storm, that thou mayest follow the lord of the
two earths, that thou mayest refresh thyself under the _merit_ tree by
the side of the goddess, the great magician.(9.)
Seshait is sitting in front of thee. Sau is protecting thy limbs: the
bull milks for thee his cows which are in the train of Horsechait.(10.)
Thou washest thy face at the mouth of the stream of Cherāba, thou art
welcome to the great gods of Pu and Tepu;(11.) thou seest Thoth
conversing with Rā in the sky. Thou goest out and goest in into Anit,
thou conversest with the Rehiu.
Thy _ka_ is with thee, that thou mayest rejoice; and the heart of thy
birth; thou wakest thy ... are happy; the cycle of the gods give
pleasure to thy heart. Thou goest out (and thou seest) four loaves for
thee from Sechem, and four loaves from Hermopolis; thou goest out and
there are four (loaves) from Heliopolis on the table of the lord of the
two earths.
Thou wakest in the night, and thou art welcome to the lords of
Heliopolis. Hu(12.) is in thy mouth, thy feet do not turn back, there is
life in thy limbs.
Thou seizest the _sma_(13.) at Abydos and thou conductest victuals to
the great gods and vases of drink to those who are above the clouds in
the festival of Osiris, on the morning of the Uak festival; the
_hersheta_ priest decks thee with gold; thy garment is well arranged
with byssus; the Nile rises over thy body; thou art glorious(14.) ...
thou drinkest on the shore of the lake; thou art welcome to the gods who
are in it; thou comest forth in the sky with the gods who bring Maat to
Rā, thou art brought before the cycle of the gods, thou art like one of
them. Thou art the gander among the geese which are offered to Ptah
Anebefres.
NOTES.
This Chapter and the following are found in one papyrus only, Paris,
III, 93, a document more remarkable for the beauty of its vignettes than
for the correctness of the text.
Both Chapters refer to ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ the funereal bed or
couch on which the deceased will lie like Osiris. None of them has a
vignette. As in the course of these chapters there is no mention of the
bed itself, we must suppose that they were read while the bed was raised
or arranged. The translation of this text is particularly difficult, and
often conjectural, owing to our papyrus having no other document to
compare it with.
1. All this bears a great resemblance to Chapter 26.
2. In landing, see Chapter 99.
3. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. I have kept Renouf’s translation,
“strength,” but I believe the sense is the same as before:
“solid ground, dry land, continent (Feste, Brugsch),” as we
find in this sentence from the Stele at Abusimbel:
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “the
mountains, the water, and the continents are shaken by thy name.”
4. For the mountain where the burial of Osiris takes place, see vignette
to Chapter 186.
5. I translate as if there was ⁂⁂.
6. “Mighty,” Renouf’s translation. I should prefer “distinguished,
eminent,” see note 2, Chapters 141-3.
7. ⁂⁂⁂ I read here ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
8. The light kindled for his _ka_ (see Chapter 132, A and B), and which
gives life to the _ka_. The lighting of a lamp is a symbol of the birth
(Lep., _Denkm._, III, 74 c.) and accompanies it.
9. For this word I have not followed Renouf’s translation, which would
have been: the master of the words of power (see Chapter. 108).
10. A name of Isis, represented as a cow, and worshipped as such,
chiefly in the town of Apis, the capital of the Libyan nome, near Lake
Mareotis. The bull there was Osiris, and the calf Horus (see note 4 on
Chapter 109).
11. See note 5 on Chapter 18.
12. The god of abundance.
13. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ an unknown object: however, the sense is clear.
This means: thou becomest the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, the
look-out of the ship which is transporting victuals (see Chapters 109
and 149_b_).
14. The text seems to be very incomplete here.
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CHAPTER CLXX.
_Chapter of arranging the funereal Bed._
Thy limbs have been given thee, thou takest hold of thy bones, I have
set for thee thy limbs; the earth is bent upon protecting thy flesh.
Thou art Horus who was within the egg; when thou art raised, thou seest
the divine body (of Rā), thou marchest towards the horizon, to the place
where thou likest to be; and when thou art there, there are hailings and
cries of welcome, with all (good things) which appear on the altar.
Horus has raised thee when he rose himself, as he did for him who is in
the sacred abode.
Hail, Osiris, thou art born twice. Ua has raised thee, Anubis on his
mountain has caused thy bandages to grow upon thee. O, _N._ Ptah Sokaris
grants thee to put thy hand on the ornaments of the divine house.
O, _N._, Thoth himself comes to thee with the writing of divine words;
he grants thee to direct thyself towards the horizon of the sky to the
place where thy _ka_ likes to be; he has done it to Osiris on the night
when he came forth living.
Thy white diadem is established on thy brow. The god Nemu is with thee;
he grants thee to be at the head of the...?
Hail, _N._, arise on thy bed, and come forth. Thou are raised by Rā on
the horizon of the Maati in his boat.
Hail, _N._, thou art raised by Tmu, who grants thee to endure for ever.
Hail, _N._, thou art raised by Amsu of Koptos; thou art adored by the
gods of the shrine.
Hail, _N._, blessed be thy coming in peace to thy house of eternity and
to thy everlasting monument.
Salutations to thee in Pu Tepu, in the shrine which thy _ka_ loveth,
within thy dwelling.
Mighty is thy soul, thou hast been raised from thy resting couch (?),
thou art greater than the victim (?) which has been embraced by the
gods.
Thou art like the god who begets the beings. It is admirable what thou
createst more than that of the gods.
Thy splendour is greater than that of the Glorified, thy spirits are
mightier than those who are in (?).
Hail, _N._, thou art raised by Ptah Anebefres, who puts thy dwelling in
front of that of the gods.
Hail, _N._, thou art Horus, the son of Osiris, begotten by Ptah, created
by Nut. Thou shinest like Rā on the horizon when he lighteth the two
earths by his rays.
The gods say to thee: Come, come forth, see what belongs to thee in thy
house of eternity.
Thou hast been raised by Rennut, the great one, who conceived Tmu in the
presence of the circle of the gods of Nut.
I am the second outcome of the sky, and the third of him who makes his
light. I have come out of the womb; I have been an infant like my
father; there are no perverse actions of mine in the various events of
my lot.
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CHAPTER CLXXI
_Chapter of wrapping up (the deceased) in a pure garment._
O Tmu, Shu, Tefnut, Seb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Sut, Nephthys, Horus of the
two Horizons, Hathor in the great dwelling, Chepera, Mentu lord of
Thebes, Amon lord of Nestaui, ye the great cycle of the gods, ye the
small cycle of the gods, ye gods and goddesses issued from Nu, Sebek of