Egyptian Ideas of the Future LifeBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
ReligionComparative
Egyptian Ideas of the Future Life
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egypt -- Religion; Eschatology, Egyptian; Future life
"Hail, thou who art exalted upon thy standard (_i.e._, Osiris), thou
lord of the 'Atefu' crown whose name is proclaimed as 'Lord of the
winds,' deliver thou me from thy divine messengers who cause dire
deeds to happen, and who cause calamities to come into being, and who
are without coverings for their faces, for I have done that which is
right and true for the Lord of right and truth. I have purified myself
and my breast with libations, and my hinder parts with the things
which make clean, and my inward parts have been [immersed] in the Pool
of Right and Truth. There is no single member of mine which lacketh
right and truth. I have been purified in the Pool of the South, and I
have rested in the City of the North, which is in the Field of the
Grasshoppers, wherein the divine sailors of R[=a] bathe at the second
hour of the night and at the third hour of the day; and the hearts of
the gods are gratified after they have passed through it, whether it
be by night, or whether it be by day. And I would that they should say
unto me, 'Come forward,' and 'Who art thou?' and 'What is thy name?'
These are the words which, I would have the gods say unto me. [Then
would I reply] 'My name is He who is provided with flowers, and
Dweller in his olive tree.' Then let them say unto me straightway,
'Pass on,' and I would pass on to the city to the north of the Olive
tree, 'What then wilt thou see there?' [say they. And I say]' The Leg
and the Thigh,' 'What wouldst thou say unto them?' [say they.] 'Let me
see rejoicings in the land of the Fenkhu' [I reply]. 'What will they
give thee? [say they]. 'A fiery flame and a crystal tablet' [I reply].
'What wilt thou do therewith?' [say they]. 'Bury them by the furrow of
M[=a][=a]at as Things for the night' [I reply]. 'What wilt thou find
by the furrow of M[=a][=a]at?' [say they]. 'A sceptre of flint
called Giver of Air' [I reply]. 'What wilt thou do with the fiery
flame and the crystal tablet after thou hast buried them?' [say they].
'I will recite words over them, in the furrow. I will extinguish the
fire, and I will break the tablet, and I will make a pool of water' [I
reply]. Then let the gods say unto me, 'Come and enter in through the
door of this Hall of the M[=a][=a]ti goddesses, for thou knowest us.'"
After these remarkable prayers follows a dialogue between each part of
the Hall of M[=a][=a]ti and the deceased, which reads as follows:--
_Door bolts_. "We will not let thee enter in through us unless thou
tellest our names."
_Deceased_. "'Tongue of the place of Right and Truth' is your
name."
_Right post_. "I will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest
my name."
_Deceased_. "'Scale of the lifter up of right and truth' is thy
name."
_Left post_. "I will not let thee enter in by me unless thou tellest
my name."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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