CHAPTER CXLIX.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
He who sees the god who is in it, face to face, he who sees him dies there from his blows, except the gods who are there, and who are hidden to the glorious ones.
O this Atu, in the Netherworld. Grant that I may reach them; I am the great magician, with his knife; I am issued of Set, (I stand on) my feet for ever.
I rise, and I am mighty through this eye of Horus; my heart is raised, after it has fallen low.
I am glorious in heaven, and I am mighty on earth.
I fly like Horus, I cackle like the divine goose.
It was given me to alight near the stream of the lake; I stand near it, I sit near it, I eat of the food in Sechit Hotepit, I go down to the islands of the wandering stars.
The doors of the Maāti are open to me; and the gates of the upper waters are unbolted to me.
I raise my ladder up to the sky to see the gods.
I am one of them, I speak like the divine goose, and I listen to the gods.
I talk aloud, I repeat the words of Sothis.
The twelfth domain. O this domain of Unt, within Restau, the heat of which is that of fire. No god goes down into it, and the glorious ones do not gather into it, for the four snakes would destroy their names.(14)
O this domain of Unt! I am the great among the glorious ones within. I am among the wandering stars. I am not destroyed; my name is not destroyed.
Come, thou divine scent, say the gods who are in the domain of Unt.
I am with you, I live with you, ye gods who are within the domain of Unt.
You love me more than your gods. I am with you for ever, in the presence of the followers of the great god.
The thirteenth domain. O this domain of the water, which none of the glorious ones can possess, for its water is of fire, its stream is burning, and its heat is of blazing flame, so that they may not drink its water in order to quench the thirst which is within them, for their mighty fear, and their great terror.
The gods and the glorious ones look at its water from afar, they do not quench their thirst, and their heart is not set at rest, because they may not go near it.
When the river is full and green like the flowing sap which comes out of Osiris, I take its water, I draw from its flood like the great god who is in the domain of the water, and who keeps watch over it for fear that the gods may drink from its water, and who inspires dread to the glorious ones.
Hail to thee, thou great god, who art in the domain of the water. I have come to thee. Grant me to take of thy water, to take of thy stream, as thou doest to this great god.
When the Nile will come, when he will give birth to the plants, and cause the herbs to grow; as it is given to the gods, when he appears in peace, grant that the Nile may come to me, and that I may take his plants; for I am thy own son for ever.
The fourteenth domain. O this domain of Cher-āba(15), which drives the Nile towards Tattu, and which causes the Nile to go and spend its corn in his course from Rokekmu(16); thou which presentest offerings to the dead, and mortuary gifts to the glorious ones.
There is a serpent belonging to it, who comes from the two wells at Elephantine, at the gate of the water. He goes with the water, and stops at the stream of Cher-āba, near the powers of the high flood; he sees his hour of the silent evening.
Ye gods who live in the water of Cher-āba, ye powers of the high flood, open to me your ponds, open to me your lakes, that I may take of your water, and that I may rest in your stream, that I may eat of your corn, that I may be satisfied with your food.
I have risen, my heart is high, for I am the great god in Cher-āba.
Make me offerings. I have been filled with the vital sap coming out of Osiris. I shall not be despoiled of it. The end.
Notes.
This is one of the interesting chapters of the Book of the Dead. It is more frequently met with than the other ones, and it generally constitutes the end of the Theban papyri. It is the chapter of the various domains which the deceased has to reach, and in which he enjoys special privileges.
The vignettes generally give the plan of the domain, and very often the colour with which it is painted; they are either green or light yellow . In most of the papyri there are only four yellow—3, 9, 10, and 14.
Renouf translates “domain” (p. 208). Dr. Budge keeps the word aat, and considers them as the divisions of the Elysian fields. Pierret translates demeure, Brugsch siège, demeure, habitation. I shall adopt Renouf’s word, though residence or habitation seems to me preferable. An is an enclosed space which has inhabitants described or mentioned in the text. The deceased calls first on the domain, and often in the same breath goes over to the inhabitants without any transition.
1. The second domain is the horizon. The text of the vignette says: the god who is in it is Harmachis. The text to this domain being a repetition of chapter 109, I adopt Renouf’s translation (p. 181.)
2. The third domain is called “that of the glorious ones.”
3. The moon. Ab reads: “on the face of the sun, and on the face of the moon.”
4. The deceased speaks of himself as a magician who can cover the head of the serpent without being hurt. The eyes of the serpent, which have the power of paralyzing, of making impotent (see seventh domain), are given him; the result is, that when he goes to the mountain on which the serpent shows his strength, this strength collapses, as the deceased says: thy strength is in my hand; I am he who lifts, who takes away the strength.
5. Renouf generally translates tunnels. See p. 126, and Proc., 1893, p. 385; but here we must adopt the other sense, serpent or worms. Copt. ⲁⲕⲟⲣⲓ.]
6. Or Secher-remu, he who knocks down the worm, or he who knocks down the fishes.1
7.Ka and serpent have killed each other.
8. The lynx (see note, p. 82, on chapter 34). It seems to be the cat who is represented in the vignettes of chapter 17, cutting off the head of the serpent.
9. This is a chapter found on the sarcophagus of Amam in the British Museum; it has the title , “taking the form of a vulture” (see p. 139): I should rather say a goose.
10. The ninth domain, Akset or Aksi, has the form of a vase, which a crocodile called Maatetf touches with his snout.
11. The words are obscure. I believe them to mean: Akset was made such as it is, in order that, &c.