CHAPTER CLXIX.

_Chapter of raising the funereal Bed._


Thou art a lion, thou art a sphinx, thou art Horus who avengeth his
father; thou art these four gods, those glorious ones who are shouting
for joy, who are making incantations, and who bring out water by the
power of the tramp of their feet. Thou risest on the right, thou risest
on the left. Seb has opened thy blind eyes,(1.) he has loosened thy legs
which were fettered. Thou hast received thy heart of thy mother, thy
whole heart of thy own body; thy soul is in the sky, thy body is under
the ground. There is bread for thy body, water for thy throat, sweet
breeze for thy nostrils.

Thou restest in their funereal chambers, which those who are in their
coffins have opened for thee and for thy ... when thou journeyest; thou
art firm on thy pedestal, of thy existence, thou appearest in heaven,
and thou fastenest the tackle(2.) by the side of Rā.

Thou fishest with the net on the river, the water of which thou
drinkest; thou walkest on thy feet, and thou dost not walk headlong.
Thou appearest on the surface of the earth, and thou doest not come
forth from under solid ground, the strength(3.) which is in thee will
not be shaken through the action of the god of thy domain.

Thou art pure, thou art pure, thy forepart is purified, thy hindpart is
cleansed with _bet_ and natron, and cooled with incense.

Thou art purified with the milk (given to) Apis, and with beer of the
goddess Tenemit, with natron which removes all what is wrong in thee,
and which was provided by the daughter of Rā when she gave it to her
father Rā; and when she raised for thee the mountain where is buried her
father Osiris.(4.)

I have taken a bite of these sweet things which are on the hands (?) of
Osiris _N._ the loaves (?) from above, which belong to Rā, made of grain
of Abu, and four loaves from below which belong to Seb, made of grain
from the South. The god(5.) of thy domain brings thee the Field of
Hotepit, his hands are before thee.

Thou goest out like Rā, thou art powerful like Rā, thou art in
possession of thy feet. Osiris _N._ is in possession of his feet at all
times and at all hours; thou wilt not be judged, thou wilt not be
imprisoned, thou wilt not be guarded, thou wilt not be put in bonds,
thou wilt not be placed in the house where are the enemies. Cakes are
piled up before thee, and offerings are well guarded for thee.

There is no one to oppose thee and to prevent thee from going out.

Thou receivest thy clothing, thy sandals, thy stick, thy linen, thy
weapons, with which thou wilt cut off heads, thou wilt twist round the
necks of thy foes; these enemies who would bring death to thee, they
will not approach thee.

The great god speaks to thee: Let him be brought here for all that will
happen. The hawk rejoices in thee, the cackler cackles to thee, Rā opens
to thee the doors of the sky. Seb opens for thee the earth.

Thou art great, a mighty(6.) Chu, whose name is not known, the soul
which opens the Amenta. It is mighty this soul of _N._, for he(7.) is
beloved of Rā and well pleasing to his circle, he joins (?) the ways, he
guards the men, and guides the lion to the place where his _ka_ is
propitiated. _N._ ... the lord of mankind causes thee to live and that
thy soul be sound, that thy body may be enduring and great, that thou
mayest see the light(8.) and breathe the wind, that thy face may be
revealed in the house of right, that thou mayest be stationed in the
meadow, and not see any storm, that thou mayest follow the lord of the
two earths, that thou mayest refresh thyself under the _merit_ tree by
the side of the goddess, the great magician.(9.)

Seshait is sitting in front of thee. Sau is protecting thy limbs: the
bull milks for thee his cows which are in the train of Horsechait.(10.)

Thou washest thy face at the mouth of the stream of Cherāba, thou art
welcome to the great gods of Pu and Tepu;(11.) thou seest Thoth
conversing with Rā in the sky. Thou goest out and goest in into Anit,
thou conversest with the Rehiu.

Thy _ka_ is with thee, that thou mayest rejoice; and the heart of thy
birth; thou wakest thy ... are happy; the cycle of the gods give
pleasure to thy heart. Thou goest out (and thou seest) four loaves for
thee from Sechem, and four loaves from Hermopolis; thou goest out and
there are four (loaves) from Heliopolis on the table of the lord of the
two earths.

Thou wakest in the night, and thou art welcome to the lords of
Heliopolis. Hu(12.) is in thy mouth, thy feet do not turn back, there is
life in thy limbs.

Thou seizest the _sma_(13.) at Abydos and thou conductest victuals to
the great gods and vases of drink to those who are above the clouds in
the festival of Osiris, on the morning of the Uak festival; the
_hersheta_ priest decks thee with gold; thy garment is well arranged
with byssus; the Nile rises over thy body; thou art glorious(14.) ...
thou drinkest on the shore of the lake; thou art welcome to the gods who
are in it; thou comest forth in the sky with the gods who bring Maat to
Rā, thou art brought before the cycle of the gods, thou art like one of
them. Thou art the gander among the geese which are offered to Ptah
Anebefres.

NOTES.

This Chapter and the following are found in one papyrus only, Paris,
III, 93, a document more remarkable for the beauty of its vignettes than
for the correctness of the text.

Both Chapters refer to ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ the funereal bed or
couch on which the deceased will lie like Osiris. None of them has a
vignette. As in the course of these chapters there is no mention of the
bed itself, we must suppose that they were read while the bed was raised
or arranged. The translation of this text is particularly difficult, and
often conjectural, owing to our papyrus having no other document to
compare it with.

1. All this bears a great resemblance to Chapter 26.

2. In landing, see Chapter 99.

3. ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂. I have kept Renouf’s translation,
“strength,” but I believe the sense is the same as before:
“solid ground, dry land, continent (Feste, Brugsch),” as we
find in this sentence from the Stele at Abusimbel:
⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “the
mountains, the water, and the continents are shaken by thy name.”

4. For the mountain where the burial of Osiris takes place, see vignette
to Chapter 186.

5. I translate as if there was ⁂⁂.

6. “Mighty,” Renouf’s translation. I should prefer “distinguished,
eminent,” see note 2, Chapters 141-3.

7. ⁂⁂⁂ I read here ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂.

8. The light kindled for his _ka_ (see Chapter 132, A and B), and which
gives life to the _ka_. The lighting of a lamp is a symbol of the birth
(Lep., _Denkm._, III, 74 c.) and accompanies it.

9. For this word I have not followed Renouf’s translation, which would
have been: the master of the words of power (see Chapter. 108).

10. A name of Isis, represented as a cow, and worshipped as such,
chiefly in the town of Apis, the capital of the Libyan nome, near Lake
Mareotis. The bull there was Osiris, and the calf Horus (see note 4 on