CHAPTER VII.

_Chapter of passing through the chine of Apepi which is void._


Oh, One of Wax,(1.) who takest captive and seizest with violence, and
livest upon those who are motionless! Let me not become motionless
before thee, let me not be paralysed before thee, let not thy venoms
enter into my limbs, for my limbs are the limbs of Tmu.

And if thou wouldst not be paralysed, let me not be paralysed.

Let not thy languors enter these limbs of mine.

I am the One who presideth over the pole of Heaven, and the powers of
all the gods are my powers.

I am he, whose names are hidden, and whose abodes are mysterious for all
eternity.

It is I who proceed from Tmu, and I am safe and sound.(2.)

NOTES.

Apepi is the personification of the storm-cloud and, as such, is the
enemy of Râ, by whom he is vanquished. As representing a natural
phenomenon of irregular occurrence, he is not deified like Sutu, the
Darkness of Night.

On comparing this chapter with the 99th, it would appear that the
occasion for reciting it is on the journey of the heavenly boat through
ridges of cloud, which are pictured as the coils of a great serpent, and
described as ⁂⁂ inanes, empty, void. In the papyrus of Nebket
(_Pe_) the vignette shows the deceased person transfixing the dragon.
The chapter itself was said over a wax figure of the demon.

1. These wax figures of gods and other personages were used not
only for ritual but for unlawful magical purposes. The Rollin
papyrus reports about a criminal condemned to death for magical
arts. He was charged with making ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ ‘gods of
wax,’ and some men “for the purpose of paralysing the limbs of men
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.” See Chabas, _Papyrus
Magique_, p. 170, and Devéria, _Pap. judiciaire de Turin_, p. 131.

2. The more recent texts omit this ending and substitute, “I know, I
know.” Some MSS. have both readings.

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