Chapter XVI.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Note.
When Lepsius divided the Todtenbuch into 165 chapters, that portion of it which was numbered as Chapter 16, was in fact merely the Vignette of Chapter 15.
It has been thought well to publish with this translation the Vignettes from the great Papyrus La of Leyden, representing a, the Rising; and b, the Setting Sun. (See plates.)
In a the Sun is represented as rising into Heaven, saluted by the six Cynocephalous Apes. He is also saluted by two goddesses kneeling. In the Papyrus of Hunefer these goddesses say, “I am thy sister Isis,” “I am thy sister Nephthys.” The Tat which is between them is a symbol both of Osiris and of the East, and in Ba is replaced by the sign . In the later periods the Dawn was represented by the sign consisting of the Sun rising out of the East, between Isis and Nephthys. The sign of Life ānḫ (which primarily means rise up) rises out of the Tat, and with hands proceeding from it raises up the Sun.
In b the central object is the Sun setting in the West . He is saluted by three hawk-headed and by three jackal-headed divinities, the Spirits of Pu and of Nechen. Below this scene the Sun of Yesterday and the Sun of To-day in lion forms are saluted by Isis and Nephthys.