CHAPTER CXXIII.

_Chapter_(1.) _whereby one entereth into the Great House._


Hail to thee, O Tmu, I am Thoth.

I have equally balanced the Divine Pair, I have put a stop to their
strife, I have ended their complaints.

I have rescued the Âtu from his backward course.

I have done what thou hast prescribed for him.

And I rest since then within my own Eye.

I am free from obstruction; and I come that thou mayest see me in the
house where I repeat the ancient ordinances and words, as a guidance
wherewith thou shalt guide posterity.(2.)

NOTES.

1. This chapter (which is repeated in Chapter 139) is like the
repetition of an important passage in Chapter 110. But the differences
are very considerable, and it is for criticism to decide the question of
priority between the two recensions.

Whichever be the earlier recension, the present one is of very great
interest and importance. It is found on two of the most carefully
written papyri of the eighteenth dynasty. But the most interesting
feature is the mythological allusion at this date (_at latest_) to an
astronomical phenomenon, with reference to which later researches may
furnish fresh evidence.

The speaker in this chapter is said (not merely implied, as in Chapter
110, _see_ note 5) to be Thoth, who is the measurer of all things in
heaven and earth, and the author and regulator of all science. He is
here said to have established the _equilibrium_ ⁂⁂⁂ between
the Divine Pair, Horus and Sutu; that is Day and Night. Such an
equilibrium, strictly speaking, never exists except at the _Equinoxes_.

But the most important passage is, “I have rescued the _Âtu_ from his
backward course.” The ⁂⁂⁂ _Âtu_ is a mythological _fish_, who
is represented as following the course of the Bark of Rā. The meaning of
the name is, _the Cleaver_, _Divider_, _Cutter in two_ ⁂⁂. It is
one of the appellatives of the Sun-god, with reference to his path
through the sky. But what is that solar phenomenon specially deserving
to be characterised by its _motion backwards_ ⁂⁂⁂?

I do not think any astronomer would hesitate to answer, that
_Precession_ is meant. The cause of Precession could only be known to
really scientific philosophers (which is out of question in this case),
but the _phenomena_ would necessarily be noted by those who had
important interests in keeping their calendar correct.[109] Even the
Chinese, by dint of records and without any mathematics, came to infer
the precession of the equinoxes; so did the Egyptians apparently at a
very much earlier period; and Hipparchus, who has the credit of the
discovery, may have learnt it from them.

Although ⁂⁂ is commonly represented as a _fish_, the same name
is given to a _Crustacean_ ⁂, ⁂ whose organs of locomotion are
specially adapted for backward motion.

“_Rescuing_ the Âtu from its backward course” can mean nothing less than
being able to _correct_ or (in technical language) to _equate_ the
phenomena.

It might perhaps be suggested that the backward course here spoken of
has reference to the year of 360 days, corrected at an early period by
the addition of the five supplementary days. This would certainly have
been a very probable explanation of the clause, but for the direct
connection which this has with what precedes, concerning the equilibrium
between Day and Night; that is, the Equinox.

2. _Posterity_, ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ literally, _minores_. The
word in the present context seems to have a different meaning from what
it has in Chapter 110, where it is put in contrast with
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ violent ones, against whom Thoth interposes his
protection.

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PLATE XXXII.

BOOK OF THE DEAD.

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