Egyptian Book of the Dead

CHAPTER CLXXVII.

359 CHAPTER CLXXVII. Chapter of raising the Chu, of vivifying his soul in the Netherworld. O Nut, Nut, who created the father out of his earth( 1 ) and Horus after him, who bound his wings as to a hawk and his feathers like Kemhesu,( 2 ) who brought him his soul, and who perfected his words, who showed him his abode in the presence of the stars, the occupiers of the sky, for he is the great star of Nut. Thou seest N. uttering words to the Glorified, for he is the great form who will not rule (?) over them if thou art not among them. Thou seest the head of N. as a ba ( 3 ) (ram); his horns are like those of a sacrificed victim, those of a black ram, born of the ewe who bare him, and suckled by four sheep. There came to thee Horus with blue eyes, do thou guard Horus with red eyes in his sickness and in his wrath; let his soul not be opposed, let his messengers come to him, and his quick runners( 4 ) hasten to him; let them come on the west side, and one by one (?) march towards thee. The god has said this: thy words are those of the father of the gods,( 5 ) thy name will be triumphant before the gods; they exalt thee and the cycle of the gods give thee their hands. Said by the god to the father of the gods: take possession of the door of the ka on the horizon, let them throw open their gates; thou art welcome to them, do thou prevail over them, let them advance towards the god( 6 ) ... when they come out they raise their faces, they see him before the great god Amsu [6] ... thy head, I have raised for thee thy head, take possession of it ... his head has perished behind thee, thy head will not perish and what thou hast done before men and gods will not be destroyed. Notes. This Chapter is found in the pyramid of Unas (ll. 361-376), where the text is not much better than in the Papyrus London 9900. 1. I believe this obscure expression means Osiris. 2. A form of Horus represented as a crouching hawk, with two feathers on his head (Renouf, Life Work , Vol. III, p. 236). 360 3. Though [Source image: ⁂] is written by a bird with a human head, it applies to the soul represented by a ram. See vignettes to Chapter 85. 4. [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] evidently the word [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] of the inscription of the “Destruction of mankind,” where it refers to [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] the messengers. 5. [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] means properly a hunter, a man of the field, which would have no sense here. Unas reads [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] [Source image: ⁂] “the divine fathers.” Adopting the reading of Unas in the singular, I read the father of the gods, probably Seb, who is mentioned a little further in the text of the pyramid. 6. Lacunæ.