The Literature of the Ancient EgyptiansBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
History
The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egyptian literature -- History and criticism; Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
In another Hymn to Osiris, which is found in the Papyrus of Hunefer, we
have the following: "The gods come unto thee, bowing low before thee,
and they hold thee in fear. They withdraw and depart when they see thee
endued with the terror of Rā, and the victory of Thy Majesty is over
their hearts. Life is with thee, and offerings of meat and drink follow
thee, and that which is thy due is offered before thy face. I have come
unto thee holding in my hands truth, and my heart hath in it no cunning
(or deceit). I offer unto thee that which is thy due, and I know that
whereon thou livest. I have not committed any kind of sin in the land; I
have defrauded no man of what is his. I am Thoth, the perfect scribe,
whose hands are pure. I am the lord of purity, the destroyer of evil,
the scribe of truth; what I abominate is sin."
Here is an address, followed by a short Litany, which forms a kind of
introduction to Chapter 15 in the Papyrus of Ani:
"Praise be unto thee, O Osiris, lord of eternity, Un-Nefer, Heru-Khuti,
whose forms are manifold, whose attributes are majesty, [thou who art]
Ptah-Seker-Tem in Heliopolis, lord of the Sheta shrine, creator of
Het-ka-Ptah (Memphis) and of the gods who dwell therein, thou Guide of
the Other World, whom the gods praise when thou settest in the sky. Isis
embraceth thee contentedly, and she driveth away the fiends from the
mouth of thy paths. Thou turnest thy face towards Amentet,[1] and thou
makest the earth to shine like refined copper. The dead rise up to look
upon thee, they breathe the air, and they behold thy face when [thy]
disk riseth on the horizon. Their hearts are at peace, inasmuch as they
behold thee, O thou who art Eternity and Everlastingness.
[Footnote 1: The "hidden" land, the West, the Other World.]
LITANY
"1. Homage to thee, O [Lord of] the Dekans[1] in Heliopolis and of the
heavenly beings in Kherāha,[2] thou god Unti, who art the most glorious
of the gods hidden in Heliopolis.
"_Grant thou unto me a path whereon I may pass in peace, for I am just
and true; I have not spoken lies wittingly, nor have I done aught with
deceit_.[3]
"2. Homage to thee, O An[4] in Antes, Heru-Khuti,[5] with long strides
dost thou stride over heaven, O Heru-Khuti.
"3. Homage to thee, O Everlasting Soul, who dwellest in Tatu (Busiris),
Un-Nefer,[6] son of Nut, who art the Lord of Akert.
"4. Homage to thee in thy rule over Tatu. The Urrt Crown is fixed upon
thy head. Thou art One, thou createst thy protection, thou dwellest in
peace in Tatu.
"5. Homage to thee, O Lord of the Acacia. The Seker Boat[7] is on its
sledge; thou turnest back the Fiend, the worker of evil; thou makest the
Eye of the Sun-god to rest upon its throne.
"6. Homage to thee, mighty one in thine hour, Prince great and mighty,
dweller in Anrutef,[8] lord of eternity, creator of everlastingness.
Thou art the lord of Hensu.[9]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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