CHAPTER CLXXXV.

_Giving praise to Osiris, falling on the earth before the lord of
eternity; propitiating the god with what he loves, speaking the truth,
the lord of which is not known._


Hail to thee, venerable god, great and beneficent prince of eternity, in
his abode in the Sektit boat. Acclamations are given him in the sky and
on earth; he is exalted by the past and present. Great is the fear he
inspires in the hearts of men, of the Glorified and of the dead. His
soul was given him in Tattu, his might in Heracleopolis, his image in
Heliopolis, and his power over forms(1.) in the double sanctuary.

I have come to thee; my heart holds right, my heart contains no
falsehood. Give me to be among the living, to navigate up and down in
thy train.

NOTES.

I have given No. 185 to a hymn to Osiris, with which many papyri begin,
but which occasionally comes just before the representation of the cow
in the West. There seems to have been no canonical text for that hymn,
in which the writer was left to follow his imagination.

The hymn here given is one of the most complete. It is taken from the
papyrus of Sutimes in Paris.

The vignette represents always Osiris in a shrine, with worshippers
before him.

1. ⁂⁂⁂⁂, litt., “his greatness of forms.” I suppose it means
his power of taking all the forms he likes.

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