Egyptian Book of the Dead

CHAPTER CLXIV.

336 CHAPTER CLXIV. Another Chapter. Hail, Sekhet, Bast, daughter of Rā, lady of the gods, who holdeth her fan of plumes, the lady of the scarlet garment, the mistress of the white and red crown, the only one who stands above her father, when there are no gods to stand above her; the great magician in the boat of millions of years, lofty when she rises in the abode of silence, the mother of the Shakas, the royal wife of the lion Haka. These are the forms of the princess, the mistress of the funereal chamber, the mother on the horizon of the sky, the joyful, the beloved, who destroyeth the rebels collected in her fist. She stands at the prow of the boat of her father, in order to strike down the evildoer, in order to place Maāt at the prow of the boat of Rā. Neith, the burning one, after whom nothing remains; she who follows Kaharo, who follows Saromkaharomat is thy name, thou art the mighty burning wind behind Kanas,( 1 ) at the prow of the boat of her father Haropukaka Scharoshaba, in the language of the negroes and of the Anti of the land of Nubia( 2 ). Acclamations to thee, mightier than the gods; thou art praised by the gods of Hermopolis, the living spirits who are in their tabernacles. They give praise to the valour of Mut (?),( 3 ) and they begin to bring offerings to the mysterious gates. Their bones are sound, they are delivered from dangers; they become powerful in the eternal abode; they are delivered from the society of the wicked one, the spirit with a terrible face, which is among the assembly of the gods. The child( 4 ) who is born of him with the terrible face, will hide his body to the cursed serpent whose breath is burning; because he has found the names; the mysterious lion is one, the soul of the dwarf (is the other). As for the eye of the great one, the princess of the gods, her name is she who partakes of the name of Mut. His soul is powerful, his body is sound; they are safe from the abode of the enemies who are in the society of the wicked one. They will not be imprisoned. 337 These words which were spoken by the mouth of the goddess herself have become the words of the goddesses, and the male gods, and of every soul to whom a burial is given. Said on a Mut having three faces: one is the face of the Pekha-vulture having two plumes; the other is the face of a man, wearing the red and the white crown. The other is a face of a Ner-vulture, having two plumes, with a phallus and wings and the claws of a lion. It is painted with anti with resin (?) mixed with green colour, on a scarlet bandage. There is a dwarf in front and behind her; he looks at her and wears two plumes. He has one arm raised, and he has two faces, one of a hawk and the other of a man. He whose body is wrapped up in these bandages, he is mighty among the gods in the Netherworld. He is never repulsed; his flesh and his bones are like one who never died; he drinks at the source of the river, he receives fields in the garden of Aarru; a star in the sky is given to him. He is delivered from the fiend-serpent with a burning mouth. His soul will not be imprisoned like a bird; he will be lord of those around him, and he will not be eaten by worms. Notes. The translation of these magical Chapters is still more uncertain than that of the rest of the book, and the text is often very corrupt. The vignette consists of the three figures described in the rubric. That which is given here is taken from the Turin papyrus. It differs slightly from the description and from the vignettes of the other texts. The middle figure should have a man’s body with a lion’s claws. 1. A papyrus at Leyden reads here [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] the enemies. 2. There it is said distinctly that these barbarous words belong to African languages. They are probably not all proper names; some of them seem to have a sense which we have not yet discovered, for instance, the word Shakas in this expression: the mother of the Shakas. 3. Very uncertain text. 4. These words seem to apply to the deceased.