Identification with Horus.
Again, the deceased is changed into Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis. It is said of Pepi I., "Behold it is not Pepi who entreateth to see thee in the form in which thou art ###, O Osiris, who entreateth to see thee in the form in which thou art, O Osiris; but it is thy son who entreateth to see thee in the form in which thou art, O Osiris, it is Horus who entreateth to see thee in the form in which thou art";[3] and Horus does not place Pepi at the head of the dead, but among the divine gods.[4] Elsewhere we are told that Horus has taken his Eye and given it to Pepi, and that the odour of Pepi's body is the odour of the Eye of Horus.[5] Throughout the pyramid texts the Osiris of the deceased is the son of Tmu, or Tmu-Ra, Shu, Tefnut, Seb, and Nut, the brother of Isis, Nephthys, Set, and Thoth, and the father of Horus;[6] his hands, arms, belly, back, hips and thighs, and legs are the god Tmu, and his face is Anubis.[7] He is the brother of the moon,[8] he is the child of the star Sothis,[9] he revolves in heaven like Orion and Sothis,[10] and he rises in his place like a star.[11] The gods, male and
[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. iii., p. 217 (l. 283).
2. Ibid., ###. t. vii., p. 150 (l. 263).
3. Ibid., t. vii., p. 155 (l. 315 f.)
4. ###. t. v., p. 194 (p. 190).
5 Ibid., t. vii., p. 169 (1. 457).
6 Ibid., t. iii., pp. 209-211.
7 Ibid., p. 201 (l. 207).
8. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 198 (l. 203).
9. Ibid., t. iv., p. 44 (l. 391).
10. Ibid., t. iii., p. 205 (l. 221).
10. Ibid., t. iv., p. 44 (l. 391).]
{p. lxxiv}
female, pay homage to him,[1] every being in heaven adores him; and in one interesting passage it is said of Pepi I. that "when he hath come forth into heaven he will find Ra standing face to face before him, and, having seated himself upon the shoulders of Ra, Ra will not let him put himself down again upon the ground; for he knoweth that Pepi is more shining than the shining ones, more perfect than the perfect, and more stable than the stable ones . . . . . When Pepi standeth upon the north of heaven with Ra, he becometh lord of the universe like unto the king of the gods."[2] To the deceased Horus gives his own ka,[3] and also drives away the ka's of the enemies of the deceased from him, and hamstrings his foes.[4] By the divine power thus given to the deceased he brings into subjection the ka's of the gods[5] and other ka's,[6] and he lays his yoke upon the ka's of the triple company of the gods.[7] He also becomes Thoth,[8] the intelligence of the gods, and he judges hearts;[9] and the hearts of those who would take away his food and the breath from his nostrils become the prey of his hands.[10]
The heavenly life of the blessed.
The place of the deceased in heaven is by the side of God[11] in the most holy place,[12] and he becomes God and an angel of God;[13] he himself is triumphant,[14]
[1. ###. Recueil de Travaux, t. v., p. 23, (l. 197).
2. Ibid., t. v., p. 17, (l. 91 ff.).
3. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 33 (l. 265).
4 Ibid., t. V., p. 40 (l. 287).
5. ###. Ibid., p. 45 (l. 306).
6. ###. Ibid., t. iv., p. 51 (l. 451); iii., p. 208 (l. 234).
7. Ibid., t. v., p. 460. (l. 307).
8. Ibid., t. vii., p. 168 (l. 452).
9. Ibid., t. iii., p. 208 (l. 233), ###.
10. Ibid., t. iv., p. 49 (l. 430), ###.
11. ### un-k ar kes neter; ibid., t. iii., p. 202 (l. 209).
12. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 89 (l. 178).
13. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 187 (l. 175).
14. ### maa-xeru; ibid., t. v., p. 186 (l. 172). These words are in later times always added after the name of the deceased, and seem to mean something like "he whose voice, or speech, is right and true"; the expression has been rendered by "disant la vérité," "véridique," "juste," "justifié," "vainqueur," "waltend des Wortes," "mächtig der Rede," "vrai de voix," "juste de voix," "victorious," "triumphant," and the like. See on this subject Maspero, Études de Mythologie et d'Archéologie, t. i., pp. 93-114; Devéria, L'Expression Màà-xerou (in Recueil de Travaux, t. i., p. 10 ff.). A somewhat different view of the signification of maakheru is given by Virey (Tombeau de Rekhmara, Paris, 1889, p. 101. Published in Mémoires publiés par les Membres de la Miss. Arch. Française au Caire, t. v., fasc. i.). The offerings which were painted on the walls of the tomb were actually enjoyed by the deceased in his new state of being. The Egyptians called them "per kheru," that is to say, "the things which the word or the demand made to appear," or "per hru kheru," that is to say, "the things which presented themselves at the word" or "at the demand" of the deceased. The deceased was then called "maa kheru," that is to say, "he who realizes his word," or "he who realizes while he speaks," or "whose voice or demand realizes," or "whose voice or demand makes true, or makes to be really and actually" that which only appears in painting on the walls of the tomb. M. Amélineau combats this interpretation, and agrees with M. Maspero's rendering of "juste de voix"; see Un Tombeau Égyptien (in Revue de l'Histoire des Religions), t. xxiii, pp. 153, 154. It is possible that maa-kheru may mean simply "blessed."]
{p. 1xxv}
and his ka is triumphant.[1] He sits on a great throne by the side of God.[2] The throne is of iron ornamented with lions' faces and having the hoofs of bulls.[3] He is clothed in the finest raiment, like unto the raiment of those who sit on the throne of living right and truth.[4] He receives the urerit crown from the gods,[5] and from the great company of the gods of Annu.[6] He thirsts not, nor hungers, nor is sad;[7] he eats the bread of Ra and drinks what he drinks daily,[8] and his bread also is that which is spoken by Seb, and that which comes forth from the mouth of the gods.[9] He eats what the gods eat, he drinks what they drink, he lives as they live, and he dwells where they dwell;[10] all the gods give him their food that he may not die.[11] Not only does he eat and drink of their food, but he wears the
[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. v., p. 189 (l. 179).
2. ###. Ibid., t. i,., p. 58 (l. 494).
3 ###. Ibid., t. vii., p. 154 (ll. 309, 310).
4. Ibid., t. v., p. 148 (1. 239).
5. Ibid., t. iv., p. 56 (l. 480).
6. Ibid., t. v., p. 176 (1. 117).
7. Ibid., t. iii., p. 195 (l. 172).
8 Ibid., t. v., p. 52 (l. 335)
9 ###. Ibid., t. iii., p. 208 (1. 234).
10. Ibid., t. iii., p. 198 (1. 191 f.).
11. Ibid., t. v., p. 164 (1. 56).]
{p. lxxvi}
apparel which they wear,[1] the white linen and sandals;[2] he is clothed in white,[3] and "he goeth to the great lake in the midst of the Field of Peace whereon the great gods sit; and these great and never failing gods give unto him [to eat] of the tree of life of which they themselves do eat that he likewise may live."[4] The bread which he eats never decays and his beer never grows stale.[5] He eats of the "bread of eternity" and drinks of the "beer of everlastingness" which the gods eat and drink;[6] and he nourishes himself upon that bread which the Eye of Horus has shed upon the branches of the olive tree.[7] He suffers neither hunger nor thirst like the gods Shu and Tefnut, for he is filled with the bread of wheat of which Horus himself has eaten; and the four children of Horus, Hapi, Tuamautef, Qebhsennuf and Amset, have appeased the hunger of his belly and the thirst of his lips.[8] He abhors the hunger which he cannot satisfy, and he loathes the thirst which he cannot slake;[9] but he is delivered from the power of those who would steal away his food.[10] He is washed clean, and his ka is washed clean, and they eat bread together for ever.[11] He is one of the four children of Horus who live on right and truth,[12] and they give him his portion of the food with which they have been so abundantly supplied by the god Seb that they have never yet known what it is to hunger. He goes round about heaven even as they do, and he partakes of their food of figs and wine.[13]
[1. ###. Recueil de Travaux, t. v., p. 190 (l. 180).
2. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 163 (l. 408).
3. Ibid., t. iv., p. 45 (l. 394).
4. Ibid., t. vii., p. j65 (l. 430).
5. ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 412 (l. 288), and t. vii., p. 167 (l. 442).
6. ###. Ibid., t. vii., p. 160 (l. 390).
7. Ibid., t. iii., p. 199 (1. 200).
8. Ibid., t. v., p. 10 (l. 54 ff.).
9. Ibid., t. iii., p. 199 (1. 195 f.)
10. Ibid., t. iv., p. 48 (l. 429).
11. Ibid., t. v., p. 167 (l. 66).
12 Ibid., t. viii., p. 106 (l. 673).
13 ###. Ibid., t. viii., p 110 (l. 692).]
{p. lxxvii}
Those who would be hostile to the deceased become thereby foes of the god Tmu, and all injuries inflicted on him are inflicted on that god;[1] he dwells without fear under the protection of the gods,[2] from whose loins he has come forth.[3] To him "the earth is an abomination, and he will not enter into Seb; for his soul hath burst for ever the bonds of his sleep in his house which is upon earth. His calamities are brought to an end, for Unas hath been purified with the Eye of Horus; the calamities of Unas have been done away by Isis and Nephthys. Unas is in heaven, Unas is in heaven, in the form of air, in the form of air; he perisheth not, neither doth anything which is in him perish.[4] He is firmly stablished in heaven, and he taketh his pure seat in the bows of the bark of Ra. Those who row Ra up into the heavens row him also, and those who row Ra beneath the horizon row him also."[5] The life which the deceased leads is said to be generally that of him "who entereth into the west of the sky, and who cometh forth from the east thereof."[6] In brief, the condition of the blessed is summed up in the following extract from the pyramid of Pepi I.:--
"Hail, Pepi, thou hast come, thou art glorious, and thou hast gotten might like the god who is seated upon his throne, that is Osiris. Thy soul is with thee in thy body, thy form of strength is behind thee, thy crown is upon thy head, thy head-dress is upon thy shoulders, thy face is before thee, and those who sing songs of joy are upon both sides of thee; those who follow in the train of God are behind thee, and the divine forms who make God to come are upon each side of thee. God cometh, and Pepi hath come upon the throne of Osiris. The shining one who dwelleth in Netat, the divine form that dwelleth in Teni, hath come. Isis speaketh unto thee, Nephthys holdeth converse with thee, and the shining ones come unto thee bowing down even to the ground in adoration at thy feet, by reason of the writing which thou hast, O Pepi, in the region of Saa. Thou comest forth to thy mother Nut, and she strengtheneth thy arm, and she maketh a way for thee through the sky to the place where Ra abideth. Thou hast opened the gates of the sky, thou hast opened the doors of the celestial deep; thou hast found Ra and he watcheth over thee, he hath taken thee by thy hand, he hath led thee into the two regions of heaven, and he hath placed thee on the throne of Osiris. Then hail, O Pepi, for the Eye of Horus came to hold converse with thee; thy soul which was among the gods came unto thee; thy form of power which was dwelling among the shining ones came unto thee. As a son fighteth for his father, and as Horus avenged Osiris, even so doth Horus defend Pepi against his enemies. And thou
[1. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 74 (1. 602).
2. Recueil de Travaux, t. iv., p. 46 (l. 405).
3. Ibid., t. iii., p. 202 (1. 209).
4. Ibid., t. iv., p. 51 (1. 447 f.).
5. Ibid., t. v., p. 53 (l. 340).
6. ###. Ibid., t. 8, p. 104 (l. 665).
7. Ibid., t. v., p. 159, (ll. 1-21).]
{p. lxxviii}
"standest avenged, endowed with all things like unto a god, and equipped with all the forms of Osiris upon the throne of Khent-Amenta. Thou doest that which he doeth among the immortal shining ones; thy soul sitteth upon its throne being provided with thy form, and it doeth that which thou doest in the presence of Him that liveth among the living, by the command of Ra, the great god. It reapeth the wheat, it cutteth the barley, and it giveth it unto thee. Now, therefore, O Pepi, he that hath given unto thee life and all power and eternity and the power of speech and thy body is Ra. Thou hast endued thyself with the forms of God, and thou hast become magnified thereby before the gods who dwell in the Lake. Hail, Pepi, thy soul standeth among the gods and among the shining ones, and the fear of thee striketh into their hearts. Hail, Pepi, thou placest thyself upon the throne of Him that dwelleth among the living, and it is the writing which thou hast [that striketh terror] into their hearts. Thy name shall live upon earth, thy name shall flourish upon earth, thou shalt neither perish nor be destroyed for ever and for ever."
Corporeal pleasures.
Side by side, however, with the passages which speak of the material and spiritual enjoyments of the deceased, we have others which seem to imply that the Egyptians believed in a corporeal existence,[1] or at least in the capacity for corporeal enjoyment, in the future state. This belief may have rested upon the view that the life in the next world was but a continuation of the life upon earth, which it resembled closely, or it may have been due to the survival of semi-savage gross ideas incorporated into the religious texts of the Egyptians. However this may be, it is quite certain that in the Vth dynasty the deceased king Unas eats with his mouth, and exercises other natural functions of the body, and gratifies his passions.[2] But the most remarkable passage in this connection is one in the
[1. Compare: "O flesh of Teta, rot not, decay not, stink not." Recueil de Travaux, t. v., p. 55 (l. 347). "Pepi goeth forth with his flesh"; ibid., t. v., p. 185 (1. 169). "thy bones shall not be destroyed, and thy flesh shall not perish"; ibid., p. 55 (l. 353).
2. Compare the following passages:--
(a) ###. Ibid., t. iv., p. 76 (ll. 628, 629).
(b) ###. Ibid., t. v., p. 37 (l. 277).
(c) Ibid., t. iii., p. 197 (1. 182 f).
(d) Ibid., t. V., p. 40 (1. 286), and see M. Maspero's note on the same page.]
{p. lxxix}
Old tradition of hunting and devouring the gods.
pyramid of Unas. Here all creation is represented as being in terror when they see the deceased king rise up as a soul in the form of a god who devours "his fathers and mothers"; he feeds upon men and also upon gods. He hunts the gods in the fields and snares them; and when they are tied up for slaughter he cuts their throats and disembowels them. He roasts and eats the best of them, but the old gods and goddesses are used for fuel. By eating them he imbibes both their magical powers, and their khu's. He becomes the "great Form, the form among forms, and the god of all the great gods who "exist in visible forms,"[1] and he is at the head of all the sahu, or spiritual bodies in heaven. He carries off the hearts of the gods, and devours the wisdom of every god; therefore the duration of his life is everlasting and he lives to all eternity, for the souls of the gods and their khu's are in him. The whole passage reads:--[2]
"(496) The heavens drop water, the stars throb, (497) the archers go round about, the (498) bones of Akeru tremble, and those who are in bondage to them take to flight when they see (499) Unas rise up as a soul, in the form of the god who liveth upon his fathers and who maketh food of his (500) mothers. Unas is the lord of wisdom, and (501) his mother knoweth not his name. The gifts of Unas are in heaven, and he hath become mighty in the horizon (502) like unto Tmu, the father that gave him birth, and after Tmu gave him birth (503) Unas became stronger than his father. The ka's of Unas are behind him, the sole of his foot is beneath his feet, his gods are over him, his uræi are [seated] (504) upon his brow, the serpent guides of Unas are in front of him, and the spirit of the flame looketh upon [his]
[1. ###. Pyramid of Teta, 1. 327; ibid., t. v., p. 50.
2. See Maspero, Recueil, t. iv., p. 59, t. v., p. 50; and Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, t. xii, p. 128.]
{p. lxxx}
soul. The (505) powers of Unas protect him; Unas is a bull in heaven, he directeth his steps where he will, he liveth upon the form which (506) each god taketh upon himself, and be eateth the flesh of those who come to fill their bellies with the magical charms ill the Lake of Fire. Unas is (507) equipped with power against the shining spirits thereof, and he riseth up in the form of the mighty one, the lord of those who dwell in power (?). Unas hath taken his seat with his side turned towards Seb. (508) Unas hath weighed his words with the hidden god (?) who hath no name, on the day of hacking in pieces the firstborn. Unas is the lord of offerings, the untier of the knot, and he himself maketh abundant the offerings of meat and drink. (509) Unas devoureth men and liveth upon the gods, he is the lord to whom offerings are brought, and he counteth the lists thereof. He that cutteth off hairy scalps and dwelleth in the fields hath netted the gods in a snare; (510) he that arrangeth his head hath considered them [good] for Unas and hath driven them unto him; and the cord-master hath bound them for slaughter. Khonsu the slayer of [his] lords hath cut their throats (511) and drawn out their inward parts, for it was he whom Unas sent to drive them in; and Shesem hath cut them in pieces and boiled their members in his blazing caldrons. (512) Unas hath eaten their magical powers, and he hath swallowed their spirits; the great ones among them serve for his meal at daybreak, the lesser serve for his meal at eventide, and the least among them serve for his meal in the night. (513) The old gods and the old goddesses become fuel for his furnace. The mighty ones in heaven shoot out fire under the caldrons which are heaped up with the haunches of the firstborn; and he that maketh those who live (514) in heaven to revolve round Unas hath shot into the caldrons the haunches of their women; he hath gone round about the two heavens in their entirety, and he hath gone round about the two banks of the celestial Nile. Unas is the great Form, the Form (515) of forms, and Unas is the chief of the gods in visible forms. Whatever he hath found upon his path he hath eaten forthwith, and the magical might of Unas is before that of all the (516) sahu who dwell in the horizon. Unas is the firstborn of the first born. Unas hath gone round thousands and he hath offered oblations unto hundreds; he hath manifested his might as the Great Form through Sah (Orion) [who is greater] than (517) the gods. Unas repeateth his rising in heaven and he is the crown of the lord of the horizon. He hath reckoned up the bandlets and the arm-rings, he hath taken possession of the hearts of the gods (518). Unas hath eaten the red crown, and he hath swallowed the white crown; the food of Unas is the inward parts, and his meat is those who live upon (519) magical charms in their hearts. Behold, Unas eateth of that which the red crown sendeth forth, he increaseth, and the magical charms of the gods are in his belly; (520) that which belongeth to him is not turned back from him. Unas hath eaten the whole of the knowledge of every god, and the period of his life is eternity, and the duration of his existence is (521) everlastingness, in whatsoever he wisheth to take; whatsoever form he hateth he shall not labour in in the horizon for ever and ever and ever. The soul of the gods is in Unas, their spirits are with (522) Unas, and the offerings made unto him are more than those made unto the gods. The fire of Unas (523) is in their bones, for their soul is with Unas, and their shades are with those who belong unto them. (524) Unas hath been with the two hidden (?) Kha (?) gods who are without power (?) . . . . . . . . (525); the seat of the heart of Unas is among those who live upon this earth for ever and ever and ever."
{p. lxxxi}
The notion that, by eating the flesh, or particularly by drinking the blood, of another living being, a man absorbs his nature or life into his own, is one which appears among primitive peoples in many forms. It lies at the root of the widespread practice of drinking the fresh blood of enemies--a practice which was familiar to certain tribes of the Arabs before Muhammad, and which tradition still ascribes to the wild race of Cahtâm-and also of the habit practised by many savage huntsmen of eating some part (e.g., the liver) of dangerous carnivora, in order that the courage of the animal may pass into them.[1] The flesh and blood of brave men also are, among semi-savage or savage tribes, eaten and drunk to inspire courage.[2] But the idea of hunting, killing, roasting and eating the gods as described above is not apparently common among ancient nations; the main object of the dead king in doing this was to secure the eternal life which was the peculiar attribute of the gods.
[1. Robertson Smith, The Religion of the Semites, p. 295; Fraser, Golden Bough, vol. ii., p. 86.
2. The Australian blacks kill a man, cut out his caul-fat, and rub themselves with it, "the belief being that all the qualifications, both physical and mental of the previous owner of the fat, were communicated to him who used it"; see Fraser, Golden Bough, vol. ii., p. 88.]
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