CHAPTER CX.

_The Beginning of the Chapters of the Garden of Hotepit, and of the
Chapters of coming forth by day; and of entering and coming forth in
the Netherworld, and of arriving at the Garden of Aarru, at the
Rise(1.) in Hotepit and at the Grand Domain, blest with the breezes:
that I may take possession there and be in Glory there: that there I
may plough and mow: that there I may eat and drink and love: doing
whatsoever things are done upon earth._


Horus is seized by Sutu: who looketh as one turning(2.) towards the
Garden of Hotepit.

But for me Sutu releaseth Horus: and the double path which is nigh to
Heaven is thrown open by Sutu. And Sutu taketh his portion of the breeze
through the Power of his own day,(3.) and he delivereth the bowels of
Horus from the gods below.

Lo, I sail the great Bark on the Stream of the god Hotep. I took it at
the mansion of Shu.

The mansion of his stars is again and again renewed.(4.) I sail upon its
streams that I may come to the domains thereof.

For I am in unison with his successive changes and his rules, and his
papyrus,(5.) and his attendant gods, and his chieftains. He reconcileth
the two Warrior gods with those who have the charge of food and the
beautiful creation which he raiseth up; and he reconcileth the two
Warrior gods with each other.(6.)

He severeth the mourners from those who quarrel with them: he putteth a
stop to them whose hand is violent against those weaker than themselves:
he keepeth within bounds the contentions of the Powers.

May I have possession there.

I know it, and I sail upon its streams that I may come to the domains
thereof.

My mouth is potent and secured against the Glorified that they may not
have the mastery of me.

May I have the investiture of thy Garden, O Hotep. What thou willest, do
thou it.

Let me be glorified there, and eat and drink there, and plough there,
and reap there, and grind(7.) there, and have my fill of love there.

May my mouth be potent there, let me there utter my Words of Power and
not be slighted.

* * * * * * *

I am in possession of that Word of Power of mine which is the most
potent one within this body of mine here: and by means of it I make
myself either known or unknown.

I make my progress and I plough.

I take my rest in the divine Domain.

I know the names of the domains, the districts and the streams within
the Garden of Hotep.

I am there, I am master there, I am in glory there, I eat there; I plant
and I reap there; I plough there, and I take my fill of love. I am
united there with the god Hotep.

I cast my seed there, and I sail upon its stream that I may come to the
domains thereof, O Hotep.

Lo, my mouth is armed with sharp points. There is given to me the
abundance which belongeth to the Ka and to the Glorified.

I give the reckoning of Shu to him who understandeth it.

I sail upon its stream, and I range within the Garden of Hotep, for Rā
is in the sky, and Hotep is putting together the oblations.

I hasten to the land, and I fasten my stole upon me, that I may come
forth, and that that may be given to me which hath to be given; that I
may have joy and take possession of the wealth which Hotep assigneth to
me.

=Rise in Hotep=, I arrive in thee, my soul is with me, and my provision
is before the Mistress of the Two Earths, who maketh fast my Words of
Power, which recall to mind that which I have forgotten. Let me live
free from strife; and be there granted to me enlargement of heart.

Let my arteries be made fast, and let me have the enjoyment of the
Breeze.(8.)

Rise in Hotep, blest with the Breeze, I arrive in thee, my head is
uncovered: Rā sleepeth, but there waketh for me, and there shineth upon
me Hesit [the Cow-goddess](9.) who lieth at the confines of Heaven by
night.

He standeth in my way who heapeth against me his own dross.

But I am in my own domain.

=Great Domain=, I arrive in thee and I reckon up the abundance as I pass
on to Uach.(10.)

I am the Bull, raised on high in the Blue; the lord of the Bull’s field;
which Sothis describeth to me at her successive hours.

=Uach=, I arrive in thee, and I eat my cakes, and take possession of my
joints of flesh and meat and fowl.

The winged things of Shu are given to me, and my Kau follow me.(11.)

=T’efait=,(12.) I arrive in thee, I put on the stole and fasten upon me
the girdle of Rā, whilst he is in heaven,(13.) and the gods who are in
heaven are following Rā.

=Rise in Hotep, Lord of the Two Earths=, I arrive in thee: I salute the
stream of _T’eserit_.(14.) Lo, here am I, and all impurity is far from
me. The great one flourisheth ... I net the ducks, and I eat dainties.

=Kankanit=,(15.) I arrive in thee; that I may see my father and
attentively view my mother.

I take care to net the reptiles; and that which protecteth me is that I
know the name of that god who is next to T’eserit (goddess with flowing
locks and armed with horns), and who reapeth.

I myself plough and reap.

=Hesit=, I arrive in thee, and I encounter the Blue.

I follow the Breezes, and the company of the gods.

It is the Great goddess who hath given me my head, and he who fasteneth
my head upon me is the Great god, the Blue-eyed, who doeth according to
his own will.

=Userit=,(16.) I arrive in thee, in face of the mansion where food is
produced for me.

=Smait=,(17.) I arrive in thee. My heart is awake: my head is provided
with the White crown and I am conveyed over the heavens: and I make
those things to prosper which are below me: a joy to the Bull of the
gods above, the divine company.

I am the Bull, the Lord of the gods; and I make my way through the midst
of the Emerald ones.(18.)

=Isle of Corn and Barley=, divine district, I arrive in thee. I
encounter and I bear off that which proceedeth from the head of Rā: the
pair of horns which have the force of purification.(19.)

I make myself fast to the Block of Moorage on the heavenly stream, and I
utter my praise to the gods who are in the Garden of Hotepit.

NOTES.

The text of this chapter handed down by the Turin papyrus and those
which agree with it contains nothing very difficult for a translator,
but on being compared with the older copies it is found to consist of a
collection of small fragments of the older text put together without any
regard to their original order or context. And about three-quarters of
the old chapter are suppressed in the new recension.

The editors of the fine papyrus of Sutimes in their notes upon this
chapter remark, that in the Turin text the sentences are in quite a
different order from that of their papyrus, “On peut y voir,” they say,
“l’effet de lectures et de transcriptions en rebours du sens, par des
scribes ayant mal compris les éditions en colonnes rétrogrades.”

This is, curiously enough, the very fault of the papyrus of Sutimes
itself, which is here wrong from beginning to end,[98] though probably
derived from an excellent original. It begins with the “Isle of Corn and
Barley,” and jumbles together quite incoherent sentences.

The oldest copy of the chapter yet discovered is that of the Tomb of
Chā-em-hait, at Thebes, and by a strange fatality it has been published
in such a form that in order to read it correctly, we must begin with
what is printed as line 11 and finish with line 1. We have it also in a
very incomplete condition. We miss the first eighteen lines contained in
the papyrus of Nebseni and the last words of every line.

The papyrus of Nebseni is the only complete text we have, and here as
well as elsewhere it is extremely incorrect. Some parts are so corrupt
that a translation must necessarily be dependent upon conjectural
emendations which can have no genuine claim upon the reader’s
confidence. We must be content with waiting till better authorities are
discovered.

The Gardens of Hotepit and Aarru are the Paradise, Elysian Fields and
Islands of the Blessed of the Egyptian imagination.[99] They were
supposed to be situated in the neighbourhood of the rising Sun, but
certain features were apparently suggested by the islets of the Delta.

The usual meaning of the word _Ḥotepit_, ⁂⁂,[100] when written
according to the orthography of the Pyramid Texts, is _oblations_,
_offerings_. This, however, is only a derived meaning. The word really
only expresses a _predicate_ of the things offered, as _putting
together_, _uniting_, _reconciling_; ⁂ _Ḥotep_ might signify _Rest_,
or _Peace_; very appropriate names for such a garden. ⁂⁂ is the
name of a god who dwells here.[101] There is also a goddess here called
_Ḥotepit_ ⁂⁂⁂, mentioned in the Pyramid inscription of Pepi I
(line 423), as mother of the great Scarab: and the same name is given to
Hathor in the temple of Dendera. The name of Ḥotep (with different
determinatives[102]) belongs to one of the islands of this blissful
place.

The Pyramid Texts furnish some interesting information not contained in
the Book of the Dead. We are told that the approach to the Garden is
over the Lake of Putrata (see chapter 40, note 1), that there is a great
lake (? that of Konsit) in the middle of the Garden of Ḥotepit, upon
which the great gods alight, and that the _Achmiu Sekiu_, the starry
deities who never set, there feed the departed from the _wood of life_
(⁂⁂⁂⁂ _lignum vitæ_) “upon which they themselves live, in
order that he too may live.” Shu and Tefnut are mentioned as divinities
of this place. But perhaps the most remarkable fact is that Horus had
enemies even here, who, however, were annihilated by the divine weapons
at the disposal of the departed worthy, who was led there in order that
“he might sit among the stars in heaven.”

And here it was that the beatified personage sat upon his throne of
steel, which was decorated in front with faces of the lion-god
⁂⁂⁂⁂ _Maaḥes_, the feet of it being the hoofs of the great
Bull _Sma-urà_, and extended his hand to the coming generation of men
(the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂), whilst the gods approached him in
submissive attitude, and made offerings to him. It was, perhaps, from
these offerings that the Garden derived its name.

The Garden of Aarru, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ is often mentioned
in connection with that of Ḥotepit, and may perhaps be considered as the
most notable part of it. It is through its Gate that the Sun-god rises
up into Heaven.

It takes its name from a plant ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _ȧarru_ (later,
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, B.M. 551; ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂, _Ag_,