CHAPTER I.
Papyrus in the British Museum.
No. 9901.
_See_ NAVILLE, “Book of the Dead,” I, Pl. I and II.
]
NOTES.
The text taken for the basis of the translation of Chapter I is that of
the papyrus of Huneferu; _Ag_ of M. Naville’s edition.
1. The title here translated is that usual in all the papyri
representing the third period of the text. It occurs however in the
papyrus _Ag_ of Huneferu, who lived in the days of Seti I, at the
beginning of the XIXth dynasty. It is also found in the papyrus of Ani.
The most common title of Chapter I in the older manuscripts is
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “Chapter of coming to the
divine Powers attached to Osiris.” These divine Powers are Amsta, Hapi,
Tuamautef and Qebehsenuf, the children of Horus, who stand upon the
lotus which springs from the water beneath the throne of Osiris, in
pictures of the Psychostasia. Chapter 124 bears the same title in the
older manuscripts, which sometimes begin with it.
2. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. These are two very difficult words,
and very different meanings have been assigned to them. But when the
entire evidence is examined the result is plain enough. Each of the
words has for determinative the sign, ⁂, expressive of some kind of
utterance. It is a λόγος of some kind has for its first letter the
causative ⁂. The question therefore is, what are the meanings of the
simpler forms ⁂⁂, _tes_, and ⁂⁂⁂, _ḫu_?
The most common, indeed the only true, meaning of ⁂⁂ is
‘rising,’ and even ‘raising.’ This is too well-known to require proof.
⁂⁂ is ‘causing to rise.’ The Pyramid text of Teta says (l. 270),
“Horus hath given his children that they may raise thee up
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.” In the same religious text, l. 248,
⁂⁂ is the _rising from the funereal couch_ after the ⁂⁂,
the recitations made over the dead.
The ‘raising up’ or ‘resurrection’ here spoken of is said not only of
the soul but of the body of the deceased person. The papyrus of Nebseni
has preserved two chapters, to which M. Naville has assigned the numbers
177 and 178.
177. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Chapter of raising up the Chu, and giving life to the Soul in the
Netherworld._
178.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
_Chapter of raising up the body, of giving it eyes and the possession of
ears, and establishing the head, made firm on its props._
⁂, _ḫat_, is not simply the body; it is the _dead body_, that which
has _fallen_, like the Latin _cadaver_, the Greek πτῶμα, the Hebrew
מַפֶלֶח. (See _Transactions Soc. Bib. Arch._, Vol. VIII, p. 221, note 2.)
The true meaning of ⁂⁂⁂ _ḫu_ is not ‘luminous’ but
‘clear, distinct, glittering, ‘_coruscans_,’ and hence ‘bright,
splendid, illustrious, glorious,’ and the like. Like the Greek
λαμπρός, the Latin _clarus_, the Hebrew עהל, or the French
_éclat_, it is applied to sound as well as to light. It is said of
Thoth (in the wretched orthography[5] of a tablet of the XIXth
dynasty) ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “he glorified
them with the clear utterances of his mouth.” ⁂⁂⁂
corresponds to the Greek λαμπροφωνία. As a verb ⁂⁂ is
_clareo_, and is ⁂⁂⁂ _clarifico_, _glorifico_.
There are, it is true, variants in the title of Chapter 17, giving the
form ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. In spite of the excellent authority of
these variants, they must be considered as giving an erroneous reading.
The words ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘remember,’ and ⁂⁂⁂ are
different in origin and meaning. The latter signifies ‘confer glory,’
and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ are religious formularies recited by
priests, identifying the deceased person with Osiris and other
divinities. There are numerous pictures in the tombs representing
priests performing this office.[6]
3. M. Déveria has produced excellent evidence showing that ⁂
_maāt-ḫeru_ has the sense of ‘victorious, triumphant.’ But the sense of
_véridique_ is untenable. ⁂⁂⁂ _ḫeru_ is ‘voice’ not ‘speech.’
In _Proceedings S.B.A._, Vol. VI, p. 192, note, I have quoted a passage
from a chapter (now numbered 181 in M. Naville’s edition) in which
⁂⁂⁂⁂ signifies ‘want of success, failure.’
⁂⁂⁂⁂ _maāt ḫeru_ really signifies “one whose voice is Law.”
It is essentially a _divine_ title (see “Altar at Turin,”
_Transactions_, III, pl. II, _line_ 10, appended to Mr. Bonomi’s
article), and in _no_ Egyptian text is it used of mortals supposed to be
living. The translation “juste de voix,” limits the conception of _maāt_
to _one_ of its secondary acceptations.
⁂⁂⁂⁂ _semaāt ḫeru_ is also, and necessarily so, a divine
act, that of Thoth; and it is done through his utterances.
4. ⁂ _ȧn_ in this place as in very many others is not a preposition,
_still less is it a verb_. It is a demonstrative particle, like the
Latin _en_, _ecce_, or the Hebrew הֵו. Nothing is more common than this
particle followed only by a proper name, _e.g._, on the funereal
figures. There is not the slightest reason for supposing that there is
an ellipse of the verb ‘saith.’ The particle is used like the
corresponding Latin one under the Scottish picture of Edward I—
‘En rex Edwardus debacchans ut leopardus.’
When I translate ⁂⁂⁂ ⁂⁂⁂, “It is Thoth—who is here,” I
do not wish to imply that ⁂⁂ is the verb _to be_, any more than I
should in the frequent expression ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “It is his
son who revives his name.” ⁂ is a demonstrative particle and nothing
else.
Instead of looking out for moods and tenses and paradigms, Egyptologists
ought to wake to the consciousness that the Egyptians never rose to the
conception of what we mean by a _verb_.
5. The Bull of Amenta is Osiris. Bull, like Lion or Hawk, was one of the
figurative names of gods or kings, and Osiris is sometimes represented
with a Bull’s head.
6. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _T’at’at_. This word is often wrongly translated
‘judges.’ The divine judges are called _t’at’at_, but the proposition is
not simply convertible. There were the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ not only of
Osiris, but (_Todt._, 22, 2) also of every god and every goddess. And
all the ancient towns of Egypt had their divine ⁂⁂⁂⁂. It is
a term used (_cf._ p. 55) as exactly synonymous with ⁂⁂. In a
mythological system like the Egyptian no god stood alone; every god
involved others in close connection with himself, and every act of his
necessitated corresponding acts on their part.
7. The _sebȧu_ are the enemies of the _Sun_, either as Rā or Osiris. I
believe that under this mythological name the dark clouds are
personified.
8. _Het Saru_, ‘House of the Prince,’ is the name of the great Sanctuary
at Heliopolis. It must be remembered however that many of the
geographical localities named in the Book of the Dead have their
counterparts in the Egyptian heaven.
9. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂, the ‘firm, stable, unalterable,
abiding, eternal one,’ whose origin and progress are in eternity. The
city ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂ has a name like the
Palestinian עַוָֹה, Gazah, the ‘strong’ city, and many other Hebrew names
connected with the root עזז.
10. _Rechit_, a locality in the north of Egypt. The mourners and weepers
alluded to are chiefly Isis and Nephthys.
11. _Teshtesh_ is one of the names of Osiris; perhaps, as might be
inferred from a text at Dendera, of his molten image.
12. The god “whose heart is motionless” is Osiris.
13. ⁂⁂ _Re-stau_, one of the gates of the Netherworld. Its
situation is specified in Chapter 17, line 19.
14. _Sechem._ Letopolis, where the arm of Osiris had been deposited,
when the other limbs of the god were dispersed throughout the cities of
Egypt.
15. The _Tank of Flame_, as may be inferred from the vignettes of the
papyri, is where the sun rises or sets. _Cf._, Unas, 393, 506.
16. _Tenait._ Feast of the seventh day of the month.
17. The speaker now assumes the persons of various priests in
succession, the ⁂⁂ _āb_, the ⁂⁂⁂ _ḥen nutȧr_ (prophet),
the ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ura ḫerp ḥem_;[7] and
he describes himself as performing certain religious ceremonies. It must
never be forgotten when reading these texts that the Egyptian priests
had _divine titles_, and that their ceremonies were dramatic, and
symbolical of the acts performed by the gods.
18. The text here is hopelessly corrupt. The translation given follows
_Ag_.
Instead of ⁂⁂⁂ _exalt_, several MSS. have
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, which has been rendered _anoint with oil_. One
might translate the Turin text, “I lustrate with water in Tattu and with
oil in Abydos, exalting him who is in the heights (_in excelsis_),” for
this text combines different readings. But ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, as it
is written, may have another meaning. ⁂⁂⁂ _beq_, signifies
‘clear, bright, shining,’ and the olive tree derives its name from this.
The determinative ⁂ and the causative ⁂ furnish the sense, ‘I make
bright, illustrious, glorious,’ ‘I celebrate or glorify.’ ‘He is who on
the height’ (= עליון) is, according to Chapter 17, the Sun.
19. This is perhaps supposed to be said by the priest called ⁂⁂,
the ‘Arch-seer,’ at Heliopolis.
20. One of the designations of Osiris. Perhaps the word _Ba_ should be
translated Ram, for in the Mendesian Nome Osiris was worshipped under
this form, and was called ⁂⁂⁂ _ḣeru šefit_, ‘god of the strong
face.’ The fact is that whether applied to the _soul_ or to a _ram_, the
word _ba_ is expressive of ‘power, force.’ The same word under the form
⁂⁂⁂⁂ is used in Chapter 120, 2 (= 12, 2) in the sense of
‘splitting up.’ And this is clearly the Egyptian concept of the
soul—‘the internal force, that which works within us,’ τὸ ἐνεργοῦν.
The word is ideographically written ⁂ or ⁂,[8] both the Ram and
the cranelike bird being called _ba_. Some have cleverly inferred that
the Egyptians thought that the soul was of a birdlike form, and others
have not hesitated to consider _ba_ as expressive of the cry of the
_ram_. The odd thing is that only the ram has this name, not the _sheep_
or the _lamb_, who nevertheless indulge in the same cry. The truth is
that in spite of appearances the word _ba_ is not onomatopoeic here.
Whether applied to the ram or to the heron, the word is expressive of
human action and signifies ‘digging through, cleaving, piercing,
splitting.’ The hieroglyphic variants are very expressive: ⁂⁂⁂,
⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂
(the last is already found in _Denkm._ II, 51).
The Ram is called in Egyptian _ba_ on account of the digs which he makes
with his head, and a force which has occasioned the name of ‘ram’ to be
given to powerful engines.
The Heron is also called _ba_ because with its bill it _cleaves_ the
fishes which it attacks.
And the word which _we_ translate Soul or Spirit is called _ba_, because
it is conceived as something which ‘pierces, penetrates and divides.’
It is right to point out (to those who may wonder at this Egyptian
etymology) that the Latin _scio_ ‘I know’ is etymologically akin to
_seco_ ‘cut,’ _securis_ ‘an axe,’ and the Greek κείω, κεάζω ‘split,
cleave.’
21. The ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂ _urȧ ḫerp ḥem_, were
priests in the service of Ptah. The latter, who held perhaps the highest
sacerdotal office in Egypt, as high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is
repeatedly found combining with his own special office that of the
_sem_. The ceremony which is here referred to consisted in a grand
procession round the walls of the great sanctuary of Ptah, conveying
upon a sledge the bark ⁂ in which the coffin of the god was supposed
to rest. Sokaru signifies ‘the coffined,’ and Ptah Sokaru is only a form
of Osiris. Abundant details of the ceremony will be found in the plates
of M. Mariette’s _Abydos_, I, pl. 36 and following. The king Seti I is
represented as a Sem priest presiding at the festival.
22. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Suten-ḥenen_ was called by the Greeks
Heracleopolis.
23. Or ‘rid of his business.’ The word ⁂ _sep_, ‘turn,’ has the
different significations of the Latin ‘vices.’
In the later recensions this chapter is lengthened out by other
petitions. The deceased asks, among other things, to appear “before
thee, O Lord of the gods, to attain the region of _Maāt_, may I rise up
a living god, let me shine like the divine host which is in heaven, let
me be as one of you. Let my steps be lifted up in Cher-ābaut. Let me see
the ship[9] of the holy Sahu [Orion], traversing the sky; let me not be
prevented from seeing the lords of the Tuat [the Netherworld], smelling
the fragrance of the sacrificial offerings made to the divine host, and
sitting with them. Let the Cher-heb [the priestly ministrant] make
invocation over my coffin. Let me hear the prayers of propitiation. Let
the divine ship Neshemet advance for me, let not my soul and its
possessor suffer repulse.”
An invocation to Osiris follows.
“Hail to thee, Prince of Amenta, Osiris, lord of Nifura; grant that I
may advance in peace towards Amenta, and that the Lords of Tasert may
receive me and say to me, ‘Salutation! Salutation! in Peace!’ let them
make for me a seat by the Prince of the divine Powers, let the two
Chenemta goddesses [Isis and Nephthys] receive me, in presence of
Unneferu, the Victorious. Let me be a follower of Horus in Re-stau, and
of Osiris in Tattu. Let me assume all forms for the satisfaction of my
heart in every place that my Genius [_Ka_] wisheth.”
The following rubric is found as early as the XIXth dynasty in
connection with this chapter, but it seems to have originally been
attached to Chapter 72.
“If this discourse is learnt upon earth, or is written upon the coffin,
he (the deceased) may come forth upon every day that he pleaseth and
again enter his house without impediment. And there shall be given to
him bread and beer and flesh meat upon the table of Râ: he shall receive
allotment in the Fields of Aarru [the Elysian fields of Egyptian
mythology], and there shall be given to him there wheat and barley, for
he shall be flourishing as when he was upon earth.”