Description:

240 BC

THE PAPYRUS OF ANI

THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge

 

Part 12

  Who is this invisible god?

  "It is An-a-f (he who bringeth his arm.).

  "As concerning 'the night when the sentences of doom are

promulgated,' it is the night of the burning of the damned, and of the

overthrow of the wicked at the Block, and of the slaughter of souls."

  Who is this [slaughterer of souls]?

  "It is Shesmu, the headsman of Osiris.

  "[Concerning the invisible god] some say that he is Aapep when he

riseth up with a head bearing upon it [the feather of] Maat (Truth).

But others say that he is Horus when he riseth up with two heads,

whereon one beareth [the feather of] Maat, and the other [the symbol

of] wickedness. He bestoweth wickedness on him that worketh

wickedness, and right and truth upon him that followeth

righteousness and truth.

  "Others say that he is Heru-ur (the Old Horus), who dwelleth in

Sekhem; others say that he is Thoth; others say that he is

Nefer-Tem; and others say that he is Sept who doth bring to nought the

acts of the foes of Nebertcher.

  "Deliver thou the scribe Nebseni, whose word is truth, from the

Watchers, who carry murderous knives, who possess cruel fingers, and

who would slay those who are in the following of Osiris."

  May these Watchers never gain the mastery over me, and may I never

fall under their knives!

  Who are these Watchers?

  "They are Anubis and Horus, [the latter being] in the form of

Horus the sightless. Others, however, say that they are the Tchatcha

(sovereign princes of Osiris), who bring to nought the operations of

their knives; and others say that they are the chiefs of the Sheniu

chamber.

  "May their knives never gain the mastery over me. May I never fall

under the knives wherewith they inflict cruel tortures. For I know

their names, and I know the being, Matchet, who is among them in the

House of Osiris. He shooteth forth rays of light from his eye, being

himself invisible, and he goeth round about heaven robed in the flames

which come from his mouth, commanding Hapi, but remaining invisible

himself. May I be strong on earth before Ra, may I arrive safely in

the presence of Osiris. O ye who preside over your altars, let not

your offerings to me be wanting, for I am one of those who follow

after Nebertcher, according to the writings of Khepera. Let me fly

like a hawk, let me cackle like a goose, let me lay always like the

serpent-goddess Neheb-ka."