_Chapter whereby the Mouth of a person is opened for him in the
Netherworld._
_He saith_: Let my mouth be opened by Ptah, and let the muzzles which
are upon my mouth be loosed by the god of my domain.(1.)
Then let Thoth come, full and equipped with Words of Power,[35] and let
him loose the muzzles of Sutu which are upon my mouth, and let Tmu lend
a hand to fling them at the assailants.
Let my mouth be given to me. Let my mouth be opened by Ptah with that
instrument of steel(2.) wherewith he openeth the mouths of the gods.
I am Sechit(3.) Uat’it who sitteth on the right side of Heaven: I am
Sahit encircled by the Spirits of Heliopolis.[36]
And all the Words of Power, and all the accusations which are uttered
against me—the gods stand firm against them: the cycles of the gods
unitedly.
NOTES.
1. Osiris. On the sense of ⁂⁂⁂, literally ‘the god of the
domain,’ see the articles of M. Naville and Professor Piehl,
_Zeitschr._, 1880, 146; 1881, 24 and 64. I hold with Dr. Piehl that the
domain meant in this formula is Abydos, and that the god is Osiris.
2. The word here translated ‘steel’ is ⁂⁂⁂, upon which see M.
Devéria’s dissertation, “Le Fer et l’Aimant” in the _Mélanges
d’Archéologie Egyptienne et Assyrienne_, tome I, p. 2.
A description of the Ceremonies of the Opening of the Mouth as performed
at the tomb will be found in the Introduction to this translation.
3. The name of this goddess is phonetically written ⁂⁂ _Sḫt_ in
the Pyramid texts of Unas (l. 390), where the Murray Papyrus and other
texts have the ordinary ⁂⁂. The reading Sechemet is indefensible.
Cf. _Proc. Soc. Bibl. Arch._, XII, p. 365.
-----
Footnote 35:
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.
Footnote 36:
Tmu, Shu and Tefnut.
------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIV.
_Chapter whereby the Words of Power are brought to a Person in the
Netherworld._
I am Chepera, the self-produced, on his Mother’s thigh.(1.)
The speed of bloodhounds is given to those who are in Heaven,[37] and
the mettle of hyaenas(2.) to those who belong to the Divine Circle.
Lo, I bring this my Word of Power, and I collect this Word of Power from
every quarter in which it is, more persistently(3.) than hounds of chase
and more swiftly than the Light.
O thou who guidest the Bark of Rā, sound is thy rigging and free from
disaster as thou passest on to the Tank of Flame.
Lo, I collect[38] this my Word of Power from every quarter in which it
is, in behalf of every person whom it concerneth, more persistently than
hounds of chase and more swiftly than Light; the same(4.) who create the
gods out of Silence, or reduce them to inactivity; the same who impart
warmth to the gods.
Lo, I collect this my Word of Power from every quarter in which it is,
in behalf of every person whom it concerneth, more persistently than
hounds of chase and more swiftly than the Light.
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