CHAPTER XLI.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Chapter whereby one avoideth the Slaughter which is carried out in the Netherworld.
O Tmu, let me be glorified in presence of the god in Lion form, the great god; that he may open to me the gate of Seb.
I prostrate myself to earth to the great god who is in the Netherworld. Let me be introduced into the presence of the company of gods who preside over those who are in Amenta.
O thou who art at the gate of Tebat; god with the Red Crown,(1) who art in Amenta; let me feed, let me live by the breath of air and accompany the great Cleaver,(2) and the Bark of Chepera.
Let me speak to the divine Boatman at the gloaming, let me enter in and let me go out; that I may see who is there; that I may raise him up and speak my words to him.
O Breathless one:(3) Let me live and be saved after death.
O thou Bearer of peace offerings, who openest thy mouth for the presentation of the tablets,(4) for the acceptation(5) of the offerings and for the establishment of Maāt upon her throne; let the tablets be brought forward, and let the goddess be firmly established.
I am Osiris, the great god, the eternal king, who numbereth his seasons and who lifted up his right arm, who judgeth the great ones and giveth mission to the gods of the great Circle(6) which is in the Netherworld.
Notes.
The most noteworthy difference between the older recension of this chapter and that of the Saitic and later periods is that in the latter the god addressed at the opening is Osiris Unneferu, who is identified with Tmu. In the older recensions the identification may be seen in another way. Tmu is the god invoked, and in answer he says that he is Osiris, the great god.
1.God with the Red Crown is , one of titles of Osiris with the crown. See Plate XV from Lefébure, Tombeau de Seti I, part IV, pl. 34. This title, derived from the crown , is Net-tȧ or Nait-tȧ. It was borne by the high priest at Coptos (Brugsch, Dict. Geogr., pp. 1374, 1377), and the King of Egypt derived his title from the Crown of the North which he wore as representing Osiris, or rather the heir of Osiris, Horus.
2.The great Cleaver, , the name of the god who cleaves his path through the sky.
3.Breathless one, Osiris.
4. Thoth is the person here addressed, and the speaker is Osiris. The tablets are those containing the evidence at the trial at the Balance.
5.Acceptationpeḳa, besides the physical sense of comprehendere, ‘to lay hold of’ with the hands, has that of ‘taking in, embracing with the mind,’ and perhaps ‘setting forth in words.’
6. On the Sarcophagus of Seti (Bonomi, pl. 3. D), and the other copies of the same text, there is a picture of these . Such is the title written over them. But the text speaks of them as .
PLATE XV.
PLATE XVI.