3. _The goal_ ⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂, a word we have already met
in chapter 72 (_see_ Note 3), and which occurs later on in the present
chapter. It is apparently connected with the verb of motion,
⁂⁂⁂, and seems here to correspond to the Greek βαλβῖδες, or the
Latin _carceres_, the two posts which were at once the starting point
and the goal.
“signum unde reverti.
Scirent, et longos ubi circumflectere cursus.”[88]
4. _Invested_ ⁂⁂⁂⁂, which is connected with ⁂⁂⁂.
The determinative ⁂ is the symbol of investiture, which is also
expressed by the sign ⁂. A mummied person is called _Sāhu_, in virtue
of his investiture.
5. _Apple of the eye_, literally _point_, _thorn_; ⁂⁂⁂⁂.
6. The _Nemmes_ ⁂⁂ is the royal head-dress in the form of a wig.
This chapter is the only one in the Book of the Dead in which it is
referred to, but other religious texts mention it. It is one of the
objects provided for the deceased in the pictures of ancient coffins.
(See _Aelteste Texte_, p. 35.)
7. [Aahat.] In this place different MSS. introduce one or more words
followed by the sign ⁂, determinative of divinity. But the whole text
which follows is extremely unsatisfactory. The prudent scribe who copied
_Pg_ has the words “I am the great god,” and with them ends the chapter.
8. _Fall upon Shu_, or _before_ Shu, who represents Daylight.
9. The passage is obscure through the absence of the right determinative
⁂ after ⁂⁂. The portals of Shu, the gates of Morning, answer
the summons of the god who comes as Horus. ⁂ has the sense of _obviam
ire_, _occurrere_.
10. _Hematit_ ⁂⁂⁂, a place near the Horizon, not mentioned in
the Book of the Dead except in this chapter. It has disappeared in the
later recensions.
11. Here follow one or two divine names unknown to the copyists, and by
them written at random.
-----
Footnote 88:
_Aeneid_, V, 130.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER LXXIX.
_Chapter whereby one assumeth the form of the Chief god of the Divine
Cycle._
Hail to thee, Tmu, Lord of Heaven, who givest motion to all things which
come into being; thou who comest forth from the Earth and createst
whatsoever is begotten: Lord of the things which are; who givest birth
to the gods; great god, self-produced; Lord of Life, who givest vigour
to the men now living:
Hail to you, ye Lords of pure things, ye whose abodes are hidden:
Hail to you, ye Lords of Eternity, ye whose attributes are concealed,
and the place where ye reside is unknown.
Hail to you, ye gods who are in the divine circuit and the Kabhu; ye
gods who are in Amenta and ye, O Divine Cycle which is in Heaven:
Let me come to you, let me be purified and strengthened, let me be
enriched and gifted with power, let me have possession and glory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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