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
Another remarkable composition in the Book of the Dead is the first part
of Chapter CXXV, which well illustrates the lofty moral conceptions of
the Egyptians of the eighteenth dynasty. The deceased is supposed to be
standing in the "Usekht Maāti," or Hall of the Two Maāti goddesses, one
for Upper Egypt and one for Lower Egypt, wherein Osiris and his
Forty-two Judges judge the souls of the dead. Before judgment is given
the deceased is allowed to make a declaration, which in form closely
resembles that made in many parts of Africa at the present day by a man
who is condemned to undergo the ordeal of drinking "red water," and in
it he states that he has not committed offences against the moral and
religious laws of his country. He says:
"Homage to thee, O Great God, thou Lord of Maāti. I have come to thee, O
my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy
beauties. I know thee. I know thy name. I know the names of the
Forty-two[1] gods who live with thee in this Hall of Truth, who keep
ward over sinners, and who feed upon their blood on the day when the
lives of men are taken into account in the presence of Un-Nefer (_i.e._
the Good Being or Osiris).... Verily, I have come unto thee, I have
brought truth unto thee. I have destroyed wickedness for thee. I have
not done evil to men. I have not oppressed (or wronged) my family. I
have not done wrong instead of right. I have not been a friend of
worthless men. I have not wrought evil. I have not tried to make myself
over-righteous. I have not put forward my name for exalted positions. I
have not entreated servants evilly. I have not defrauded the man who was
in trouble. I have not done what is hateful (or taboo) to the gods. I
have not caused a servant to be ill-treated by his master. I have not
caused pain [to any man]. I have not permitted any man to go hungry. I
have made none to weep. I have not committed murder. I have not ordered
any man to commit murder for me. I have inflicted pain on no man. I have
not robbed the temples of their offerings. I have not stolen the cakes
of the gods. I have not carried off the cakes offered to the spirits. I
have not committed fornication. I have not committed acts of impurity in
the holy places of the god of my town. I have not diminished the bushel.
I have not added to or filched away land. I have not encroached upon the
fields [of my neighbours]. I have not added to the weights of the
scales. I have not falsified the pointer of the scales. I have not taken
milk from the mouths of children. I have not driven away the cattle that
were upon their pastures. I have not snared the feathered fowl in the
preserves of the gods. I have not caught fish [with bait made of] fish
of their kind. I have not stopped water at the time [when it should
flow]. I have not breached a canal of running water. I have not
extinguished a fire when it should burn. I have not violated the times
[of offering] chosen meat-offerings. I have not driven off the cattle
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