Egyptian Literature Part 6

In the Papyrus of Nefer-uben-f (see Naville, op. cit., Bd. I. Bl. 70) this chapter ends quite differently, and reads:

"I am strong in my mouth and in my nostrils, for behold Tem has stablished them; behold, O ye G.o.ds and _Khu_s. Rest thou, then, O Tem. Behold the staff which blossometh, and which cometh forth when a man crieth out in your names. Behold, I am Tem, the tree (?) of the G.o.ds in [their] visible forms. Let me not be turned back.... I am the _Am-khent_, Nefer-uben-f, triumphant. Let neither my flesh nor my members be gashed with knives, let me not be wounded by knives by you. I have come, I have been judged, I have come forth therein, [I] have power with my father, the Old man, Nu.

He hath granted that I may live, he hath given strength unto me, and he hath provided me with the inheritance of my father therein."

Dominion Over Elements

[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 16).]

THE CHAPTER OF BREATHING THE AIR AND OF HAVING DOMINION OVER THE WATER IN THE UNDERWORLD. Osiris Ani saith:

"Open to me." Who art thou? Whither goest thou? What is thy name? "I am one of you." Who are those with thee? "The two serpent G.o.ddesses _Merti_.

Separate thou from him, head from head, when [thou] goest into the divine _Mesqen_ chamber. He letteth me set out for the temple of the G.o.ds who have found their faces. 'a.s.sembler of Souls' is the name of my boat; 'Making the hair to stand on end' is the name of the oars; 'Goad' is the name of the hold; 'Making straight for the middle' is the name of the rudder; likewise [the boat] is a type of my being borne onward in the pool. Let there be given unto me vessels of milk, together with cakes, and loaves of bread, and cups of drink, and flesh in the Temple of Anpu."

IF HE (I.E., THE DECEASED) KNOWETH THIS CHAPTER, HE SHALL GO INTO, AFTER COMING FORTH FROM, THE UNDERWORLD OF THE [BEAUTIFUL AMENTET].

Dominion Over Elements

[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 16).]

THE CHAPTER OF SNUFFING THE AIR, AND OF HAVING DOMINION OVER THE WATERS IN THE UNDERWORLD. Osiris Ani saith:

"Hail, thou sycamore tree of the G.o.ddess Nut! Grant thou to me of [the water and of] the air which dwell in thee. I embrace the throne which is in Unnu (Hermopolis), and I watch and guard the egg of Nekek-ur (_i.e._, the Great Cackler). It groweth, I grow; it liveth, I live; it snuffeth the air, I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, in triumph."

Dominion Over Elements

[From Lepsius, "Todtenbuch," Bl. 23.]

ANOTHER CHAPTER. Osiris Auf-ankh, triumphant, saith:

"Let the gates of heaven be opened for me by the G.o.d [Thoth] and by Hapi, and let me pa.s.s through the doors of Ta-qebh(38) into the great heaven,"

or (as others say), "at the time," [or (as others say)], "with the strength(?) of Ra. Grant ye, [O Thoth and Hapi,] that I may have power over the water, even as Set had power over his enemies on the day when there were storms and rain upon the earth. Let me have power over the divine beings who have mighty arms in their shoulders, even as the G.o.d who is apparelled in splendor and whose name is unknown had power over them; and may I have power over the beings whose arms are mighty."

Preservation Of The Soul

[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 15).]

THE CHAPTER OF NOT LETTING THE SOUL OF A MAN BE TAKEN FROM HIM IN THE UNDERWORLD. Osiris, the Scribe Ani, saith:

"I, even I, am he who came forth from the water-flood which I make to overflow, and which becometh mighty as the river [Nile]."

Of Drinking Water

[From the Papyrus of Nebseni (British Museum No. 9,900, sheet 4).]

THE CHAPTER OF DRINKING WATER IN THE UNDERWORLD. The scribe Nebseni ...

saith:

"May be opened [to me] the mighty flood by Osiris, and may the abyss of water be opened [to me] by Tehuti-Hapi, the lord of the horizon, in my name of 'Opener.' May there be granted [to me] mastery over the water-courses as over the members of Set. I go forth into heaven. I am the Lion-G.o.d Ra. I am the Bull. [I] have eaten the Thigh, and I have divided the carca.s.s. I have gone round about among the islands (or lakes) of Sekhet-Aaru. Indefinite time, without beginning and without end, hath been given to me; I inherit eternity, and everlastingness hath been bestowed upon me."

The last three chapters, with a single vignette, are grouped in one in the Papyrus of Nefer-uben-f (see Naville, op. cit., Bd. I. Bl. 72); but the order of them as there given is 61, 60, 62. In the Turin Papyrus (Lepsius, op. cit., Bl. 23) the vignette of each is the same, _i.e._, the deceased holding a sail in his left hand.

Of Drinking Water

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 7).]

THE CHAPTER OF DRINKING WATER AND OF NOT BEING BURNT BY FIRE [IN THE UNDERWORLD]. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

"Hail, Bull of Amentet! I am brought unto thee, I am the oar of Ra wherewith he ferried over the divine aged ones; let me neither be burnt up nor destroyed by fire. I am Bet, the first-born son of Osiris, who doth meet every G.o.d within his Eye in Annu. I am the divine Heir, the exalted one(?), the Mighty One, the Resting One. I have made my name to germinate, I have delivered [it], and thou shalt live through me day by day."

Preservation From Scalding

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 12).]

THE CHAPTER OF NOT BEING SCALDED WITH WATER. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

"I am the oar made ready for rowing, wherewith Ra transported the boat containing the divine ancestors, and lifted up the moist emanations of Osiris from the Lake of Fire, and he was not burned. I lie down like a divine _Khu_, [and like] Khnemu who dwelleth among lions. Come, break away the restraints from him that pa.s.seth by the side of this path, and let me come forth by it."