CHAPTER LI.
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Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Chapter whereby one goeth not headlong in the Netherworld.
I execrate, I execrate, I do not eat it.
That which I execrate is dirt. I eat it not, that I may appease my Genius.
Let me not fall into it; let me not approach it with my hands, let me not tread upon it with my sandals.
Note.
The Chapters numbered 51 and 52 are not found in the most ancient papyri, but the substance of them and their formulas are met with on the ancient coffins[65] and in the Pyramid texts. See, for instance, Unas 189, Teta 68, with M. Maspero’s note on the latter text. I do not, however, believe, as M. Maspero does, that these texts convey the idea “so frequent[!] among half-civilised peoples, of another life in which the deceased will have nothing to eat and drink but excremental matter.” That the which I translate ‘dirt’ and ‘lye’ are of this nature is quite certain, but they are objects of abhorrence to the Sun-god, like the dead rat and the putrid cat in chapter 33, because he is a consuming fire, and “whatsoever he findeth upon his path he devoureth it,” Unas 515. It is only natural then that the deceased who is identified with the Sun-god in these texts should express his execration of such offensive matter. He is not afraid of being limited to this food, his fear springs from the opposite extreme.
Source notes
65. There is a chapter in Lepsius, Älteste Texte, p. 34, with the same title as chapter 51, but the contents are different.