THE PAPYRUS OF ANI
(THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF THE DEAD)
Translated by E.A. Wallis Budge
COMING FORTH BY DAY
THE CHAPTER OF MAKING THE SAHU TO ENTER THE TUAT ON THE DAY OF THE
FUNERAL, WHEN THE FOLLOWING WORDS ARE TO BE SAID:
Homage to thee, O
thou who dwellest in the Holy Hill (Set-Tchesert) of Amentet! the
Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, whose word is true, knoweth
thee, he knoweth thy name. Deliver thou him from the worms which are
in Ra-stau, which live upon the bodies of men and women, and feed upon
their blood, for Osiris, the favoured servant of the god of his
city, the royal scribe Nekhtu-Amen, knoweth you, and he knoweth your
names. Let the order for his protection be the first command of
Osiris, the Lord to the Uttermost Limit, who keepeth his body
hidden. May he give him release from the Terrible One who dwelleth
at the bend of the River of Amentet, and may he decree the acts that
will make him to rise up. Let him pass on to him whose throne is
placed within the darkness, who giveth light in Ra-stau. O thou Lord
of Light, come thou and swallow up the worms which are in Amentet. Let
the Great God who dwelleth in Tetu, and who is himself unseen, hear
his prayers, and let those who cause afflictions hold him in fear as
he cometh forth with the sentence of their doom to the Divine Block. I
the Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, come, bearing the decree of
Neb-er-tcher, and I am the Horus who taketh possession of his throne
for him. His father, the lord of all those who are in the Boat of
his Father Horus, hath ascribed praise unto him. He cometh bearing
tidings....... let him see the town of Anu. Their chief shall stand on
the earth before him, the scribes shall magnify him at the doors of
their assemblies, and thy shall swathe im with swathings in Anu. He
hath led heaven captive, and he hath seized the earth in his grasp.
Neither the heavens nor the earth can be taken away from him, for,
behold, he is Ra, the firstborn of the gods. His mother shall nurse
him, and shall give him her breast on the horizon.
RUBRIC: The words of this Chapter shall be said after [the deceased]
is laid to rest in Amentet; by means of them the region Tenn-t shall
be contented with her lord. And the Osiris, the royal scribe,
Nekhtu-Amen, whose word is truth, shall come forth, and he shall
embark in the Boat of Ra, and [his] body upon its bier shall be
counted up, and he shall be established in the Tuat.
(From the Papyrus of Nekhtu-Amen, ed. Naville, I, 5)
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