Atlantis Online
April 25, 2025, 05:24:42 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Ruins of 7,000-year-old city found in Egypt oasis
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080129/wl_mideast_afp/egyptarchaeology
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

The Egyptian Book of the Dead

Pages: 1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 [10]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: The Egyptian Book of the Dead  (Read 11426 times)
Josie Linde
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 4493



« Reply #135 on: December 24, 2008, 10:55:05 pm »

PLATES XXIX. AND XXX.

Vignette (PLATE XXIX.): Ani and his wife standing with hands raised in adoration before the god Thoth, who has ankh, "life," upon his knees, and is seated on a pylon-shaped throne.

Text [CHAPTER CLXXV.]: (1) THE CHAPTER OF NOT DYING A SECOND TIME. Saith Osiris Ani, triumphant: "(2) Hail, Thoth! What is it that hath happened unto the holy children of Nut? (3) They have done battle, they have upheld

{p. 342}

strife, they have done evil, (4) they have created the fiends, they have made slaughter, they have caused (5) trouble; in truth, in all their doings the mighty have worked against the weak. (6) Grant, O might of Thoth, that that which the god Tmu hath decreed [may be done]! And thou regardest not evil, nor art thou (7) provoked to anger when they bring their years to confusion and throng in and push to disturb their months; for in all that they have done (Cool unto thee they have worked iniquity in secret. I am thy writing palette, O Thoth, and I have brought unto thee thine ink jar. I am not (9) of those who work iniquity in their secret places; let not evil happen unto me."

Saith Osiris, the scribe Ani: (10) "Hail, Tmu! What manner [of land] is this into which I have come? It hath not water, it hath not air; it is deep unfathomable, (11) it is black as the blackest night, and men wander helplessly therein. In it a man may not live in quietness of heart; nor may the longings of love be satisfied therein. (12) But let the state of the shining ones be given unto me for water and for air and for the satisfying of the longings of love, and let quietness of heart be given unto me for bread (13) and for ale. The god Tmu hath decreed that I shall see his face, and that I shall not suffer from the things which pain him. May the gods hand on (14) their thrones for millions of years. Thy throne hath descended unto thy son Horus. The god Tmu hath decreed that his course shall be among the holy princes. (15) In truth, he shall rule over thy throne, and he shall be heir of the throne of the dweller in the Lake of Fire. It hath been decreed that in me he shall see his likeness, and that (16) my face shall look upon the lord Tmu. How long then have I to live? It is decreed that thou shalt live for millions of millions of years, a life of millions of years. (17) May it be granted that I pass on unto the holy princes, for I am doing away with all that I did when this earth came into being from Nu (18), and when it sprang from the watery abyss even as it was in the days of old. I am Fate (?) and Osiris, and I have changed my form into the likeness of divers serpents (19). Man knoweth not, and the gods cannot see, the two-fold beauty which I have made for Osiris, who is greater than all the gods. I have granted that he [shall rule] in the mount of the dead (20). Verily his son Horus is seated upon the throne of the dweller in the double Lake of Fire, as his heir. I have set his throne in (21) the boat of millions of years. Horus is established upon his throne, amid the friends [of Osiris] and all that belonged unto him. Verily the soul of Sut, which (22) is greater than all the gods, hath departed to [Amenta]. May it be granted that I bind his soul in the divine boat (23) at my will . . . . . . . . . O my Osiris, thou hast done for me that which thy father

{p. 343}

Ra did for thee. May I abide upon the earth lastingly; (24) may I keep possession of my throne; may my heir be strong; may my tomb and my friends who are upon earth flourish; (25) may my enemies be given over to destruction and to the shackles of the goddess Serq! I am thy son, and Ra is my father (26). For me likewise hast thou made life, strength and health. Horus is established upon his throne. Grant that the days of my life may come unto worship and honour."

Appendix: From the fragmentary copy of this chapter which M. Naville has published in his Todtenbuch, Bd. L, Bll. 198, 199, it is clear that the text given in the papyrus of Ani forms only about one-half of it, and that its contents refer to the glorious state of the deceased, who lives again in the form of Horus. He enters among the revered dead; shouts of joy ascend in Suten-henen, and gladness reigns in Naarutef he hath inherited the throne of Osiris, and ruleth the whole earth, and the company of the gods are content thereat; the god Sut feareth him; all sorts and conditions of men both dead and living come before him, and bow down in homage when they behold him; the god hath made all to fear him; Sut cometh unto him with head bent low to the earth; the deceased breaketh and turneth up the earth in blood in Suten-henen; (compare Chap. XVIII., §G); his name shall endure for millions of millions of years; his name shall abide in Suten-henen, and he shall wear the mighty atef crown upon his head for millions, and hundreds of thousands, and tens of thousands, and thousands, and hundreds, and tens of years; bread, ale, oxen, wild fowl, all good and pure things and fresh water from the river shall in abundance be offered unto him, etc. From the concluding lines we find that the chapter was to be recited over a figure of the god Horus made of lapis-lazuli, which was to be placed near the neck of the deceased, and which was supposed to give him power upon earth with men, gods, and the shining spirits; the effect upon him would, moreover, be exceedingly beneficial if it were recited in the underworld.

{p. 344}

Vignette I. (PLATE XXX.): The god Osiris, bearded and wearing the id white crown, stands in a shrine the roof of which is surmounted by a hawk's head and uræi; at the back of his neck hangs the menat (see above p. 245), and in his hands he holds the crook, sceptre, and flail, emblems of royalty, power, and dominion. Behind him stands the goddess Isis, who rests her right hand upon his right shoulder; in her left hand she holds the sign of life. Before Osiris, upon a lotus flower, stand the four children of Horus, the gods of the cardinal points, Mestha, Hapi, Tuamautef, and Qebhsennuf.

Vignette II. (PLATE XXIX.): Ani and his wife Thuthu standing, with hands raised in adoration to Osiris, before a table of offerings.

Report Spam   Logged
Pages: 1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 [10]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy