CHAPTER VII.

[From the Papyrus of Nu (Brit. Mus. No. 10,477, sheet 22).]
Vignette: The deceased spearing a serpent (see Pap, Funératre de Nebset, ed. Pierret and Devéria, pl. 5).
Text: (1) THe CHAPTER OF PASSING OVER THE ABOMINABLE BACK OF (2) ArEpP, The overseer of the
Chap. vii. 4] ADJURATION OF APEP 55
house of the overseer of the seal, Nu, triumphant, saith :-—
. “Hail, thou creature of wax,! who leadest away “[victims] and destroyest them, and who livest upon “the weak and helpless, may I never become weak and “helpless (3) [before] thee, may I never suffer collapse “{before| thee. And thy poison shall never enter into ‘“‘my members, for my members are [as] the members of “the god Tem; and since thou thyself dost not suffer “collapse [I shall not suffer collapse]. O let not the “pains of death (4) which come upon thee enter into “my members. Iam the god Tem, and I am in the ‘foremost part of Nu (i.e. the sky), and the power “which protecteth me is that which is with-all the “goods for ever. Iam he whose name is hidden, and “whose habitation is holy for millions of years. I am “he who dwelleth therein (?) and I come forth along “with the god Tem. I am he who shall not be “condemned (?); [ am strong, I am strong.”
1 This address shows that the Chapter was said over a wax figure of a fiend, which was burnt in a fire during its recital; the fiend addressed is Apep, and a figure of him was burnt to ‘‘ prevent the coming on of storms.” See my Egyptian Magic, p. 81 ff.
56 PASSAGE THROUGH THE UNDERWORLD (Ch. viii.