Egyptian Literature Part 17

Of Making Perfect The Khu

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 17).]

ANOTHER CHAPTER OF MAKING PERFECT THE _KHU_, WHICH IS [TO BE RECITED ON]

THE BIRTHDAY OF OSIRIS, AND OF MAKING TO LIVE THE SOUL FOREVER.(113) The chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

"The heavens are opened, the earth is opened, the West is opened, the East is opened, the southern half of heaven is opened, the northern half of heaven is opened, the doors are opened, and the gates are thrown wide open to Ra [as] he cometh forth from the horizon. The _Sektet_ boat openeth for him the double doors and the _Matet_ boat bursteth open [for him] the gates; he breatheth, and the G.o.d Shu(114) [cometh into being], and he createth the G.o.ddess Tefnut. Those who are in the following of Osiris follow in his train, and the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, followeth on in the train of Ra. He taketh his iron weapon and he forceth open the shrine even as doth Horus, and pressing onward he advanceth unto the hidden things of his habitation with the libations of his divine shrine; the messenger of the G.o.d that loveth him. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, bringeth forth the right and the truth, and he maketh to advance the going forward(115) of Osiris. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, taketh in [his] hand[s] the cordage and he bindeth fast the shrine. Storms are the things which he abominateth. Let no water-flood be nigh unto him, let not the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, be repulsed before Ra, and let him not be made to turn back; for, behold, the Eye is in his two hands. Let not the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, walk in the valley of darkness, let him not enter into the Lake of those who are evil, and let him have no existence among the d.a.m.ned, even for a moment. Let not the Osiris Nu fall headlong among those who would lead him captive, and let not [his] soul go in among them. Let his divine face take possession of the place behind the block, the block of the G.o.d Septu."

"Hymns of praise be unto you, O ye divine beings of the Thigh, the knives of G.o.d [work] in secret, and the two arms and hands of G.o.d cause the light to s.h.i.+ne; it is doubly pleasant unto him to lead the old unto him along with the young at his season. Now, behold, the G.o.d Thoth dwelleth within his hidden places, and he performeth the ceremonies of libation unto the G.o.d who reckoneth millions of years, and he maketh a way through the firmament, and he doeth away with storms and whirlwinds from his stronghold, and the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, arriveth in the places of his habitations. [O ye divine beings of the Thigh], do ye away with his sorrow, and his suffering, and his pain, and may the sorrow of the Osiris Nu be altogether put away. Let the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, gratify Ra, let him make a way into the horizon of Ra, let his boat be made ready for him, let him sail on happily, and let Thoth put light into [his] heart; then shall the Osiris Nu, triumphant, praise and glorify Ra, and Ra shall hearken unto his words, and he shall beat down the obstacles which come from his enemies. I have not been s.h.i.+pwrecked, I have not been turned back in the horizon, for I am Ra-Osiris, and the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, shall not be s.h.i.+pwrecked in the Great Boat. Behold him whose face is in the G.o.d of the Thigh, because the name of Ra is in the body of the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, and his honor is in his mouth; he shall speak unto Ra, and Ra shall hearken unto his words."

"Hymns of praise unto thee, O Ra, in the horizon, and homage unto thee, O thou that purifiest with light the denizens of heaven, O thou who hast sovereign power over heaven at that supreme moment when the paddles of thine enemies move with thee! The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, cometh with the ordering of right and truth, for there is an iron firmament in Amentet which the fiend Apep hath broken through with his storms before the double Lion-G.o.d, and this will the Osiris Nu set in order; O hearken ye, ye who dwell upon the top of the throne of majesty. The Osiris Nu shall come in among thy divine sovereign chiefs, and Ra shall deliver him from Apep each day so that he may not come nigh unto him, and he shall make himself vigilant. The Osiris Nu shall have power over the things which are written, he shall receive sepulchral meals, and the G.o.d Thoth shall provide him with the things which should be prepared for him. The Osiris Nu maketh right and truth to go round about the bows in the Great Boat, and hath triumph among the divine sovereign chiefs, and he establisheth [it] for millions of years.

The divine chiefs guide him and give unto him a pa.s.sage in the boat with joy and gladness; the first ones among the company of the sailors of Ra are behind him, and he is happy. Right and truth are exalted, and they have come unto their divine lord, and praises have been ascribed unto the G.o.d Neb-er-tcher. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, hath taken in his hands the weapon and he hath made his way through heaven therewith; the denizens thereof have ascribed praises unto him as [unto] a divine being who standeth up and never sinketh to rest. The G.o.d Ra exalteth him by reason of what he hath done, and he causeth him to make of none effect the whirlwind and the storm; he looketh upon his splendors, and he stablisheth his oars, and the boat saileth round about in heaven, rising like the sun in the darkness.

Thoth, the mighty one, leadeth the Osiris Nu within his eye, and he sitteth [upon his] thigh[s] in the mighty boat of Khepera; he cometh into being, and the things which he saith come to pa.s.s. The Osiris Nu advanceth, and he journeyeth round about heaven unto Amentet, the fiery deities stand up before him, and the G.o.d Shu rejoiceth exceedingly, and they take in their hands the bows [of the boat] of Ra along with his divine mariners. Ra goeth round about and he looketh upon Osiris. The Osiris Nu is at peace, the Osiris Nu is at peace. He hath not been driven back, the flame of thy moment hath not been taken away from him, [O Ra,]

the whirlwind and storm of thy mouth have not come forth against him, he hath not journeyed upon the path of the crocodile-for he abominateth the crocodile-and it hath not drawn nigh unto him. The Osiris Nu embarked in thy boat, O Ra, he is furnished with thy throne, and he receiveth thy spiritual form. The Osiris Nu travelleth over the paths of Ra at daybreak to drive back the fiend Nebt; [he] cometh upon the flame of thy boat, [O Ra,] upon that mighty Thigh. The Osiris Nu knoweth it, and he attaineth unto thy boat, and behold he [sitteth] therein; and he maketh sepulchral offerings."

[THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE] RECITED OVER A BOAT OF THE G.o.d RA WHICH HATH BEEN PAINTED IN COLORS IN A PURE PLACE. AND BEHOLD THOU SHALT PLACE A FIGURE OF THE DECEASED IN THE BOWS THEREOF, AND THOU SHALT PAINT A SEKTET BOAT UPON THE RIGHT SIDE THEREOF, AND AN ATET BOAT UPON THE LEFT SIDE THEREOF, AND THERE SHALL BE MADE UNTO THEM OFFERINGS OF BREAD, AND CAKES, AND WINE, AND OIL, AND EVERY KIND OF FAIR OFFERING UPON THE BIRTHDAY OF OSIRIS. IF THESE CEREMONIES BE PERFORMED HIS SOUL SHALL HAVE EXISTENCE, AND SHALL LIVE FOREVER, AND SHALL NOT DIE A SECOND TIME.

The following is from the rubric to this chapter in the Sate Recension (see Lepsius, op. cit., Bl. 53):

"[He shall know] the hidden things of the underworld, he shall penetrate the hidden things in Neter-khertet (the underworld)."

"[This chapter] was found in the large hall(?) of the Temple under the reign of his Majesty Hesepti, triumphant, and it was found in the cavern of the mountain which Horus made for his father Osiris Un-nefer, triumphant. Now since Ra looketh upon this deceased in his own flesh, he shall look upon him as the company of the G.o.ds. The fear of him shall be great, and the awe of him shall be mighty in the heart of men, and G.o.ds, and _Khu_s, and the d.a.m.ned. He shall be with his soul and shall live forever; he shall not die a second time in the underworld; and on the day of weighing of words no evil hap shall befall him. He shall be triumphant over his enemies, and his sepulchral meals shall be upon the altar of Ra in the course of each day, day by day."

Of Living Nigh Unto Ra

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheets 17 and 18).]

THE CHAPTER OF HAVING EXISTENCE NIGH UNTO RA.(116) The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:

"I am that G.o.d Ra who s.h.i.+neth in the night. Every being who followeth in his train shall have life in the following of the G.o.d Thoth, and he shall give unto him the risings of Horus in the darkness. The heart of Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, is glad because he is one of those beings, and his enemies have been destroyed by the divine princes. I am a follower of Ra, and [I have]

received his iron weapon. I have come unto thee, O my father Ra, and I have advanced to the G.o.d Shu. I have cried unto the mighty G.o.ddess, I have equipped the G.o.d Hu, and I alone have removed the Nebt G.o.d from the path of Ra. I am a Khu, and I have come to the divine prince at the bounds of the horizon. I have met and I have received the mighty G.o.ddess. I have raised up thy soul in the following of thy strength, and my soul [liveth]

through thy victory and thy mighty power; it is I who give commands in speech to Ra, in heaven. Homage to thee, O great G.o.d in the east of heaven, let me embark in thy boat, O Ra, let me open myself out in the form of a divine hawk, let me give my commands in words, let me do battle in my _Sekhem_(?), let me be master under my vine. Let me embark in thy boat, O Ra, in peace, and let me sail in peace to the beautiful Amentet.

Let the G.o.d Tem speak unto me, [saying], 'Wouldst [thou] enter therein?'

The lady, the G.o.ddess Mehen, is a million of years, yea, two million years in extent, and dwelleth in the House of Urt and Nif-urt [and in] the Lake of a million years; the whole company of the G.o.ds move about among those who are at the side of him who is the lord of divisions of places(?). And I say, 'On every road and among these millions of years is Ra the lord, and his path is in the fire, and they go round about behind him, and they go round about behind him.' "

Of Bringing Men Back To Earth

[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 18).]

THE CHAPTER OF CAUSING A MAN TO COME BACK TO SEE HIS HOUSE UPON EARTH.(117) The Osiris Ani saith:

"I am the Lion-G.o.d coming forth with extended strides. I have shot arrows and I have wounded the prey; I have shot arrows and I have wounded the prey. I am the Eye of Horus, and I pa.s.s through the Eye of Horus at this season. I have arrived at the furrows; let the Osiris Ani advance in peace."(118)

Of Making Perfect The Khu

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 16).]

THE BOOK OF MAKING PERFECT THE _KHU_, WHICH IS TO BE RECITED ON THE DAY OF THE MONTH. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, saith:

"Ra riseth in his horizon, and his company of the G.o.ds follow after him.

The G.o.d cometh forth out of his hidden habitations, and food falleth out of the eastern horizon of heaven at the word of the G.o.ddess Nut who maketh plain the paths of Ra, whereupon straightway the Prince goeth round about.

Lift up then thyself, O thou Ra, who dwellest in thy divine shrine, draw thou into thyself the winds, inhale the north wind, swallow thou the skin(?) of thy net on the day wherein thou breathest right and truth. Thou separatest the divine followers, and thou sailest in [thy] boat to Nut; the divine princes march onward at thy word. Thou takest count of thy bones, thou gatherest together thy members, thou settest thy face toward the beautiful Amentet, and thou comest, being renewed each day. Behold, thou art that Image of gold, and thou dost possess the splendors of the disks of heaven and art terrible; thou comest, being renewed each day.

Hail, the horizon rejoiceth, and there are shouts of joy in the rigging [of thy boat]; when the G.o.ds who dwell in the heavens see the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, they ascribe unto him as his due praises which are like unto those ascribed unto Ra. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, is a divine prince and he seeketh(?) the _ureret_ crown of Ra, and he, the only one, is strong in good fortune (?) in that supreme body which is of those divine beings who are in the presence of Ra. The Osiris Nu is strong both upon earth and in the underworld; and the Osiris Nu is strong like unto Ra every day. The Osiris Nu shall not tarry, and he shall not lie without motion in this land forever. Being doubly beautiful [he] shall see with his two eyes, and he shall hear with his two ears; rightly and truly, rightly and truly. The Osiris Nu is like unto Ra, and he setteth in order the oars [of his boat]

among those who are in the train of Nu. He doth not tell that which he hath seen, and he doth not repeat that which he hath heard in the secret places. Hail, let there be shouts of joy to the Osiris Nu, who is of the divine body of Ra, as he journeyeth over Nu, and who propitiateth the KA of the G.o.d with that which he loveth. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, is a hawk, the transformations of which are mighty (or manifold)."(119)

[THIS CHAPTER SHALL BE] RECITED OVER A BOAT FOUR(120) CUBITS IN ITS LENGTH AND MADE OF GREEN PORCELAIN [ON WHICH HAVE BEEN PAINTED] THE DIVINE SOVEREIGN CHIEFS OF THE CITIES; AND A HEAVEN WITH ITS STARS SHALL [ALSO]

BE MADE, AND THIS THOU SHALT HAVE MADE CEREMONIALLY PURE BY MEANS OF NATRON AND INCENSE. AND, BEHOLD, THOU SHALT MAKE AN IMAGE OF RA IN YELLOW(?) COLOR UPON A NEW PLAQUE AND SET IT AT THE BOWS OF THE BOAT. AND BEHOLD, THOU SHALT PLACE AN IMAGE OF THE _KHU_ WHICH THOU DOST WISH TO MAKE PERFECT [AND PLACE IT] IN THIS BOAT, AND THOU SHALT MAKE IT TO TRAVEL ABOUT IN THE BOAT [WHICH SHALL BE MADE IN THE FORM OF THE BOAT] OF RA; AND HE SHALL SEE THE G.o.d RA HIMSELF THEREIN. LET NOT THE EYE OF ANY MAN WHATSOEVER LOOK UPON IT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THINE OWN SELF, OR THY FATHER,(121) OR THY SON, AND GUARD [THIS] WITH GREAT CARE.(122) [NOW THESE THINGS] SHALL MAKE THE _KHU_ PERFECT IN THE HEART OF RA, AND IT SHALL GIVE UNTO HIM POWER WITH THE COMPANY OF THE G.o.dS; AND THE G.o.dS SHALL LOOK UPON HIM AS A DIVINE BEING LIKE UNTO THEMSELVES; AND MANKIND AND THE DEAD SHALL LOOK UPON HIM AND SHALL FALL DOWN UPON THEIR FACES, AND HE SHALL BE SEEN IN THE UNDERWORLD IN THE FORM OF THE RADIANCE OF RA.

Of Making Perfect The Khu

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 17).]

ANOTHER CHAPTER OF MAKING PERFECT THE KHU.(123) The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, saith:

"Homage to thee, O thou who art within thy divine shrine, who s.h.i.+nest with rays of light and sendest forth radiance from thyself, who decreest joy for millions of years unto those who love him, who givest their hearts'

desire unto mankind, thou G.o.d Khepera within thy boat who hast overthrown Apep. O ye children of the G.o.d Seb, overthrow ye the enemies of Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, and destroy ye them from the boat of Ra; and the G.o.d Horus shall cut off their heads in heaven [where they are] in the form of feathered fowl, and their hind parts shall be on the earth in the form of animals and in the Lake in the form of fishes. Every male fiend and every female fiend shall the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, destroy, whether he descendeth from the heaven, or whether he cometh forth from the earth, or whether they come upon the waters, or whether they advance toward the stars, the G.o.d Thoth, the son of Aner, coming forth from the Anerti, shall hack them in pieces. The Osiris Nu is silent and dumb(?); cause ye this G.o.d, the mighty one of slaughter, the being greatly to be feared, to make himself clean in your blood and to bathe himself in your gore, and ye shall certainly be destroyed by him from the boat of his father Ra. The Osiris Nu is the G.o.d Horus to whom his mother the G.o.ddess Isis hath given birth, and whom the G.o.ddess Nephthys hath nursed and dandled, even like Horus when [he] repulsed the fiends of the G.o.d Suti; and when they see the _ureret_ crown stablished upon his head they fall down upon their faces and they glorify [him]. Behold, when men, and G.o.ds, and _Khu_s, and the dead see the Osiris Nu in the form of Horus with the _ureret_ crown stablished upon his head, they fall down upon their faces.

And the Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, is victorious over his enemies in the heights of heaven, and in the depths thereof, and before the divine sovereign chiefs of every G.o.d and of every G.o.ddess."

[THIS CHAPTER] SHALL BE RECITED OVER A HAWK STANDING AND HAVING THE WHITE CROWN UPON HIS HEAD, [AND OVER FIGURES OF] TEM, SHU, TEFNUT, SEB, NUT, OSIRIS, ISIS, SUTI, AND NEPHTHYS PAINTED IN YELLOW COLOR UPON A NEW PLAQUE, WHICH SHALL BE PLACED IN [A MODEL OF] THE BOAT [OF THE SUN], ALONG WITH A FIGURE OF THE DECEASED WHOM THOU WOULDST MAKE PERFECT. THESE SHALT THOU ANOINT WITH CEDAR OIL, AND INCENSE SHALL BE OFFERED UP TO THEM ON THE FIRE, AND FEATHERED FOWL SHALL BE ROASTED. IT IS AN ACT OF PRAISE TO RA AS HE JOURNEYETH, AND IT SHALL CAUSE A MAN TO HAVE HIS BEING ALONG WITH RA DAY BY DAY, WHITHERSOEVER THE G.o.d VOYAGETH; AND IT SHALL DESTROY THE ENEMIES OF RA IN VERY TRUTH REGULARLY AND CONTINUALLY.

For The New Moon

[From Lepsius "Todtenbuch," Bl. 55.]