Description:

240 BC

THE PAPYRUS OF ANI

THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge

 

Part 15

  Who is this?

  "It is Suti, but others say that it is Smamur, the soul of Keb.

  "Hail, Khepera in thy boat, the two Companies of the Gods are in thy

body. Deliver thou the Osiris the scribe Ani, whose word is truth,

from the Watchers who pass sentences of doom, who have been

appointed by the god Nebertcher to protect him, and to fasten the

fetters on his foes, and who slaughter in the torture chambers;

there is no escape from their fingers. May they never stab me with

their knives, may I never fall helpless into their chambers of

torture. I have never done the things which the gods hate. I am he who

is pure in the Mesqet chamber. And saffron cakes have been brought

unto him in Tannt."

  Who is this?

  "It is Khepera in his boat; it is Ra himself.

  "As concerning the Watchers who pass sentences of doom, they are the

Apes Isis and Nephthys.

  "As concerning the things which the gods hate, they are acts of

deceit and lying. He who passeth through the place of purification

within the Mesqet chamber is Anpu (Anubis), who is hard by the

coffer which containeth the inward parts of Osiris. He to whom saffron

cakes have been brought in Tannt is Osiris.

  "Others, however, say that the saffron cakes in Tannt represent

heaven and earth, and others say that they represent Shu, the

strengthener of the Two Lands in Hensu; and others say that they

represent the Eye of Horus, and that Tannt is the burial-place of

Osiris.

  "Tem hath builded thy house, and the double Lion-god hath laid the

foundations of thy habitation. Lo! medicaments have been brought.

Horus purifieth Set and Set strengtheneth, and Set purifieth and Horus

strengtheneth.

  "The Osiris the scribe Ani, whose word is truth before Osiris,

hath come into this land, and he hath taken possession thereof with

his two feet. He is Tem, and he is in the city.

  "Turn thou back, O Rehu, whose mouth shineth, whose head moveth,

turn thou back before his strength." Another reading is, 'Turn thou

back from him who keepeth watch, and is himself unseen.' Let the

Osiris Ani be safely guarded. He is Isis, and he is found with her

hair spread over him; it is shaken out over his brow. He was conceived

by Isis, and engendered by Nephthys, and they have cut away from him

the things which should be cut from him.

  "Fear followeth after thee, terror is about thine arms. Thou hast

been embraced for millions of years by arms; mortals go round about

thee. Thou smitest down the mediators of thy foes, and thou seizest

the arms of the power of darkness. Thy two sisters (Isis and Nephthys)

are given to thee for thy delight. Thou hast created that which is

in Kher-aha, and that which is Anu. Every god feareth thee, for thou

art exceedingly great and terrible; thou [avengest] every god on the

man who curseth him, and thou shootest arrows at him. Thou livest

according to thy will. Thou art Uatchet, the Lady of Flame, evil

befalleth those who set themselves up against thee."

  What is this?

  "'Hidden in form, given of Menhu,' is the name of the "tomb. 'He who

seeth what is on his hand' is the name of Qerau, or, as others say, it

is the name of the Block.

  "Now, he whose mouth shineth and whose head moveth is the phallus of

Osiris, but others say it is [the phallus] of Ra. 'Thou spreadest

thy hair, and I shake it out over his brow" is said concerning Isis,

who hideth in her hair, and draweth it round about her.

  "Uatchet, the Lady of Flames, is the Eye of Ra."