The Egyptian Book of the dead

Chapter whereby one assumeth the form of a Soul,(1) that one may not come to the dungeon. Imperishable is he who knoweth it.

I am a Soul. I am Rā who proceedeth from Nu, and my soul is divine. I am he who produceth food, but I execrate what is wrong and look not upon it.

I am possessor of Maāt and subsist by means of it.

I am the Food which perisheth not; in my name of the Self-originating Force, together with Nu, in the name of Chepera, from whom I am born daily.

I am the Lord of Daylight and I execrate Death, let me not enter into the dungeons of the gods of the Tuat.

It is I who give glory to Osiris and propitiate the hearts of those who are with him, my own friends.

They inspire the fear of me, and put forward my might to those within their domains.

And behold me, how I am raised upon my pedestal and upon my throne.

I am Nu. They shall not overthrow me who do wrong.

I am he whose orbits are of old; my soul is divine, it is the Eternal Force.

It is I who create the Darkness which maketh its seat at the confines of Heaven.

My Soul hath come, far advanced in age, and I create the Darkness at the confines of Heaven at my pleasure.

I reach the limits, and I advance upon my feet.

I take the lead and I traverse the steel firmament which maketh a curtain.(2) I put a stop to the Darkness and the worms; I whose name is hidden.

I drive away aggression from before the Lord of the two hands, who is my own Soul. The UræusUræus divinities are my body. My image is Eternal, the Lord of years, the King of Everlasting.

I am exalted as Lord of the land of Rebu: ‘the Youth in Town, the Lad in the Country’ is my name; and my name is imperishable.

I am the Force which createth Heaven and maketh its abode in the Netherworld.

Not to be seen is my nest; not to be broken is my Egg.

I am the Lord on High. I have made my nest on the confines of Heaven, and I descend to the earth of Seb and put a stop to evil. I see my father, the Lord of the Gloaming, and I breathe.(3)

Notes.

1. Soul. The Egyptian word which in our modern languages we translate as Soul has already been explained as meaning Force. It is so translated in this chapter in several passages where this sense is emphatically required.

2.A curtain, šet, literally a skin. Cf. Ps. civ, 2, “Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain,” where the LXX render ‘curtain’ by δέῤῥιν and the Vulgate by pellem.

3. Here the chapter ends in Pc. The few words which follow in other MSS. were unintelligible to the copyists and are written very variously.