Chapter I

Papyrus in the British Museum.
No. 9901.
_See_ NAVILLE, “Book of the Dead,” I, Pl. I and II.
]

NOTES.

The text taken for the basis of the translation of Chapter I is that of the papyrus of Huneferu; _Ag_ of M. Naville’s edition.

1. The title here translated is that usual in all the papyri representing the third period of the text. It occurs however in the papyrus _Ag_ of Huneferu, who lived in the days of Seti I, at the beginning of the XIXth dynasty. It is also found in the papyrus of Ani. The most common title of Chapter I in the older manuscripts is ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, “Chapter of coming to the divine Powers attached to Osiris.” These divine Powers are Amsta, Hapi, Tuamautef and Qebehsenuf, the children of Horus, who stand upon the lotus which springs from the water beneath the throne of Osiris, in pictures of the Psychostasia. Chapter 124 bears the same title in the older manuscripts, which sometimes begin with it.

2. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. These are two very difficult words, and very different meanings have been assigned to them. But when the entire evidence is examined the result is plain enough. Each of the words has for determinative the sign, ⁂, expressive of some kind of utterance. It is a λόγος of some kind has for its first letter the causative ⁂. The question therefore is, what are the meanings of the simpler forms ⁂⁂, _tes_, and ⁂⁂⁂, _ḫu_?

The most common, indeed the only true, meaning of ⁂⁂ is ‘rising,’ and even ‘raising.’ This is too well-known to require proof. ⁂⁂ is ‘causing to rise.’ The Pyramid text of Teta says (l. 270), “Horus hath given his children that they may raise thee up ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.” In the same religious text, l. 248, ⁂⁂ is the _rising from the funereal couch_ after the ⁂⁂, the recitations made over the dead.

The ‘raising up’ or ‘resurrection’ here spoken of is said not only of the soul but of the body of the deceased person. The papyrus of Nebseni has preserved two chapters, to which M. Naville has assigned the numbers 177 and 178.

177. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

_Chapter of raising up the Chu, and giving life to the Soul in the Netherworld._

178. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

_Chapter of raising up the body, of giving it eyes and the possession of ears, and establishing the head, made firm on its props._

⁂, _ḫat_, is not simply the body; it is the _dead body_, that which has _fallen_, like the Latin _cadaver_, the Greek πτῶμα, the Hebrew מַפֶלֶח. (See _Transactions Soc. Bib. Arch._, Vol. VIII, p. 221, note 2.)

The true meaning of ⁂⁂⁂ _ḫu_ is not ‘luminous’ but ‘clear, distinct, glittering, ‘_coruscans_,’ and hence ‘bright, splendid, illustrious, glorious,’ and the like. Like the Greek λαμπρός, the Latin _clarus_, the Hebrew עהל, or the French _éclat_, it is applied to sound as well as to light. It is said of Thoth (in the wretched orthography[5] of a tablet of the XIXth dynasty) ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “he glorified them with the clear utterances of his mouth.” ⁂⁂⁂ corresponds to the Greek λαμπροφωνία. As a verb ⁂⁂ is _clareo_, and is ⁂⁂⁂ _clarifico_, _glorifico_.

There are, it is true, variants in the title of Chapter 17, giving the form ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. In spite of the excellent authority of these variants, they must be considered as giving an erroneous reading. The words ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘remember,’ and ⁂⁂⁂ are different in origin and meaning. The latter signifies ‘confer glory,’ and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ are religious formularies recited by priests, identifying the deceased person with Osiris and other divinities. There are numerous pictures in the tombs representing priests performing this office.[6]

3. M. Déveria has produced excellent evidence showing that ⁂ _maāt-ḫeru_ has the sense of ‘victorious, triumphant.’ But the sense of _véridique_ is untenable. ⁂⁂⁂ _ḫeru_ is ‘voice’ not ‘speech.’ In _Proceedings S.B.A._, Vol. VI, p. 192, note, I have quoted a passage from a chapter (now numbered 181 in M. Naville’s edition) in which ⁂⁂⁂⁂ signifies ‘want of success, failure.’

⁂⁂⁂⁂ _maāt ḫeru_ really signifies “one whose voice is Law.” It is essentially a _divine_ title (see “Altar at Turin,” _Transactions_, III, pl. II, _line_ 10, appended to Mr. Bonomi’s article), and in _no_ Egyptian text is it used of mortals supposed to be living. The translation “juste de voix,” limits the conception of _maāt_ to _one_ of its secondary acceptations.

⁂⁂⁂⁂ _semaāt ḫeru_ is also, and necessarily so, a divine act, that of Thoth; and it is done through his utterances.

4. ⁂ _ȧn_ in this place as in very many others is not a preposition, _still less is it a verb_. It is a demonstrative particle, like the Latin _en_, _ecce_, or the Hebrew הֵו. Nothing is more common than this particle followed only by a proper name, _e.g._, on the funereal figures. There is not the slightest reason for supposing that there is an ellipse of the verb ‘saith.’ The particle is used like the corresponding Latin one under the Scottish picture of Edward I—

‘En rex Edwardus debacchans ut leopardus.’

When I translate ⁂⁂⁂ ⁂⁂⁂, “It is Thoth—who is here,” I do not wish to imply that ⁂⁂ is the verb _to be_, any more than I should in the frequent expression ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “It is his son who revives his name.” ⁂ is a demonstrative particle and nothing else.

Instead of looking out for moods and tenses and paradigms, Egyptologists ought to wake to the consciousness that the Egyptians never rose to the conception of what we mean by a _verb_.

5. The Bull of Amenta is Osiris. Bull, like Lion or Hawk, was one of the figurative names of gods or kings, and Osiris is sometimes represented with a Bull’s head.

6. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _T’at’at_. This word is often wrongly translated ‘judges.’ The divine judges are called _t’at’at_, but the proposition is not simply convertible. There were the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ not only of Osiris, but (_Todt._, 22, 2) also of every god and every goddess. And all the ancient towns of Egypt had their divine ⁂⁂⁂⁂. It is a term used (_cf._ p. 55) as exactly synonymous with ⁂⁂. In a mythological system like the Egyptian no god stood alone; every god involved others in close connection with himself, and every act of his necessitated corresponding acts on their part.

7. The _sebȧu_ are the enemies of the _Sun_, either as Rā or Osiris. I believe that under this mythological name the dark clouds are personified.

8. _Het Saru_, ‘House of the Prince,’ is the name of the great Sanctuary at Heliopolis. It must be remembered however that many of the geographical localities named in the Book of the Dead have their counterparts in the Egyptian heaven.

9. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂, the ‘firm, stable, unalterable, abiding, eternal one,’ whose origin and progress are in eternity. The city ⁂⁂⁂⁂ or ⁂⁂⁂⁂ has a name like the Palestinian עַוָֹה, Gazah, the ‘strong’ city, and many other Hebrew names connected with the root עזז.

10. _Rechit_, a locality in the north of Egypt. The mourners and weepers alluded to are chiefly Isis and Nephthys.

11. _Teshtesh_ is one of the names of Osiris; perhaps, as might be inferred from a text at Dendera, of his molten image.

12. The god “whose heart is motionless” is Osiris.

13. ⁂⁂ _Re-stau_, one of the gates of the Netherworld. Its situation is specified in Chapter 17, line 19.

14. _Sechem._ Letopolis, where the arm of Osiris had been deposited, when the other limbs of the god were dispersed throughout the cities of Egypt.

15. The _Tank of Flame_, as may be inferred from the vignettes of the papyri, is where the sun rises or sets. _Cf._, Unas, 393, 506.

16. _Tenait._ Feast of the seventh day of the month.

17. The speaker now assumes the persons of various priests in succession, the ⁂⁂ _āb_, the ⁂⁂⁂ _ḥen nutȧr_ (prophet), the ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ura ḫerp ḥem_;[7] and he describes himself as performing certain religious ceremonies. It must never be forgotten when reading these texts that the Egyptian priests had _divine titles_, and that their ceremonies were dramatic, and symbolical of the acts performed by the gods.

18. The text here is hopelessly corrupt. The translation given follows _Ag_.

Instead of ⁂⁂⁂ _exalt_, several MSS. have ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, which has been rendered _anoint with oil_. One might translate the Turin text, “I lustrate with water in Tattu and with oil in Abydos, exalting him who is in the heights (_in excelsis_),” for this text combines different readings. But ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, as it is written, may have another meaning. ⁂⁂⁂ _beq_, signifies ‘clear, bright, shining,’ and the olive tree derives its name from this. The determinative ⁂ and the causative ⁂ furnish the sense, ‘I make bright, illustrious, glorious,’ ‘I celebrate or glorify.’ ‘He is who on the height’ (= עליון) is, according to Chapter 17, the Sun.

19. This is perhaps supposed to be said by the priest called ⁂⁂, the ‘Arch-seer,’ at Heliopolis.

20. One of the designations of Osiris. Perhaps the word _Ba_ should be translated Ram, for in the Mendesian Nome Osiris was worshipped under this form, and was called ⁂⁂⁂ _ḣeru šefit_, ‘god of the strong face.’ The fact is that whether applied to the _soul_ or to a _ram_, the word _ba_ is expressive of ‘power, force.’ The same word under the form ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is used in Chapter 120, 2 (= 12, 2) in the sense of ‘splitting up.’ And this is clearly the Egyptian concept of the soul—‘the internal force, that which works within us,’ τὸ ἐνεργοῦν.

The word is ideographically written ⁂ or ⁂,[8] both the Ram and the cranelike bird being called _ba_. Some have cleverly inferred that the Egyptians thought that the soul was of a birdlike form, and others have not hesitated to consider _ba_ as expressive of the cry of the _ram_. The odd thing is that only the ram has this name, not the _sheep_ or the _lamb_, who nevertheless indulge in the same cry. The truth is that in spite of appearances the word _ba_ is not onomatopoeic here. Whether applied to the ram or to the heron, the word is expressive of human action and signifies ‘digging through, cleaving, piercing, splitting.’ The hieroglyphic variants are very expressive: ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂⁂, ⁂⁂ (the last is already found in _Denkm._ II, 51).

The Ram is called in Egyptian _ba_ on account of the digs which he makes with his head, and a force which has occasioned the name of ‘ram’ to be given to powerful engines.

The Heron is also called _ba_ because with its bill it _cleaves_ the fishes which it attacks.

And the word which _we_ translate Soul or Spirit is called _ba_, because it is conceived as something which ‘pierces, penetrates and divides.’

It is right to point out (to those who may wonder at this Egyptian etymology) that the Latin _scio_ ‘I know’ is etymologically akin to _seco_ ‘cut,’ _securis_ ‘an axe,’ and the Greek κείω, κεάζω ‘split, cleave.’

21. The ⁂⁂⁂ _sem_, and the ⁂⁂⁂ _urȧ ḫerp ḥem_, were priests in the service of Ptah. The latter, who held perhaps the highest sacerdotal office in Egypt, as high priest of Ptah at Memphis, is repeatedly found combining with his own special office that of the _sem_. The ceremony which is here referred to consisted in a grand procession round the walls of the great sanctuary of Ptah, conveying upon a sledge the bark ⁂ in which the coffin of the god was supposed to rest. Sokaru signifies ‘the coffined,’ and Ptah Sokaru is only a form of Osiris. Abundant details of the ceremony will be found in the plates of M. Mariette’s _Abydos_, I, pl. 36 and following. The king Seti I is represented as a Sem priest presiding at the festival.

22. ⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Suten-ḥenen_ was called by the Greeks Heracleopolis.

23. Or ‘rid of his business.’ The word ⁂ _sep_, ‘turn,’ has the different significations of the Latin ‘vices.’

In the later recensions this chapter is lengthened out by other petitions. The deceased asks, among other things, to appear “before thee, O Lord of the gods, to attain the region of _Maāt_, may I rise up a living god, let me shine like the divine host which is in heaven, let me be as one of you. Let my steps be lifted up in Cher-ābaut. Let me see the ship[9] of the holy Sahu [Orion], traversing the sky; let me not be prevented from seeing the lords of the Tuat [the Netherworld], smelling the fragrance of the sacrificial offerings made to the divine host, and sitting with them. Let the Cher-heb [the priestly ministrant] make invocation over my coffin. Let me hear the prayers of propitiation. Let the divine ship Neshemet advance for me, let not my soul and its possessor suffer repulse.”

An invocation to Osiris follows.

“Hail to thee, Prince of Amenta, Osiris, lord of Nifura; grant that I may advance in peace towards Amenta, and that the Lords of Tasert may receive me and say to me, ‘Salutation! Salutation! in Peace!’ let them make for me a seat by the Prince of the divine Powers, let the two Chenemta goddesses [Isis and Nephthys] receive me, in presence of Unneferu, the Victorious. Let me be a follower of Horus in Re-stau, and of Osiris in Tattu. Let me assume all forms for the satisfaction of my heart in every place that my Genius [_Ka_] wisheth.”

The following rubric is found as early as the XIXth dynasty in connection with this chapter, but it seems to have originally been attached to Chapter 72.

“If this discourse is learnt upon earth, or is written upon the coffin, he (the deceased) may come forth upon every day that he pleaseth and again enter his house without impediment. And there shall be given to him bread and beer and flesh meat upon the table of Râ: he shall receive allotment in the Fields of Aarru [the Elysian fields of Egyptian mythology], and there shall be given to him there wheat and barley, for he shall be flourishing as when he was upon earth.”