The Egyptian Book of the dead by P. Le Page Renouf and Edouard Naville

PART III.

[Said upon approaching to the gods who are in the Tuat.(31.)] Hail ye gods, I know you and I know your names; let me not be stricken down by your blows: report not the evil which is in me to the god whom ye follow. Let not reverse(32.) of mine come to pass through you. Let not evil things be said against me in presence of the Inviolate One; because I have done the right in Tamerit. I revile not the god: let not reverse of mine come to pass through the King who resideth within His own Day.(33.) Hail ye gods who are in the Hall of Righteousness, who have nothing wrong about you; who subsist upon Righteousness in Annu, and who sate themselves with cares,(34.) in presence of the god who resideth within his own Orb: deliver me from Babai who feedeth upon the livers of princes on the Day of the Great Reckoning. Behold me: I am come to you, void of wrong, without fraud, a harmless one: let me not be declared guilty; let not the issue be against me. I subsist upon Righteousness: I sate myself with uprightness of heart: I have done that which man prescribeth and that which pleaseth the gods. I have propitiated the god with that which he loveth. I have given bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, a boat to the shipwrecked. I have made oblations to the gods and funeral offerings to the departed: deliver me therefore: protect me therefore: and report not against me in presence of the great god. I am one whose mouth is pure, and whose hands are pure, to whom there is said “Come, come in peace,” by those who look upon him. For I have listened to the words which were spoken by the Ass and the Cat in the house of Hept-ro.(35.) And I have undergone the inspection of the god Whose face is behind him, who awardeth my verdict(36.), so that I may behold what the Persea tree covereth(37.) in Restau. I am one who glorifieth the gods and who knoweth the things which concern them. I am come and am awaiting that inquisition be made of Rightfulness and that the Balance be set upon its stand within the bower of amaranth.(38.) O thou who art exalted upon thy pedestal and who callest thy name, Lord of Air: deliver me from those messengers of thine who inflict disasters(39.) and bring about mishaps. No covering have they upon their faces. For I have done the Righteousness of a Lord of Righteousness. I have made myself pure: my front parts are washed, my back parts are pure, and my inwards steeped in the Tank of Righteousness. There is not a limb in me which is void of Righteousness. I purify me in the Southern Tank, and I rest me at the northern lake, in the Garden of Grasshoppers.(40.) The Boatmen of Rā purify them there at this hour of the night or day(41.) and the hearts of the gods are appeased(42.) when I pass through it by night or by day. Let him come(43.): that is what they say to me. Who, pray, art thou? that is what they say to me. What, pray, is thy name? that is what they say to me. “He who groweth under the Grass(44.) and who dwelleth in the Olive tree” is my name. Pass on, then: that is what they say to me. I pass on to a place north of the Olive. What, prithee, didst thou see there? A thigh(45.) and a leg. And what, prithee, said they to thee? That I shall see(46.) the greetings in the lands there of the Fenchu. What, prithee, did they give to thee? A flame of fire and a pillar of crystal. And what, prithee, didst thou to them? I buried them on the bank of the Lake of Māāit as Provision of the Evening. What, prithee, didst thou find there on the bank of the Lake of Māāit? A sceptre of flint: ‘Giver of Breath’ is its name. And what didst thou to the flame of fire and to the pillar of crystal after thou hadst buried them? I cried out after them and drew them forth: and I extinguished the fire, and I broke the pillar, and I made a Tank. Thou mayest now enter through the door of the hall of Righteousness, for thou knowest us. I allow thee not to pass by me, saith the Leaf(47.) of the Door, unless thou tell my name: “The Pointer of Truth”(48.) is thy name. I allow thee not to pass by me, saith the right side of the Door, unless thou tell my name. “The Scale-pan(49.) of one who lifteth up Right” is thy name. I allow thee not to pass by me, saith the left side post of the Door, unless thou tell my name: “The Scale-pan of Wine” is thy name. I allow thee not to pass over me, saith the Threshold of the Door, unless thou tell my name: “Ox of Seb” is thy name. I open not to thee, saith the Lock of the Door, unless thou tell my name: Bone of An-maut-ef is thy name. I open not to thee, saith the Latch, unless thou tell my name: “The Eye of Sebak, Lord of Bachau,” is thy name. I open not to thee, and I allow thee not to pass by me, saith the Keeper of the Door, unless thou tell my name: “The Knee of Shu, which he hath lent for the support of Osiris,” is thy name. We allow thee not to pass by us, say the Lintels of the Door, unless thou tell our names: “The dragon brood(50.) of Renenut” is your name. Thou knowest us: pass therefore by us. I allow thee not to pass over me, saith the Floor of the Hall, for the reason that I am noiseless and clean, and because we know not the names of thy two feet, wherewith thou wouldst walk upon us. Tell me, then, their names. “He who goeth before Amsu” is the name of my right foot: and “The Truncheon of Hathor”(51.) is the name of my left foot. Thou mayest walk over us: for thou knowest us. I do not announce thee, saith the Doorkeeper, unless thou tell my name: “He who knoweth the heart and exploreth the person”(52.) is thy name. Then I will announce thee. But who is that god who abideth in his own hour? Name him. He who provideth for(53.) the Two Worlds. Who, pray, is it? It is Thoth. Come hither, saith Thoth, wherefore hast thou come? I am come, and wait to be announced. And what manner of man, prithee, art thou? I have cleansed myself from all the sins and faults of those who abide in their own day; for I am no longer among them. Then I shall announce thee. But who is he whose roof is of fire, and whose walls are living Uræi, and the floor of whose house is of running water? Who is it? It is Osiris. Proceed then: for behold, thou art announced. Thy bread is from the Eye, thy beer is from the Eye, and the funeral meals offered upon earth will come forth to thee from the Eye(54.). So is it decreed for me. _This chapter is said by the person, when purified and clad in raiment; shod with white sandals; anointed from vases of ānta; and presenting oblations of beeves, birds, incense, bread, beer and vegetables._ _And thou shalt make a picture, drawn upon a clean brick of clay, extracted from a field in which no swine hath trod._ _And if this chapter be written upon it—the man will prosper and his children will prosper: he will rise in the affection of the king and his court: there will be given to him the shesit cake, the measure of drink, the persen cake and the meat offering upon the altar table of the great god; and he shall not be cut off at any gate of Amenta, but he shall be conveyed along with the Kings of North and South, and make his appearance as a follower of Osiris: undeviatingly and for times infinite._ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLATE XXXVIII. BOOK OF THE DEAD.