CHAPTER CLXII.
Project Gutenberg EPUB edition
Renouf, P. Le Page (Peter Le Page) and Naville, Edouard
Chapter of causing a flame(1) to arise under the head of the deceased.
Hail to thee, thou lion,(2) thou mighty one, with high plumes, the lord of the double crown, who wavest the flail, thou art the lord of the phallus,(3) thou art vigorous when ariseth the morning light, to the rays of which there is no limit.
Thou art the lord of forms, with numerous colours, who conceals himself within his eye to his children.
Thou art the mighty enchanter among the cycle of the gods, thou swift runner, with quick strides. Thou art the mighty god who cometh to him who calleth for him, who delivereth the oppressed from his tortures. Come to my voice. I am the cow. Thy name is in my mouth. I am going to utter it. Hakahaka(4) is thy name. Furaa is thy name. Aakarsa is thy name. Ankrobata is thy name. Khermauserau is thy name. Kharosata is thy name.
I adore thy name. I am the cow. Listen to my voice, on the day when thou puttest a flame under the head of Rā. Behold he is in the Tuat, and he is mighty in Heliopolis.(5) Grant that he may be like one who is on earth. He is thy son, who loves thee. Do not ignore his name. Come to Osiris N. Grant that a flame may arise under his head, for he is the soul of the great body which rests in Heliopolis; the shining one, the form of the firstborn is his name. Barokatat’aua is his name.
Come, grant him to be like one of thy followers, for he is even as thou art.
Said on the image of a cow, made of pure gold, to be put on the neck of the deceased. Also if it is painted on new papyrus, and put under his head, there will be a quantity of flames all around him like those that are on earth. This is a very great protection, which the cow granted to her son Rā, after he had gone to rest. His abode is surrounded by warriors of blazing fire.(6)
If thou puttest this goddess on the neck of the Ring who is on earth, he is like fire in pursuing his enemies, his horses cannot stop.
If thou puttest it on the neck of a man after his death, he is mighty in the Netherworld. Nobody will drive him away from the gates of the Tuat undeviatingly.
And thou shalt say when thou puttest this goddess on the neck of the deceased: O Amon of Amons, thou who art in the sky, turn thy face towards the body of thy son, make him sound in the Netherworld.
This book is most secret. Do not let it be seen by any man, for it is forbidden to know it. Let it be hidden. It is called the book of the mistress of the hidden abode. This is the end.
Notes.
Chapters 162-165 are of a very date date. They are of a different character from the other chapters of the Book of the Dead. They belong rather to the magic books of the old Egyptians. When they were written there was a decay in the religion, which drifted more and more into magic, for which the Egyptians were famous under the Roman Empire. We find there a great number of barbarous words unintelligible to us, and probably also to the old scribes, since they differ widely according to the papyri. They remind us of those which are found in the magical texts (Chabas, Pap. Magique Harris, p. 151)
It is probable that Chapter 162 is older than the following; several papyri end with it, and it has the rubric this is the end, which is found in the older texts after Chapter 149.
The late Dr. Pleyte, of Leyden, made a special study of these chapters, and of several others of late date (Chapitres supplémentaires du Livre des Morts, Texte, Traduction et Commentaire, Leide). The collation which he published of various documents is the text on which this translation has been made.
The vignette generally consists of a cow, having between her horns a solar disk, with two plumes. Occasionally behind her there is a goddess with a cow’s head having the same attribute. This cow I consider to be the goddess Nut, the mother of Rā. An image of the cow, made of pure gold, is to be put on the neck of the deceased; or, what would be much easier and cheaper, it is to be painted on a hypocephalus of new papyrus, and put under the deceased’s head. Part of this chapter is the usual text found on the hypocephali.
The result of the gift of one of these amulets will be that in the Netherworld the deceased will be surrounded by flames. This is the effect of the presence of the amulets here described. It does not take place in this world, but in the other, where Rā himself enjoys a similar protection, being surrounded by “warriors of blazing fire.” This image seems to point to the magnificent sunsets often seen in Egypt.
1. All the translators have interpreted by “heat,” the vital heat of the body. But this is not the true sense of the word, which means “flame,” “flame of fire.” The root implies the idea of darting, springing forth like a flame or a spark, and not of latent heat. cannot mean anything except a great quantity of flames. These flames will be the protection of the deceased.
2. The lion addressed by the cow, a god of light and fire, is probably Rā himself.
3. For the connection between generation and light, see Kuhn, “Herabkunft des Feuers,” p. 70 and ff.
4. These barbarous names, as well as those of the following chapters, have not yet been explained. Their interpretation is to be looked for in the African languages, for Chapter 164 connects them with the speech of the negroes, and the Anti of Nubia.
5. I have kept for Renouf’s translation: Heliopolis. But it must not be understood as referring to the well-known city at the head of the Delta. is here a city in the other world. It is a name belonging to the mythological and not to the terrestrial geography.
6. I consider the word of the Turin text, or according to other papyri, as connected with fire, burning.