CHAPTER CLXXII.

_Beginning of the Chapter of reciting the ceremonies made in the Netherworld._ (1.) ... with _bet_ incense, I inhale the smell of natron and incense ... I have been purified ... through the sacred utterances coming out of my mouth. I am pure verily ... of the fishes in the river, towards the statue in the house of purification; they are pure the words of _N._ Blessed be thou, _N._, thou art well pleasing to Ptah, well pleasing to Anebefres, well pleasing to all gods, well pleasing to all goddesses. Thy beauties are like a quiet stream, like the choicest water; thy beauties are like a festival hall in which everyone exalts his god; thy beauties are like the pillars of Ptah, like the shoots of the _maut_(2.) plant of Rā. _N._ is the pillar of Ptah and the ewer of Anebefres. O(3.) thou who art called aloud, thou who art called aloud, thou the lamented, thou art glorified, thou art exalted, thou art glorious, thou art strong. O thou who art raised up, thou art raised up, _N._ has been raised up by means of all the manifold ceremonies done to him; thy enemies are struck down; Ptah has struck down thine enemies, thou art victorious and thou hast dominion over them. Thy words are listened to, what thou hast ordered is done, thou art raised, thou art triumphant before(4.) the Circles of gods attached to every god and every goddess. O thou who art called aloud (_bis_), second verse. Thy head is ... woven by a woman from Asia; thy face shines brighter than the moon; the top of thy head is lapis blue; thy hair is darker than the doors of the Tuat, thy hair is black like the night; thy forehead is adorned of blue; the rays of Horus are on thy face. Thy garments are of gold; Horus has decked them with blue; thy eyebrows, the two sisters joined together; Horus has adorned them with blue; thy nose inhales the perfume of ... and thy nostrils are like the winds in the sky. Thy eyes are the seers of the hill of Bachau, thy upper eyelids are enduring for ever; their lashes are of real lapis; thy pupils are pleasant gifts, and thy lower eyelids are painted with antimony. Thy lips utter for thee words of truth, they repeat the words of truth of Rā which are well pleasing to the gods. Thy teeth are the two heads of the serpent by which the two gods are seized, thy tongue is voluble; thy voice is more shrill than that of the bird in the marshes; thy ears (?) are well established at their place, they go (with thee) to the land of Amenta. O thou who art called aloud (_bis_), third verse. Thy neck is adorned with gold, it is girt with electron;(5.) thy throat and thy lungs are like Anubis;(6.) thy backbone is like the Uat’ goddesses; thy back is lined with gold and girt with electron; thy loins(7.) are like Nephthys ...(8.) is a Nile which is flowing. Thy buttocks are two eggs of crystal, thy legs are well fastened for walking, thou art sitting in thy place ... thou hast received from the gods thy two eyes. O thou who art called aloud (_bis_), fourth verse. Thy throat is like Anubis, thy limbs are necklaces made of gold; thy breasts are two eggs of crystal which Horus has painted blue, thy forearms are adorned with topaz, thy shoulders are well established on their base; thy heart is happy every day, thy whole heart is the work of the two divine Powers, thy body worships the stars of the gods above and below; for thy belly is like a calm sky, and thy bowels are the Tuat which nobody can fathom, and which sends out light in the dark night; its offerings are eatable plants. He (_N._) praiseth the Majesty of Thoth, saying: the desires of his beautiful person take place in my tomb; as my god commanded me. Every pure thing he loves is there. O thou who art called aloud (_bis_), fifth verse. Thy thighs are a pond in a time of abundant inundation; a pond which is lined by the children of the god of water; thy legs which go to and fro are of gold; thy knees are lentisks in the marshes; thy feet are firm every day; thy shin-bones lead thee on the right path. Thy arms are pillars on their bases; thy fingers are ... of gold; their nails are like knives of flint in what they do for thee. O thou who art called aloud (_bis_) ... Thou puttest on the pure garment and thou divestest thy apron when thou stretchest thyself on the funereal bed; haunches are cut for thy _ka_, and a heart is offered unto thy mummy. Thou receivest a bandage of the finest linen from the hands of the attendant(9.) of Rā; thou eatest on thy resting couch bread which has been baked by the fire goddess herself; thou eatest the haunch, thou seizest the meat which has been prepared by Rā in his holy place; thou washest thy feet in silver basins made by the skilful artist Sokaris; thou eatest bread placed on the altar, and prepared by the holy fathers, thou livest upon baked cakes and hot drinks from the store-house; thou inhalest the smell of flowers; thy heart is not reluctant at the sight of offerings; thy ministrants make for thee the loaves and the cakes of the Powers of Heliopolis; and they themselves bring thee the sacred things; thy offerings have been chosen for thee; and thy ordinances are in the gates of the Great Dwelling; thou risest like Sahu and thou arrivest like the morning star; Nut stretches forth her arms towards thee; Sahu, the son of Rā, and Nut, the mother of the gods, the two great gods of the sky, they speak one to another saying: Take him in thy arms; I have brought in my arms the form of _N._ in the happy day when he is glorified, when his memory is recorded, when he is in the mouth of all generations. Thou, raised one, thou hearest how thou art glorified throughout all thy house. O thou who ... seventh verse. Anubis has given him his shroud; he has done all that pleased him; the high-priest has prepared his ribbon; for he is the provider (?) of the great god; thou goest and washest thyself in the lake of Perfection, thou makest offerings in the house of the gods of the sky, and thou propitiatest the lord of Heliopolis; thou receivest the water of Rā in ewers, and milk in large vases. O thou raised one, thou makest offerings on the altar, and thou washest thy feet upon the stone of ..., the banks of the divine lake; thou comest forth and thou seest Rā upon the four pillars which are the arms of the sky; on the head of Anmutef, and on the arms of Apuat who opens for thee the path; thou seest the horizon where are all the sacred things which thou desirest. O thou who are called aloud (_bis_), eighth verse. All the good things have been spread out for thee, before Rā. Thou hast a beginning and thou hast an end as Horus and Thoth have ordered for thee. They call upon _N._, they see how he is glorious, they give him to come forth like a god to meet the Powers of Heliopolis. Thou journeyest on the great path as thy mummy has received the sacred things from thy father; thy hands are wrapped in linen every day; the beginning of the journey of the god is at the gate of the Great Dwelling, O thou who art called aloud (_bis_), ninth verse. _N._ Breatheth the air for his nose and for his nostrils, he receiveth a thousand geese and sixty baskets of all things good and pure; thy enemies have been struck down; they are no more. NOTES. This Chapter is taken from papyrus London 9900 _Aa_. It has no vignette, the translation here given is that which I published in 1873 (_Zeitschrift_, 1873, pp. 25 and 81), with a few changes. 1. Lacunæ. 2. Perhaps the ⁂⁂ which M. Loret has identified as being the celery (_Recueil_, Vol. XVI, p. 4). 3. Here begins a hymn, the first words of which are ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ “O thou who art called aloud,” repeated twice. These words have become the name of the hymn, as we say the _Magnificat_ or the _Te Deum_. The hymn is divided into nine fragments or verses, ⁂⁂ (Renouf, _Life Work_, Vol. II, p. 390). 4. Renouf’s translation. See Chapter 18, § 10. Rather than _before_, I should translate, _through the action of_. 5. “Electron” is Lepsius’s translation. Renouf, who translates “copper,” has discussed the point in a letter to Lepsius (_Life Work_, Vol. II, p. 2). 6. I believe this means made of black metal, probably silver, blackened by some chemical process. 7. Papyrus Ebers ⁂⁂ “foramen ani, rectum.” 8. The text has here ⁂ an evident blunder. We should read here the phallus. 9. Brugsch, _Dict. Suppl._, p. 1021, translates ⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂ _aati_, “Bettenmacher.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PLATE LIX. BOOK OF THE DEAD. [Illustration: CHAPTER CLXXIII, _A. a._] ------------------------------------------------------------------------