CHAPTER CLXXIV.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Chapter of causing the Chu to come out of the great door in the sky.
It is read(1) to thee by thy son (Horus).
The great ones tremble when they see the sword which is in thy hand, when thou goest out of the Tuat.
Hail to thee, the wise one, created by Seb, born of Nut. The cycles of the gods are at rest. Horus rests in his dwelling(2), Tum rests in his abode (?). All the gods of East and West rest in the great goddess(3) of the birth, between the arms of her who gave birth to the god.
When I am born I see, I recognize where I am, I have been raised on my place. The order has been accomplished of her who hates sleep and depression, and who stands in Utenet.
My bread comes from Pu, and I receive my form in Heliopolis. Horus, in accordance with the command he had received from his father the lord of clouds, Astes, raised him, and I have been raised by Tmu.
I am the great one. I come forth between the legs of the cycle of the gods. I have been conceived by Sechet, and Shestet(4) gave me birth to be her star, Sothis, the first one, the great walker who brings Rā through the sky every day.
I have come to my abode. I have united the two diadems. I shine like a star. O ye flowers, the name of which is “the precious bunch,” I am the lotus which cometh out of the holy earth; when I am plucked, I settle myself at the nostrils of the Great Figure.
I have come out of the lake of flame, I have received justice instead of evil. I am near the white cloth(5), and I keep watch over the Uræi in the night of the great flood of tears.(6)
I shine like Nefertmu the lotus which is at the nostril of Rā when he comes forth on the horizon every day, and the gods are purified by his sight.
N. is triumphant among the ka, smiting the hearts through his great wisdom. He is near the god, he is the Sau(7) (the knowing one) at the western (right) side of Rā.
I have come to my abode among the ka, uniting the hearts through my great wisdom. I am Sau near the god, at the western side of Rā; my sceptre (?) is in my hand. I am called the great favourite, as I am clad in red garments. I am Sau, on the western side of Rā, with a stout heart in the cave of Nu.
Notes.
This Chapter is already found in the pyramid of Unas (l. 379-399). Prof. Erman (Zeitschr., XXXIII, p. 2) has made a special study of it, and has pointed out that the title of this Chapter originates from a misunderstanding of the word which should be a star and not a gate or a door. Were it not for the vignette, which represents the deceased, the woman Muthotepet coming out of a door, we should translate: “Chapter of the coming forth of the Chu as a great star in the sky”; in accordance with these words found in the course of the chapter: “Shestet gave me birth to be her star, Sothis,” etc.
Two papyri only contain this Chapter, one in London and one in Paris. The London text has a vignette with these words: “the coming out of the door in the sky by....”
1. M. Maspero translates: ton fils t’a fait (le sacrifice). The word is employed here as in the rubric of Chapter 141, “to say, to speak.” This speech is a ceremonial act, one of the done for the deceased.
2. We noticed before (Chapter 160, note 2) that is a variant for when applying to Tmu. Here it applies to Horus. The unknown word being parallel, I give it conjecturally a similar sense.
3. “the great one, the great goddess,” and its variants etc., occur frequently in the Book of the Dead, and seem to be a name of the sky.
4. which is found in the papyrus, is clearly a mistake for the name of the goddess Shestet, which we read in the text of Unas.
5. Perhaps a tent in which he will shelter the Uræi.
6. See note 1, Chapter 4, and Life Work, Vol. III, p. 46. I suppose it means here a heavy rain.
7. In the pictures in the royal tombs the sun-god stands in his boat between and . Here it is said that Sau is at the West of Rā, meaning on his right side. Rā is spoken of here as if he were a human being, turning towards the South as all Egyptians did. His west is his right-hand side. Even now the Egyptian fellaheen in their language do not often say right and left, they generally make use of the points of the compass: west of thee, etc.