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The Egyptian Book of the dead

Chapter 381

CHAPTER CXLIV.

_The Chapter of the Arrival_(1.)


The first gate. He whose face is overturned, who has many attributes, is
the name of the occupant of the first gate. The adjuster, is the name of
the warden thereof, and he with the loud voice the name of the herald.

The second gate. He who raises his face, is the name of the occupant of
the second gate; he with the revolving face(2.) is the name of the
warden thereof; the consuming one is the name of the herald.

The third gate. He who eats his own filth, is the name of the occupant.
The watchful, is the name of the warden thereof, the curser is the name
of the herald.

The fourth gate. He who opposes garrulity, is the name of the occupant
of the fourth gate; the attentive one is the name of the warden thereof,
the great one who drives back the crocodile is the name of the herald.

The fifth gate. He who lives on worms, is the name of its occupant, the
consuming flame, is the name of the warden thereof, the horn which
strikes the furious, is the name of the herald.

The sixth gate. He who makes the loaves, with a thundering voice, is the
name of its occupant; he who shows his face, is the name of the warden
thereof, the stoneknife which belongs to the sky, is the name of the
herald.

The seventh gate. He who takes possession(3.) of their knives, is the
name of the occupant of the seventh gate; the high voice is the name of
the warden thereof, he who drives back the enemies is the name of the
herald.

O ye, these gates, who are the gates to Osiris, ye who guard their
gates, ye who herald the things of the world to Osiris every day. Osiris
_N._ knows you—he knows your names; for he is born in Restau, where all
the glory of the horizon was given him. _N._ receives the investiture in
Pu, like the purification of Osiris. _N._ receives the saying(4.) in
Restau, when he leads the gods on the horizon with the ministrant, the
protectors of Osiris. I am one of them in their leading. _N._ is the
glorious one, the lord of the glorious, a glorious one who performs the
rites. _N._ celebrates the festival of the first day of the month; he is
the herald in the fifteenth day of the month. O thou who revolvest. _N._
carries the sacred flame to the hand of Thoth in the night when he sails
through the sky as victor. _N._ passes on in peace, he navigates in the
boat of Rā. The attributes(5.) of _N._ are the attributes of the boat of
Rā. _N._ has a name greater than yours, mightier than you who are on the
roads of Maāt. _N._ hates what is corrupt. The attributes of _N._ are
the attributes of Horus, the firstborn of Rā, who accomplishes his will.
_N._ is not fettered, he is not driven away from the gates of Osiris.
_N._ is perfect, the lion god, the pure one who follows Osiris Khent
Amenta every day. His domains are in Sechet hotepu among those who know
the sacred rites, among those who perform the sacred rites to Osiris.
_N._ is on the side of Thoth, among those who bring offerings. Anubis
ordered to the bearers of offerings, that there should be offerings to
_N._ of his own, and that they should not be taken from him by those who
are in captivity. _N._ has come like Horus, when he adorns the horizon
of heaven _N._ directs the march of Rā towards the gates of the horizon;
therefore the gods rejoice in the presence of _N._ The divine scent(6.)
is upon Osiris, the god with the lock(7.) will not reach him; the
keepers of the gates will not be hostile to him. _N._ is the one whose
face is hidden inside the palace, in the sanctuary of the god, the lord
of Tuat. _N._ has reached it after Hathor. _N._ gathers his hosts; he
brings Maāt to Rā, he drives away the Mighty One, Apepi. _N._ pierces
the steel firmament(8.), and repels the raging storm; he gives life to
the seamen of Rā. _N._ carries offerings to the place where it (the
boat) is. _N._ causes that the boat gives him a successful voyage. _N._
marches, and when he reaches it, the face of _N._ is like the Great One,
and his back like the lofty one. _N._ is the lord of the mighty. _N._ is
well pleased on the horizon. _N._ is valiant; he strikes you down; you
wakers; he makes his way to your lord, Osiris.

This is on the copy which is in the books(9.). It is written in yellow
ink, on the sacred circle of gods in the boat of Rā(10.), where
offerings are made of victuals, geese, incense, in their presence, in
order to revive the deceased, to make him powerful among the gods, and
that he may not be repulsed nor driven back from the pylons of the Tuat.
If thou readest it to the statue of this deceased in their presence, it
causes him to have access to every hall of those which are in the books.

This is said at the entrance of every gate, of those which are in the
books, and to each of them an offering is made of the haunch, the head,
the heart, and the hoof of a red bull, and four vases of blood which
does not come from the heart, and scent vases, and sixteen pointed white
loaves, and eight round loaves, and eight _chenfu_ loaves, and eight
_hebennu_ loaves, eight casks of beer, eight vases of dry corn, four
tanks of earthenware filled with the milk of a white cow, fresh herbs,
fresh olive oil, green eye paint, antimony, odoriferous oils, and
burning incense. Said while putting on a clay seal twice.

After this copy has been read, if the fourth hour is going round in the
day, beware of what is threatening in the sky; but if thou hast read
this book without any human being seeing it, it will widen the steps of
the deceased in heaven or earth, and in the Tuat; because this book
exalts the deceased more than any ceremony performed to him, henceforth,
from this day undeviatingly for times infinite.

NOTES.

This chapter is the first of a series of four (144-147), in which the
old versions differ considerably from the Turin text. 144 and 147 refer
to the ⁂⁂⁂, 145 and 146 to the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

The word ⁂⁂⁂ has been translated in various ways. Brugsch
calls them “watch-towers, pylons,” Pierret “stations.” Maspero considers
them as the old “ergastules,” a kind of vaulted hall. Jéquier speaks of
them as “magazines,” but generally translates the word by “pylons.”
Renouf, in his introduction to the Papyrus of Ani, calls the
⁂⁂⁂ “gates,” and the ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “pylons.” In
another place he says the ⁂⁂⁂⁂ is not a mere gate, but a
_hold_ or _keep_.

If we refer to the old texts where this chapter is mixed together with