Chapter I. It was one of those commemorative and representative of the
death of Osiris, of his mutilation, mummification and burial.
Prescriptions for carrying it out are found in the great text at
Denderah, published by Dümichen and Mariette, and translated by Brugsch,
and Loret, and (in part) by Dümichen.
_Tenait_ is also the name of certain days of the month, and (Teta, 229)
of the fifth hour of the day.
15. _The bolts made fast on the gateways._ The Pyramid Texts
on behalf of the deceased invoke the
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, ‘the bolt
which closes the gateway of Heaven,’ with a prayer that it may open to
him (Teta, 235, compare line 200).
16. _He who lulleth me_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. The word is here
in the dual, as corresponding to the double lion. _Cf._
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Teta 261. The
important variant ⁂⁂⁂ is found at Edfu (Rochemonteix, p. 78).
17. _I sever the horns._ _Cf._ Psalm lxxv, 11.
18. The _lands_. The Egyptian word varies in the texts. The most
authorized reading ⁂⁂ is used in different senses: one of which
(and perhaps the original one) is _put_, _put on_; _ponere_, _locare_,
_induere_, _figere_, _addere_. Here it would seem from the context to
mean locality, post, spot of earth. And I am inclined to identify
⁂⁂ in this place with the well-known ⁂, or ⁂⁂⁂, as an
equivalent if not as a phonetic variant.
19. _Blessed are they who see_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ written
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ in the Pyramid Texts (Unas, 584, Teta, 42,
Pepi I, 181 and 199), where it is in parallelism with ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
20. _The Bourne_, ⁂⁂⁂. On the goddess ⁂⁂⁂⁂,
_Menait_, _cf._ Teta 288, Pepi I, 70, 154, 163.
21. _The Sycomore_ of Dawn repeatedly mentioned in the Book of the Dead.
The Pyramid Texts also (Pepi I, 174) speak of the tall Sycomore of Sut
in the Eastern Sky on which the gods congregate and sit, in expectation
of the arrival of the Glorified one.
22. _To hold the Eye_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Later texts, like
the Turin copy, have ⁂⁂⁂⁂. The two verbs here (like
⁂⁂⁂⁂ which is also found as a variant) are synonymous in the
sense of _embracing_, _holding_,[78] _enclosing_, _fastening_,
_staying_, _propping_.
According to the ancient myth Sut deprived Horus of his Eye, which was
recovered by Thoth, and by him restored to its owner. The following
passage from an inscription at Edfu (Rochemonteix, p. 25) is in strict
accordance with the oldest mythological texts.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
“Asten, who restored the Eye of Horus to its Lord, who preserved the Eye
(_ut’ at_) from suffering harm, who made fast the Eye (_nutrit_) in its
place, and who pacified Horus with his Eye.” The different synonyms
designating the Eye are important as showing that the word
⁂⁂⁂⁂ is here used in the sense of the _daily_ light of the
sun.
The other part of the same text as Edfu gives additional variants.
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
and ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. Here the Eye is called ⁂⁂,
⁂⁂, and ⁂⁂. But in other places the _Ut’ at_ stands for a
less frequent moment of the solar progress. In the Pyramid Texts for
instance ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “holder of the _Southern_ Eye
of Horus” might perhaps designate the Summer Solstice. And a later text
connects the Eye with the opening of the year.
The priestly title ⁂⁂⁂, ‘holder of the Eye,’ is like all such
titles, that of the divinity whom the priest personates. The god himself
is hieroglyphically represented by the sign ⁂⁂ of an ape holding
the Eye.
23. _The tunnels_, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, Teta, 291;
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, Horhotep, 213. See my note _Proc. Soc.
Bibl. Arch._, 1873, p. 385. The Coptic ⲁⲕⲟⲣⲓ, which is generally
supposed to be a serpent, is more probably an _earth-worm_, like
⁂⁂.
The Pyramid Texts have another word which I understand of the
tunnels through which the Sun, Moon, and Stars pass from West to
East, ⁂⁂⁂, as opposed to ⁂⁂⁂, the paths of the
upper world. Anubis is called ⁂⁂⁂⁂ (Pepi I, 80), and
these passages are ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂
(_ib._, 73), “between the two divine forms” (a lion at each end).
_Cf._ Teta, 319, where it is said of the Stars
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂,
that at their triumphant course through the tunnels the bones of
the Akeru gods quake.
24. _The god of the Hennu Bark_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, he who
resides in the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ ship referred to in chapter I. The god
of this ship is commonly named Sekaru in the texts, but Hennu is also
one of the names of Horus. On the connection between the two names see
Teta, line 270.
25. King Septa ⁂ of the 1st dynasty, who has been identified with the
Usaphais of Manetho.
The other account of the discovery of the chapter is thus described in
the rubric of the second recension.
_This chapter was discovered at Hermopolis upon a slab of alabaster,
inscribed in blue, under the feet of this god_ [Osiris], _at the time of
King Menkarā, the victorious, by the royal prince Hortâtâf, when he was
journeying for the purpose of inspecting the temples_ ...[79] _and he
carried off the slab in the royal chariot, when he saw what was on it._
The rubric farther prescribes that a scarab of hard stone encircled and
purified with gold[80] should be placed upon the place of the heart of
the deceased, and that the ‘words of power’ contained in the 30th
chapter, “Heart mine of my mother,” etc., should be repeated. The gold
leaf or plate has been found on some scarabs, but has disappeared from
nearly all.
The ‘Ritual of Parma,’ which speaks of two metals, ⁂⁂⁂ _smu_,
and silver (the latter for the rim), directs that the scarab should be
put at the throat of the deceased. According to this authority it was
the 30th chapter, not the 64th, which was discovered by Prince Hortâtâf
in his inspectorial tour.
-----
Footnote 73:
The text is too corrupt here for any plausible translation.
Footnote 74:
_Not_ is omitted in many copies.
Footnote 75:
The copies of this paragraph are as discordant as they are
unintelligible. It is idle to guess at the meaning until a better text
can be discovered.
Footnote 76:
Etudes Egyptologiques; sixième livraison.
Footnote 77:
Here as in the name of ⁂ Tmu, the _long_ sign is written first
though read last.
Footnote 78:
_Cf._ the expressions ⁂⁂⁂⁂ as, Teta, 258, 262, and
⁂⁂⁂⁂. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is not a mere _gate_, but
a _hold_, or _keep_.
Footnote 79:
There is no certainty about the text of the next few words.
Footnote 80:
I understand by this that the gold is intended to krep the scarab free
from defilement.
------------------------------------