CHAPTER CXXXIII.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Book whereby the Deceased acquireth Might(1) in the Netherworld in presence of the great Cycle of the gods. [Said on the first day of the Month].(2)
Rā maketh his appearance at the Mount of Glory, with the Cycle of gods about him: the Strong one issueth from his hidden abode.
The Twinklers(3) fall away from the Mount of Glory at the East of Heaven, at the voice of Nut as she buildeth up the paths of Rā, before the Ancient one who goeth round.
Be thou lift up, O Rā who art in thine shrine; breathe thou the breezes, inhale the north wind ... (4)on the day when thou discernest the Land of Maāt.
Thou dividest them that follow; the Bark advanceth and the Ancient ones step onwards at thy voice.
Reckon thou thy bones, and set thy limbs, and turn thy face towards the beautiful Amenta.
For thou art the golden Form,(5) with a couch of the heavenly orbs, with the Twinklers amongst whom thou goest round, and art renewed daily.
Acclamation cometh from the Mount of Glory, and greeting from the lines of measurement.(6)
The gods who are in heaven, they see the Osiris N, they present to him their adorations as to Rā.
He is the Great one, who seeketh the Crown and reckoneth up that which is needful.
He is the One, who cometh forth this day from the primeval womb of them who were before Rā, and his coming forth taketh place upon earth and in the Netherworld. His coming forth is like Rā daily.
Without haste, but unresting, is the Osiris N on this Land of Eternity.
Twice blessed is he that seeth with his eyes and heareth with his ears.
Right, right is the Osiris N: and his future, his future,(7) is in Annu.
His oars are lifted as in the service of Nu.
The Osiris N hath not told what he hath seen; he hath not repeated what he hath heard in the house of the god who hideth his face.
There are hailing and cries of welcome to the Osiris N, the divine body of Rā, on traversing the Nu, and whilst the ka of the god is being propitiated, according to his pleasure.
The Osiris N is the Hawk, rich in variety of Forms.
The Deceased acquireth might with Rā, and is enabled to possess power among the gods, for the gods are made to regard him as one of themselves, and when the Dead ones see him they fall upon their faces. He is seen in the Netherworld even as the beams of Rā.
Said over a Boat of four cubits in length, painted green. And let a starry sky be made, clean and purified with natron and incense. And see thou make an image of Rā upon a tablet of light green colour at the prow of the Boat. And see thou make an image of the Deceased whom thou lovest, that he may be made strong in this boat, and that his voyage be made in the Bark of Rā, and that Rā himself may look upon him. Do not do this for any one except for thine own self, thy father and thy son. And let them be exceedingly cautious for themselves. The Deceased acquireth might with Rā, and made to possess power among the gods, who regard him as one of themselves, and when men or the Dead see him they fall upon their faces. He is seen in the Netherworld as the image of Rā.(8)
Notes.
The earliest known text of this chapter is that of the Tomb of Amenemhait at Thebes (Ta), of the time of Thothmes III. It is almost as inaccurate as that of Nebseni (Aa), or the Brockelhurst Ax. Nor is the text of Ani of any use towards clearing up any of the difficulties.
1.Acquireth Might. does not signify wise, nor has it anything to do with instruction or perfection, as supposed by other translators. As an adjective it is used to qualify not only animate but inanimate things, such as an egg, beer, and incense. The well-known expressions and exactly correspond to the Hebrew עד מאד and מאד מאד. The notion implied, as in the Hebrew אוד, is that of strength.
, in the Prisse Papyrus, is not a wise man, but a powerful one, a man of rank or influence, δυνάμενος, δυνατός.
This is the meaning of the word in such passages as (Rougé, Inscr. hier., 80) (Inscr. of Una repeatedly) (Pap. Prisse 17, 1). These expressions are the exact equivalents of the Greek δυνάμενος παρά τῷ βασιλῆι, Herodot. 7, 5.
The might acquired by the deceased is stated in the final rubric and in all the titles of the chapter in the later recensions to be , with reference to Rā.
2.Said on the first day of the Month. These words first appear on the Papyrus of Ani.
3.The Twinklers. The oldest texts in this place have , though the equivalent and corresponding word a little further on is , which is the usual reading here in the later recensions. The same meaning may be made out of both groups. The stars are manifestly alluded to, as being made to disappear when the Sun makes his appearance. , or in reduplicated form , is the pupil of the eye; is to ogle, far l’occhiata. on the other hand signifies the little tremblers, “tremulo fulgore micantes.” The glance of the eye is .[144] The stars are here considered as so many eyes, characterised by their tremulous motion.
4. The true text is here quite lost. Some sense might be restored, if we might read instead of . The latter word is absolute nonsense in this place, whatever determinative it may have, but the former is the well known name of a tree held sacred at various places in Egypt. The whole passage then might mean “Enjoy the north wind, and may the Kabasu trees of thine abode refresh thee.”
5.The golden Form. The whole of this passage will become clear after reading the final rubric and examining the Vignettes of the chapter.
6.Line of measurement, . An explanation of this will be found in the pictures and text of the Book of Hades. In Bonomi’s Sarcoph.Sarcoph., Plates VII in the act of acclamation, and twelve others carry the line . The use intended for the line is stated in the text. “The bearers of the line are those who settle the fields of the Chu, .” They are called upon to take their line and to fix the , ⲥⲉⲑⲓⲟϩⲓ, ἄρουρα, the arable land of each allotment. Rā expresses his satisfaction at the measurement, and tells the gods and the Chu that their domains are theirs, and that he provides their food.
7.His future, .
8. The rubric is taken from Ax.
Source notes
144. The Egyptian word signifying tremble is written either with or with .