CHAPTER Is.

[From the Papyrus of Nekhtu-eAmen (Naville, Todtenbuch, Bad. T. Bl. 5).]
CA
eran ae 1 ru
Vignette: The god Anubis, jackal-headed, standing by the side of the bier on which lies the mummy.
Text: (1) THE CHAPTER OF MAKING THE SAnHU! TO ENTER INTO THE TUAT (7.e., UNDERWORLD) ON THE DAY OF THE FUNERAL (2) WHEN THESE WORDS ARE TO BE SAID :—
“Homage to thee, O thou that dwellest in Set- “Tchesert * of Amentet: (8) Osiris, the royal scribe
1 = ———— i ; 5 ‘ Sahu a means a body which has attained toa
degree of knowledge and power and glory, whereby it becomes henceforth lasting and incorruptible. It could hold converse with the soul, and could ascend into heaven and dwell with the beati- fied. The Sahu, or spiritual body, sprang from the material body through the prayers which were said, and the ceremonies which were performed at the tomb, or elsewhere, by duly appointed and properly qualified priests. 2 J.e,, the Holy Mountain,
48 PRAYERS FOR POWER IN RE-STAU (Chap. is.
“Nekhtu-Amen, victorious, knoweth thee, (4) and he “]noweth thy name. Deliver thou him from the “worms (5) which are in Re-stau, which live upon the “bodies of men and women and (6) which reed upon “their blood, for Osiris, the favoured one of the god of “his city, (7) the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, victori- “ous, knoweth you, and he knoweth your names. “(Let this be] the first bidding of Osiris Neb-er-tcher 1 “(8) who keepeth hidden his body. May he give air “fand escape] from the Terrible One who dwelleth in “the Bight * of the Stream of Amentet, and may he “decree (9) the actions of him that is rismg up. Let “him pass on unto him whose throne is within the “darkness, who giveth glory in Re-stau. (10) O lord “of light, come tlou and swallow up the worms “which are in Amentet. The great god who dwelleth “in Tattu, (11) and who is unseen, heareth his prayers, “but those who are in affliction fear him as he cometh “forth (12) with the sentence to the divine block. I “Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, have come “bearing the decree of (13) Neb-er-tcher, and Horus “hath taken possession of his throne for him, His “father, the lord of those who are (14) in the boat of “father Horus, hath ascribed praise unto him. He “cometh with tidings . . . and may he see (15) Annu “ (Heliopolis), Their chief standeth upon the earth
! T.e., Osiris, reconstructed and complete, the ‘‘lord of whole- ness.”
* According to Chapter XVII., line 46, the Terrible One is the ‘heart of Osiris, which is the devourer of all slaughtered things.”
Chap. ii. 2] THE LIFE AFTER DEATH 49
“before him, and the scribes magnify him at the door “of their assemblies, (16) and they bind his swathings “in Annu. He hath led captive heaven, and he hath “seized the earth in [his] grasp. Neither the heavens “nor the earth (17) can be taken away from him, for “behold, he is Ra, the first-born of the gods. His “mother suckleth him and she giveth [to him] her “breast (18) in the horizon.”
RUBRIC: The words of this chapter are to be recited after [the deceased] is laid to rest in Amentet, whereby the region Tanenet is made to be content with her lord. Then shall Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, triumphant, come forth, (19) and he shall embark in the boat of Ra, and [his] body upon its bier shall be counted [with those therein], and he shall be stablished in the Tuat (underworld).