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The Egyptian Book of the Dead

By E. A. Wallis Budge

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Plate II

Vignette I.: The disk of the Sun, supported by a pair of arms proceeding from the ankh, the sign of life, which in turn is supported by a tet the emblem of the East and of the god Osiris. The tet stands upon the horizon. On each side of the disk are three dog-headed apes, spirits of the Dawn, their arms raised in adoration of the disk. On the right hand side of the tet is the goddess Nephthys and on the left is Isis each goddess raising her hands in adoration of the tet, and kneeling upon the emblem aat, or hemisphere. Above is the sky. This vignette belongs properly to the hymn to the rising sun.[2]

[1. Maa, unvarying and unalterable Law. Compare the vignette from British Museum papyrus No. 9901. (Fig. 1.)

In some papyri the apes are four (Naville, Das Aeg. Todtenbuch, Bd. I., B1. 26), or seven (Naville, op. cit., Bd. I., Bl. 21) in number.

In the vignette which usually accompanies the hymn to the setting sun (Fig. 2), but which does not occur in the present papyrus, a hawk wearing on his head a disk encircled by a serpent, i.e., Ra-Harmachis, {footnote p. 253} takes the place of the disk and (e.g., British Museum papyri Nos. 9901 (Naville, op. cit., Bd. I., Bl. 22,), and 10,472); and the tet is represented by the stand ### (Naville, op. cit., Bd. 1., Bl. 22), on one side of which are three hawk-headed deities, and on the other three jackal-headed deities (see Lanzone, Dizionario, 10, pp. 56, 57.). Beneath are Isis and Nephthys kneeling in adoration before two lion-gods, which represent yesterday and to-morrow. An interesting variant of the latter vignette occurs in British Museum papyrus No. 10,472, which was made for the lady Anhai, a singer in the temple of Amen at Thebes, about B.C. 1000, where, in addition to the apes and figures of the goddesses (the titles of Isis being ### and those of Nephthys ###, there are represented, on each side (I) the winged utchat with pendent uræus and shen ### (emblematic of the sun's circuit) and feather (2) a man, prostrate, adoring the disk; (3) four men, upright, with both hands raised in adoration; and (4) a human-headed bird ###, emblematic of the soul of the deceased lady, standing upon a pylon.]

Text: (1) [HYMN TO OSIRIS.] "Glory be to Osiris Un-nefer, the great god within Abydos, king of eternity, lord of the everlasting, who passeth through millions of years in his existence. Eldest son of the womb (2) of Nut, engendered by Seb the Erpat,[1] lord of the crowns of the North and South, lord of the lofty white crown. As Prince of gods and of men (3) he hath received the crook and the flail and the dignity of his divine fathers.[2] Let thy heart which is

[1. The word ### er-pat is composed of er "chief" and pat a clan, "tribe," or "family"; Seb, then, was the prince of the family of the gods. Erpat is a very ancient word, and was probably in use in Egypt before suten, the common word for "king." For a discussion on this point see Maspero, Un Manuel de Hiérarchie Égyptienne, p. 15 ff.; Brugsch, Aegyptologie, p. 210.

2 Osiris, the night sun, was the son of Ra, and the father and son of Horus. He is always represented as a mummy holding in his hands the sceptre ### crook ### and flail ###. See Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 690 ff.; Wiedemann, Religion, p. 123 ff.; Brugsch, Religion und Mythologie, p. 611 ff.] in the mountain of Amenta be content, for thy son Horus is stablished upon thy throne. (4) Thou art crowned lord of Tattu[1] and ruler in Abtu.[2] Through thee the world waxeth green (5) in triumph before the might of Neb-er-tcher.[3] He leadeth in his train that which is and that which is not yet, in his name (6) Ta-her-seta-nef;[4] he toweth along the earth in triumph in his name Seker.[6] He is (7) exceeding mighty and most terrible in his name Osiris. He endureth for ever and for ever in his name Un-nefer.[6] (8) Homage to thee, King of kings, Lord of lords, Prince of princes, who from the womb of Nut hast possessed the world (9) and hast ruled all lands and Akert.[7] Thy body is of gold, thy head is of azure, and emerald light encircleth thee. O An[8] of millions of years, (10) all-pervading with thy body and

[1. The name Tettet or Tattu was borne by two towns in Lower Egypt: Busiris, the metropolis of the 9th nome, and Mendes, the metropolis of the 16th nome. See Brugsch, Dict. Géog., p. 978, and De Rougé, Géographie Ancienne de la Basse Égypte, p. 58.

2. Both Busiris and Abydos claimed to be the resting place of the body of Osiris.

3. A name of Osiris when his scattered limbs had been brought together and built up again into a body by Isis and Nephthys: see Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 714. The name means "lord of entirety."

4. I.e., The one who draws the world.

5. Seker is, like Ptah, Osiris, and Tenen, a form of the night sun. At the festival of this god, the Hennu boat, a symbol of the god Seker of Memphis, was drawn round the sanctuary at dawn at the moment when the sun casts its golden rays upon the earth. For a list of Seker's shrines, see Lanzone, Dizionario, pp. 1117-1119. See also Wiedemann, Religion, p. 75; Pierret, Panthéon, p. 66.

6. A name of Osiris which, as an important name, is written at times in a cartouche, e.g., ###, ###. It is usually explained to mean "the Good Being," although it has been suggested ### (Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch., 1886) that "beautiful hare" is its signification.

7. A general term for a necropolis. Akert is the country of which Osiris was the prince; and it is mentioned as connected with Stat and Neter-khert, each of which is a name of the great necropolis on the western bank of the Nile. See Brugsch, Dict. Géog., p. 75; Lepsius, Todtenbuch, chap. 165, 1. 6; Naville, La Litanie du Soleil, p. 98.

8. An or Ani, a name or form of Ra, the Sun-god (compare "Ani at the head of the cycle of the gods," Grébaut, Hymne, p. 22), and also of Osiris. Ani is also identified with the Moon-god; compare {footnote p. 255} [*] "Hail, Ani, thou shinest upon us from heaven every day. May we never cease to behold thy rays! Thoth protecteth thee and maketh thy soul to stand up in the maat boat in thy name of Moon." For the identification of Ani with Horus, see Naville, La Litanie du Soleil, p. 99, note 10. The god Ani is also addressed as "Eye of Horus " by the deceased in the 39th chapter of the Book of the Dead, which refers to the "uniting of a soul to its body in the underworld."

* For the hieratic text, see De Horrack, Lamentations d'Isis et de Nephthys, p. 4, II. 1-3.] beautiful in countenance in Ta-sert.[1] Grant thou to the ka of Osiris, the scribe Ani, splendour in heaven and might upon earth and triumph in Neter-khert;[1] and that I may sail down to (11) Tattu like a living soul and up to (13) Abtu like a bennu (phœnix); and that I may go in and come out without repulse at (15) the pylons of the Tuat.[1] May there be given unto (16) me loaves of bread in the house of coolness, and (17) offerings of food in Annu, (18) and a homestead for ever in Sekhet-Aru[2] with wheat and barley (20) therefor."