6. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _T’at’at_. This word is often wrongly translated
‘judges.’ The divine judges are called _t’at’at_, but the proposition is
not simply convertible. There were the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ not only of
Osiris, but (_Todt._, 22, 2) also of every god and every goddess. And
all the ancient towns of Egypt had their divine ⁂⁂⁂⁂. It is
a term used (_cf._ p. 55) as exactly synonymous with ⁂⁂. In a
mythological system like the Egyptian no god stood alone; every god
involved others in close connection with himself, and every act of his
necessitated corresponding acts on their part.
7. The _sebȧu_ are the enemies of the _Sun_, either as Rā or Osiris. I
believe that under this mythological name the dark clouds are
personified.
8. _Het Saru_, ‘House of the Prince,’ is the name of the great Sanctuary
at Heliopolis. It must be remembered however that many of the
geographical localities named in the Book of the Dead have their
counterparts in the Egyptian heaven.
9. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂, the ‘firm, stable, unalterable,
abiding, eternal one,’ whose origin and progress are in eternity. The
city ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂ has a name like the
Palestinian עַוָֹה, Gazah, the ‘strong’ city, and many other Hebrew names
connected with the root עזז.
10. _Rechit_, a locality in the north of Egypt. The mourners and weepers
alluded to are chiefly Isis and Nephthys.
11. _Teshtesh_ is one of the names of Osiris; perhaps, as might be
inferred from a text at Dendera, of his molten image.
12. The god “whose heart is motionless” is Osiris.
13. ⁂⁂ _Re-stau_, one of the gates of the Netherworld. Its
situation is specified in Chapter 17, line 19.
14. _Sechem._ Letopolis, where the arm of Osiris had been deposited,
when the other limbs of the god were dispersed throughout the cities of
Egypt.
15. The _Tank of Flame_, as may be inferred from the vignettes of the
papyri, is where the sun rises or sets. _Cf._, Unas, 393, 506.
16. _Tenait._ Feast of the seventh day of the month.
17. The speaker now assumes the persons of various priests in
succession, the ⁂⁂ _āb_, the ⁂⁂⁂ _ḥen nutȧr_ (prophet),
the ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ura ḫerp ḥem_;[7] and
he describes himself as performing certain religious ceremonies. It must
never be forgotten when reading these texts that the Egyptian priests
had _divine titles_, and that their ceremonies were dramatic, and
symbolical of the acts performed by the gods.
18. The text here is hopelessly corrupt. The translation given follows
_Ag_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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