Description:

240 BC

THE PAPYRUS OF ANI

THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD

Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge

 

Part 48

  A HYMN TO RA [WHICH IS TO BE SUNG] ON THE DAY OF THE MONTH (THE

DAY OF THE NEW MOON) [WHEN] THE BOAT OF RA SAILETH. [The Osiris the

scribe Ani, whose word is truth, saith:-] Homage to thee, O thou who

dwellest in thy Boat. Thou rollest on, thou rollest on, thou sendest

forth light, thou sendest forth light. Thou decreest rejoicing for

[every] man for millions of years unto those who love him. Thou givest

[thy] face to the Hememet spirits, thou god Khepera who dwellest in

thy Boat. Thou hast overthrown the Fiend Aapep. O ye Sons of Keb,

overthrow ye the enemies of the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, and

the fiends of destruction who would destroy the Boat of Ra. Horus hath

cut off your heads in heaven. Ye who were in the forms of geese,

your navel strings are on the earth. The animals are set upon the

earth..... in the form of fish. Every male fiend and every female

fiend shall be destroyed by the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth.

Whether the fiends descend from out of heaven, or whether they come

forth from the earth, or whether they advance on the waters, or

whether they come from among the Star-gods, Thoth, [the son of

Aner], coming forth from Anerti shall hack them to pieces. And the

Osiris Ani shall make them silent and dumb. And behold ye, this god,

the mighty one of slaughters, the terror of whom is most great,

shall wash himself clean in your blood, and he shall bathe in your

gore, and ye shall be destroyed by the Osiris Ani in the Boat of his

Lord Ra-Horus. The heart of the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, shall

live. His mother Isis giveth birth to him, and Nephthys nurseth him,

just as Isis gave birth to Horus, and Nephthys nursed him. [He]

shall repulse the Smait fiends of Suti. They shall see the Urrt

Crown stablished upon his head, and they shall fall down upon their

faces [and worship him]. Behold, O ye Spirit-souls, and men, and gods,

and ye dead, when ye see the Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, in the

form of Horus, and the favoured one of the Urrt Crown, fall ye down

upon your faces. The word of the Osiris Ani is truth before his

enemies in heaven above, and on earth beneath, and before the

Tchatchau Chiefs of every god and of every goddess.

  RUBRIC: This Chapter shall be recited over a large hawk standing

upright with the White Crown upon his head, [and over figures of] Tem,

Shu, Tefnut, Keb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, [Suti] and Nephthys. And they

shall be painted in colour upon a new tablet, which shall be placed in

a boat, together with a figure of the deceased. Anoint them with heken

oil, and offer unto them burning incense, and geese, and joints of

meat roasted. It is an act of praise to Ra as he journeyeth in his

boat, and it will make a man to have his being with Ra, and to

travel with him wheresoever he goeth, and it will most certainly cause

the enemies of Ra to be slain. And the Chapter of travelling shall

be recited on the sixth day of the festival.