The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians Part 4

"9. Homage to thee, O Creator of the G.o.ds, King of the South, King of the North, Osiris, Conqueror, Governor of the world in thy gracious seasons! Thou art the Lord of the heaven of Egypt (Atebui)."

[Footnote 1: A group of thirty-six Star-G.o.ds.]

[Footnote 2: A town that stood on the site of Old Cairo.]

[Footnote 3: This response was to be repeated after each pet.i.tion.]

[Footnote 4: A Light-G.o.d.]

[Footnote 5: Harmakhis of the Greeks.]

[Footnote 6: A form of Osiris.]

[Footnote 7: The Henu Boat of Seker was drawn round the sanctuary of Seker each morning.]

[Footnote 8: A district of Hensu.]

[Footnote 9: Herakleopolis in Upper Egypt.]

[Footnote 10: Eileithyiaspolis in Upper Egypt.]

The following pa.s.sage ill.u.s.trates the general character of a funerary hymn to Ra: "Homage to thee, O thou who art in the form of Khepera, Khepera the creator of the G.o.ds. Thou risest, thou shinest, thou illuminest thy mother [the sky]. Thou art crowned King of the G.o.ds.

Mother Nut[1] welcometh thee with bowings. The Land of Sunset (Manu) receiveth thee with satisfaction, and the G.o.ddess Maat[2] embraceth thee at morn and at eve. Hail, ye G.o.ds of the Temple of the Soul (_i.e._ heaven), who weigh heaven and earth in a balance, who provide celestial food! And hail, Tatunen,[3] One, Creator of man, Maker of the G.o.ds of the south and of the north, of the west and of the east! Come ye and acclaim Ra, the Lord of heaven, the Prince--life, health, strength be to him!--the Creator of the G.o.ds, and adore ye him in his beautiful form as he riseth in his Morning Boat (Antchet).

"Those who dwell in the heights and those who dwell in the depths worship thee. Thoth and the G.o.ddess Maat have laid down thy course for thee daily for ever. Thine Enemy the Serpent hath been cast into the fire, the fiend hath fallen down into it headlong. His arms have been bound in chains, and Ra hath hacked off his legs; the Mesu Betshet[4]

shall never more rise up. The Temple of the Aged G.o.d [in Anu] keepeth festival, and the sound of those who rejoice is in the Great House. The G.o.ds shout for joy when they see Ra rising, and when his beams are filling the world with light. The Majesty of the Holy G.o.d goeth forth and advanceth even unto the Land of Sunset (Manu). He maketh bright the earth at his birth daily, he journeyeth to the place where he was yesterday. O be thou at peace with me, and let me behold thy beauties!

Let me appear on the earth. Let me smite [the Eater of] the a.s.s.[5] Let me crush the Serpent Seba.[6] Let me destroy Aapep[7] when he is most strong. Let me see the Abtu Fish in its season and the Ant Fish[8] in its lake. Let me see Horus steering thy boat, with Thoth and Maat standing one on each side of him. Let me have hold of the bows of [thy]

Evening Boat and the stern of thy Morning Boat.[9] Grant thou unto the Ka of me, the Osiris the scribe Ani, to behold the disk of the Sun, and to see the Moon-G.o.d regularly and daily. Let my soul come forth and walk hither and thither and whithersoever it pleaseth. Let my name be read from the list of those who are to receive offerings, and may offerings be set before me, even as they are set before the Followers of Horus.

Let there be prepared for me a seat in the Boat of Ra on the day when the G.o.d goeth forth. Let me be received into the presence of Osiris, in the Land where Truth is spoken."

[Footnote 1: The Sky-G.o.ddess.]

[Footnote 2: G.o.ddess of Law.]

[Footnote 3: An ancient Earth-G.o.d.]

[Footnote 4: The a.s.sociates of Set, the G.o.d of Evil.]

[Footnote 5: The a.s.s was a form of the Sun-G.o.d, and its eater was a mythological monster-serpent.]

[Footnote 6: Another mythological serpent.]

[Footnote 7: The serpent that tried to swallow the sun each morning, but the Sun-G.o.d cast a spell on it and rendered it powerless.]

[Footnote 8: The Abtu and the Ant were two fishes that swam before the boat of the sun to warn the G.o.d of danger.]

[Footnote 9: _i.e._, Ani wishes to be sure of a seat in both boats.]

The prayers of the Book of the Dead consist usually of a string of pet.i.tions for sepulchral offerings to be offered in the tombs of the pet.i.tioners, and the fundamental idea underlying them is that by their trans.m.u.tation, which was effected by the words of the priests, the spirits of the offerings became available as the food of the dead. Many prayers contain requests for the things that tend to the comfort and general well-being of the dead, but here and there we find a prayer for forgiveness of sins committed in the body. The best example of such is the prayer that forms Chapter CXXVI. It reads: "Hail, ye four Ape-G.o.ds who sit in the bows of the Boat of Ra, who convey truth to Nebertchet, who sit in judgment on my weakness and on my strength, who make the G.o.ds to rest contented by means of the flame of your mouths, who offer holy offerings to the G.o.ds, and sepulchral meals to the spirit-souls, who live upon truth, who feed upon truth of heart, who are without deceit and fraud, and to whom wickedness is an abomination, do ye away with my evil deeds, and put ye away my sin, which deserved stripes upon earth, and destroy ye every evil thing whatsoever that clingeth to me, and let there be no bar whatsoever on my part towards you. Grant ye that I may make my way through the Amhet[1] chamber, let me enter into Rastau,[2]

and let me pa.s.s through the secret places of Amentet. Grant that cakes, and ale, and sweetmeats may be given to me as they are given to the spirit-souls, and grant that I may enter in and come forth from Rastau."

The four Ape-G.o.ds reply: "Come, for we have done away with thy wickedness, and we have put away thy sin, which deserved stripes, which thou didst commit upon earth, and we have destroyed all the evil that clung to thee. Enter, therefore, into Rastau, and pa.s.s in through the secret gates of Amentet, and cakes, and ale, and sweetmeats shall be given unto thee, and thou shalt go in and come out at thy desire, even as do those whose spirit-souls are praised [by the G.o.d], and [thy name]

shall be proclaimed each day in the horizon."

[Footnote 1: A chamber in the kingdom of Seker in which the dead were examined.]

[Footnote 2: The corridors in the kingdom of Seker.]

Another prayer of special interest is that which forms Chapter x.x.xB.

This is put into the mouth of the deceased when he is standing in the Hall of Judgment watching the weighing of his heart in the Great Scales by Anubis and Thoth, in the presence of the Great Company of the G.o.ds and Osiris. He says: "My heart, my mother. My heart, my mother. My heart whereby I came into being. Let none stand up to oppose me at my judgment. May there be no opposition to me in the presence of the Tchatchau.[1] Mayest thou not be separated from me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance. Thou art my Ka (_i.e._ Double, or vital power), that dwelleth in my body; the G.o.d Khnemu who knitteth together and strengthened my limbs. Mayest thou come forth into the place of happiness whither we go. May the Shenit officers who decide the destinies of the lives of men not cause my name to stink [before Osiris]. Let it (_i.e._ the weighing) be satisfactory unto us, and let there be joy of heart to us at the weighing of words (_i.e._ the Great Judgment). Let not that which is false be uttered against me before the Great G.o.d, the Lord of Amentet (_i.e._ Osiris). Verily thou shalt be great when thou risest up [having been declared] a speaker of the truth."

[Footnote 1: The chief officers of Osiris, the divine Taskmasters.]

In many papyri this prayer is followed by a Rubric, which orders that it is to be said over a green stone scarab set in a band of _tchamu_ metal (_i.e._ silver-gold), which is to be hung by a ring from the neck of the deceased. Some Rubrics order it to be placed in the breast of a mummy, where it is to take the place of the heart, and say that it will "open the mouth" of the deceased. A tradition which is as old as the twelfth dynasty says that the Chapter was discovered in the town of Khemenu (Hermopolis Magna) by Herutataf, the son of Khufu, in the reign of Menkaura, a king of the fourth dynasty. It was cut in hieroglyphs, inlaid with lapis-lazuli on a block of alabaster, which was set under the feet of Thoth, and was therefore believed to be a most powerful prayer. We know that this prayer was recited by the Egyptians in the Ptolemaic Period, and thus it is clear that it was in common use for a period of nearly four thousand years. It may well be the oldest prayer in the world. Under the Middle and New Empires this prayer was cut upon hard green stone scarabs, but the versions of it found on scarabs are often incomplete and full of mistakes. It is quite clear that the prayer was turned into a spell, and that it was used merely as a "word of power," and that the hard stone scarabs were regarded merely as amulets.

On many of them s.p.a.ces are found that have been left blank to receive the names of those with whom they were to be buried; this proves that such scarabs once formed part of some undertaker's stock-in-trade, and that they were kept ready for those who were obliged to buy "heart scarabs" in a hurry.

Another remarkable composition in the Book of the Dead is the first part of Chapter CXXV, which well ill.u.s.trates the lofty moral conceptions of the Egyptians of the eighteenth dynasty. The deceased is supposed to be standing in the "Usekht Maati," or Hall of the Two Maati G.o.ddesses, one for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt, wherein Osiris and his Forty-two Judges judge the souls of the dead. Before judgment is given the deceased is allowed to make a declaration, which in form closely resembles that made in many parts of Africa at the present day by a man who is condemned to undergo the ordeal of drinking "red water," and in it he states that he has not committed offences against the moral and religious laws of his country. He says:

"Homage to thee, O Great G.o.d, thou Lord of Maati. I have come to thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties. I know thee. I know thy name. I know the names of the Forty-two[1] G.o.ds who live with thee in this Hall of Truth, who keep ward over sinners, and who feed upon their blood on the day when the lives of men are taken into account in the presence of Un-Nefer (_i.e._ the Good Being or Osiris).... Verily, I have come unto thee, I have brought truth unto thee. I have destroyed wickedness for thee. I have not done evil to men. I have not oppressed (or wronged) my family. I have not done wrong instead of right. I have not been a friend of worthless men. I have not wrought evil. I have not tried to make myself over-righteous. I have not put forward my name for exalted positions. I have not entreated servants evilly. I have not defrauded the man who was in trouble. I have not done what is hateful (or taboo) to the G.o.ds. I have not caused a servant to be ill-treated by his master. I have not caused pain [to any man]. I have not permitted any man to go hungry. I have made none to weep. I have not committed murder. I have not ordered any man to commit murder for me. I have inflicted pain on no man. I have not robbed the temples of their offerings. I have not stolen the cakes of the G.o.ds. I have not carried off the cakes offered to the spirits. I have not committed fornication. I have not committed acts of impurity in the holy places of the G.o.d of my town. I have not diminished the bushel.

I have not added to or filched away land. I have not encroached upon the fields [of my neighbours]. I have not added to the weights of the scales. I have not falsified the pointer of the scales. I have not taken milk from the mouths of children. I have not driven away the cattle that were upon their pastures. I have not snared the feathered fowl in the preserves of the G.o.ds. I have not caught fish [with bait made of] fish of their kind. I have not stopped water at the time [when it should flow]. I have not breached a ca.n.a.l of running water. I have not extinguished a fire when it should burn. I have not violated the times [of offering] chosen meat-offerings. I have not driven off the cattle from the property of the G.o.ds. I have not repulsed the G.o.d in his manifestations. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure. I am pure."

[Footnote 1: The Forty-two G.o.ds represent the forty-two nomes, or counties, into which Egypt was divided.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Her-Heru and Queen Netchemet standing in the Hall of Osiris and praying to the G.o.d, whilst the Heart of the Queen is being weighed in the Balance. _From a papyrus (about 1050 B.C.) in the British Museum._]

In the second part of the Chapter the deceased repeats many of the above declarations of his innocence, but with each declaration the name of one of the Forty-two Judges is coupled. Thus we have:

1. "Hail, thou of the long strides, who comest forth from Heliopolis, I have not committed sin.

2. "Hail, thou who art embraced by flame, who comest forth from Kheraha, I have not robbed with violence.

3. "Hail, Nose, who comest forth from Hermopolis, I have not done violence [to any man].

4. "Hail, Eater of shadows, who comest forth from the Qerti, I have not thieved.

5. "Hail, Stinking Face, who comest forth from Rastau, I have not slain man or woman.

9. "Hail, Crusher of bones, who comest forth from Hensu, I have not lied."

Nothing is known of the greater number of these Forty-two G.o.ds, but it is probable that they were local G.o.ds or spirits, each one representing a nome, whose names were added to the declarations with the view of making the Forty-two Judges represent all Egypt.

In the third part of the Chapter we find that the religious ideas expressed by the deceased have a far more personal character than those of the first and second parts. Thus, having declared his innocence of the forty-two sins or offences, "the heart which is righteous and sinless" says:

"Homage to you, O ye G.o.ds who dwell in your Hall of Maati! I know you and I know your names. Let me not fall under your knives, and bring ye not before the G.o.d whom ye follow my wickedness, and let not evil come upon me through you. Declare ye me innocent in the presence of Nebertcher,[1] because I have done that which is right in Tamera (Egypt), neither blaspheming G.o.d, nor imputing evil (?) to the king in his day. Homage to you, O ye G.o.ds, who live in your Hall of Maati, who have no taint of sin in you, who live upon truth, who feed upon truth before Horus, the dweller in his disk. Deliver me from Baba, who liveth upon the entrails of the mighty ones, on the day of the Great Judgment.

Let me come to you, for I have not committed offences [against you]; I have not done evil, I have not borne false witness; therefore let nothing [evil] be done unto me. I live upon truth. I feed upon truth. I have performed the commandments of men, and the things which make the G.o.ds contented. I have made the G.o.d to be at peace [with me by doing]

that which is his will. I have given bread to the hungry man, and water to the thirsty man, and apparel to the naked man, and a ferry boat to him that had none. I have made offerings to the G.o.ds, and given funerary meals to the spirits. Therefore be ye my deliverers, be ye my protectors; make ye no accusations against me in the presence [of the Great G.o.d]. I am clean of mouth and clean of hands; therefore let be said unto me by those who shall see me: 'Come in peace, come in peace'

(_i.e._ Welcome! Welcome!).... I have testified before Herfhaf,[2] and he hath approved me. I have seen the things over which the Persea tree spreadeth [its branches] in Rastau. I offer up my prayers to the G.o.ds, and I know their persons. I have come and have advanced to declare the truth and to set up the Balance[3] on its stand in Aukert."[4]