CHAPTER CIX.
_Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of the East._
I know that Eastern Gate of Heaven (the South of it is by the lake of
Cha-ru, and the north of it by the stream of Reu), from whence Rā
saileth with favouring gales.(1.)
I am the Teller(2.) in the divine ship: I am the unresting navigator in
the Bark of Rā.
I know those two Sycomores of Emerald between which Rā cometh forth, as
he advanceth over what Shu hath lifted up,[94] to every gate(3.) through
which he proceedeth.
I know the Garden of Aarru: the wall of it is of steel. The wheat of it
is of 7 cubits, the ears of it of 2 cubits, the stalk of it of 4 cubits.
The barley of it is of 7 cubits, and the ears are of 4 cubits, and the
stalk of 3 cubits.
It is the glorified ones, each of whom is 9 cubits in height, who reap
them, in presence of the Powers of the East.
I know the Powers of the East: Horus of the Solar Mount, the Calf in
presence of the God,(4.) and the Star of Dawn.
A divine Domain(5.) hath been constructed for me; I know the name of it;
the name of it is the garden of Aarru.
NOTES.
Another recension of this chapter has been incorporated into chapter
149. The differences lie chiefly in the order assigned to each of the
component sentences.
1. _Favouring gales_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “_sailing breezes_,”
correspond to phrases like ἴκμενος οὖρος, venti secundi, trade winds,
tail wind, stern wind. There is not the faintest authority from the
older papyri (which are very numerous, and remarkably unanimous on this
point) in favour of the determinative ⁂, of the Turin _Todtenbuch_,
which gives the sense of violent or tempestuous winds.
2. _Teller_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
3. _Every gate._ “Rā at his rising is adored by the Powers of the East.
They it is who effect the rising of Rā, by opening the door at each of
the four portals of the Eastern horizon of heaven.” (Inscr. in tomb of
Rameses VI, Champollion, _Notices_, Tom. II, p. 640.)
4. _The Calf in presence of the god._ The _Calf_ is seen in the
vignettes of this chapter and also of chapter 1. Brugsch (_Rev.
Egypt_, I, p. 38) quotes texts showing that the Milch-cow
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Hor-sechauit_, is the mother of the
Sun-god, and that the infant god is the calf to whom she gives birth.
The words “in presence of the god” are probably corrupt, but the
variants are apparently worse. The Morning Star was equally identified
with Horus.
5. _The divine Domain._ See M. Maspero’s important article “Sur le sens
des mots Nouit et Hait,” in _P.S.B.A._, XII, p. 235-257. “⁂ NOUIT
sert à désigner un domaine rural d’étendue plus ou moins considérable,
portant ou ne portant pas de village ou de maison d’habitation.... Il
était une personne réelle, formant un corps complet en soi, et c’est
pour cela qu’on le représente sous la forme d’un homme ou d’une femme
apportant des produits agricoles et des offrandes.”
ADDITIONAL NOTE.
The later copies of the Book of the Dead add a few lines to the chapter,
of which they certainly formed no part when first written. The most
interesting portion of them is as follows:—
“There are writings in thy possession for the grant of fields of
corn-land in which there sprouteth corn from the effluxes of the god
Ut’eb. The height of the corn is seven cubits, the ears of two cubits;
and thou shall reap it with the Glorified ones, in presence of the
Powers of the East. Thou shalt enter boldly at the mysterious portals
and be purified by those who are there.”
The name of the god hieroglyphically written ⁂⁂ was shown by me
(_Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, Vol. VI, p. 187) to be _Uteb_ or _Ut’eb_.
Brugsch, apparently without having seen my note, came to the same
result, though he identified the god with Seb. The god is really Osiris,
and the text just quoted is illustrated by a picture of which various
copies are found. That here given is taken from the temple of Philae.
These pictures were known from the Ramesside period, but the
conception of Osiris which they convey ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
(_Todt._, 142, 7) is of primitive antiquity. There is a chapter among
the texts preserved by the Coffin of Amamu (pl. xxvii, 6) about
“assuming the form of corn,” ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, and which
speaks of “the vegetation of life proceeding from Osiris, growing out
of the ribs of Osiris, and giving life to this generation of men,”
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The same idea gave rise to the name ⁂⁂⁂⁂ which is given to
Osiris in the Book of the Dead, in the sacred texts of the Royal Tombs,
and in the Hymn to the Nile. But the god is also twice called
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ in Amamu, pl. xxvii, 8. This latter form
proves that in ⁂⁂⁂⁂ we have a compound term.
The deity (in very late times) appears in the feminine gender
⁂⁂⁂ (_Denkm._, iv, 57).
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Footnote 94:
_I.e._, the Sky.
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CX. The Chapter which in the printed copy of the Turin _Todtenbuch_ is
numbered 110 interrupts the series of chapters on the Powers of certain
localities. The translation of it is reserved till that of these
chapters is completed. It will be found at page 193.
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