Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings
Religion
Egyptian Literature: Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings
Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
“I am the Great God who maketh his light. I have come to thee, O Osiris,
and I offer praise unto thee. [I am] pure from the issues which are
carried away from thee. Thy name is made in Re-stau, and thy power is in
Abtu (Abydos). Thou art raised up, then, O Osiris, and thou goest round
about through heaven with Rā, and thou lookest upon the generations of
men, O thou One who circlest, thou Rā. Behold, verily, I have said unto
thee, O Osiris, ‘I am the spiritual body of the God,’ and I say, ‘Let it
come to pass that I shall never be repulsed before thee, O Osiris.’ ”
The following is the chapter in a fuller form:(79)
THE CHAPTER OF KNOWING THE NAME OF OSIRIS AND OF ENTERING INTO AND OF
GOING OUT FROM RE-STAU [IN ALL THE FORMS WHEREIN HE WILLETH TO COME
FORTH].(80) The scribe Mes-em-neter, triumphant, saith:
“I am the Great Name who maketh his light. I have come to thee, O Osiris,
and I offer praise unto thee. I am pure from the issues which are carried
away from thee. [Thy] name hath been made in Re-stau when it hath fallen
therein. Homage to thee, O Osiris, in thy strength and in thy power, thou
hast obtained the mastery in Re-stau. Thou art raised up, O Osiris, in thy
might and in thy power, thou art raised up, O Osiris, and thy might is in
Re-stau, and thy power is in Abtu (Abydos). Thou goest round about through
heaven, and thou sailest before Rā, and thou lookest upon the generations
of men, O thou Being who circlest, thou Rā. Behold, verily, I have said
unto thee, O Osiris, ‘I am the spiritual body of the God,’ and I say, ‘Let
it come to pass that I shall never be repulsed before thee, O Osiris.’ ”
Of Going About In The Underworld
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 9).]
THE CHAPTER OF GOING IN AFTER COMING FORTH [FROM THE UNDERWORLD]. The
overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:
“Open unto me? Who then art thou? Whither goest thou? What is thy name? I
am one of you, ‘Assembler of Souls’ is the name of my boat; ‘Making the
hair to stand on end’ is the name of the oars; ‘Watchful one’ is the name
of its bows; ‘Evil is it’ is the name of the rudder; ‘Steering straight
for the middle’ is the name of the Mātchabet; so likewise [the boat] is a
type of my sailing onward to the pool. Let there be given unto me vessels
of milk, together with cakes, and loaves of bread, and cups of drink, and
pieces of meat in the Temple of Anpu,” or (as others say), “Grant thou me
[these things] wholly. Let it be so done unto me that I may enter in like
a hawk, and that I may come forth like the _Bennu_ bird, [and like] the
Morning Star. Let me make [my] path so that [I] may go in peace into the
beautiful Amentet, and let the Lake of Osiris be mine. Let me make my
path, and let me enter in, and let me adore Osiris, the Lord of life.”
Of Entering Into The Great House
From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 10).]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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