Egyptian Book of the Dead

CHAPTER LII.

CHAPTER LII. Chapter whereby one eateth not dirt in the Netherworld. I execrate, I execrate, I do not eat it. That which I execrate is dirt. I eat it not, that I may appease my Genius( 1 ). Let it not fall upon me; let me not approach it with my hands, let me not tread upon it with my sandals. Henceforth let me live upon corn( 2 ) in your presence, ye gods, and let there come one who bringeth to me that I may feed from those seven loaves which he hath brought for Horus and upon the loaves for Thoth. “What willst thou eat?” say the gods to him. Let me eat under the Sycamore of Hathor the Sovereign, and let my turn be given to me among those who rest there. And let me manage the fields in Tattu and prosper in Heliopolis. And let me feed upon the bread of the white corn and upon the beer of the red barley. And let the forms( 3 ) of my father and of my mother be granted to me; the gate-keepers of the stream. Let room be thrown open for me, let the path be made, and let me sit in any place that I desire. 106 Notes. 1. Here, as in the corresponding passage in the preceding chapter and in several other places, the later texts often read [Source image: ⁂] , which is a serious error. 2. The unintelligible [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] of the later texts should be corrected to [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] ( Älteste Texte 42, lines 50, 54 and 67). The error may be traced to a form of the word with the prothetic [Source image: ⁂] . There are several words varying in their applications which may be traced to the same origin. [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] šeser ‘spica’ a point, hence an ear of corn, and [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] , [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] , ‘spiculum,’ an arrow, a javelin, are very clearly connected, and the notion in both is, as in the Hebrew אביב , that of ‘shooting forth,’ proferre , protendere . [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] , a term applied to horned animals, has surely nothing to do with the Coptic ϣⲣⲱ of Leviticus XV , 19. It refers to the pointed weapons presented by the beasts. [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] is ‘put forward’ in the way of speech, and may be command or prayer, or simple statement. [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] the builder’s line is something ‘stretched out’ prolatum , protensum . And with reference to walls, buildings, and the like, [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] may always be translated by proferre, protendere . 3. The forms , [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] not [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] , as the Turin Todtenbuch. There is a most interesting text but unfortunately imperfect on the Leyden Coffin M. 3 (M. Pl. 13). The deceased is told that on arriving at the mysterious gate he will find his father and his mother, [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] . This is followed by [Source image: ⁂] and then apparently by [Source image: ⁂] but the middle sign is almost entirely effaced. This would mean ‘at the resurrection of thy body.’