Chapter 145 is the same text which has been spun out a little more. We
have no older copy of it than the fragments in the tomb of Meneptah
Siphtah and queen Tauser, which give us only eleven pylons, with a very
incorrect text. As for the Turin text, it is so hopelessly corrupt,
especially in the most important part, the names, that I did not attempt
to translate it. Then chapter 145 is the text of Nu for 146 still more
developed. In the version of the royal tomb, each paragraph is called:
“The salutation of Osiris, the king, to the pylon: I know thee, I know
thy name, I know the name of the god who guardeth thee.” Then follow the
name of the pylon, and that of the god, and after having said them, the
deceased describes the purifications he goes through, the oils with
which he has been anointed, and the text ends with these words: pass on,
thou art pure.
It is curious that both in 145 and 146 there is a change at the pylon
No. 11. In our text, _Lc_, the name of the doorkeeper disappears, and
each time, after the name of the pylon, we find these words:
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
In 145 the name of the doorkeeper is still mentioned, but this sentence
takes the place of the description of the purifications and ointments
which occurred in the previous paragraphs. I should translate these
words: _she will direct or prepare the enwrapping or clothing of the
dead_. I think that the dead is supposed to wear a different garment at
each pylon, which is provided to him by the pylon itself.
A still more detailed version of 145 is found in the Paris papyrus _Pg_,
of which we have only a very short fragment. At each pylon there is a
dialogue between the deceased and doorkeeper, who asks whether the
deceased has been purified, in what water, with what oil he has been
anointed, which garment he wears, which stick he holds in his hand.
Chapters 145 and 146 are among the most incorrect texts of the Book of
the Dead, and until we have new copies of the old versions, there will
always be a large measure of conjecture in any attempt to translate
them.
1. ⁂⁂⁂⁂. Being feminine, the name is that of a woman or a
goddess.
2. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. One of the names of Hathor, the
consort of Thoth at Hermopolis (Mariette, _Dendérah_, II, pl. 27, 15).
3. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Renouf translates, “words of power.” I
should prefer “magic power.”
4. I read with the Turin text ⁂⁂⁂.
5. ⁂. According to Lepsius, the σχοινιον, 40 cubits.
6. I read with the text of chapter 145 in the royal tomb
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
The vignettes vary considerably, according to the papyri. In _Lc_ all
the pylons are alike, with a god sitting inside; evidently the artist
was free to draw them according to his fancy. The vignettes of the
papyrus of Ani, and, still more, _Pc_, are remarkable for their fine
colours.
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PLATE L.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration: CHAPTER CXLVII. =Papyrus, Leyden, No. VI.=]
[Illustration: CHAPTER CXLVII. =Louvre, III, 8-9.=]
[Illustration: CHAPTERS CXLIV AND CXLVII. =British Museum. Papyrus No.
9900.=]
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PLATE LI.
BOOK OF THE DEAD.
[Illustration: CHAPTER CXLVIII. =Papyrus, Berlin Museum, No. 2.=]
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