CHAPTER CLIIIA.

The Chapter of coming out of the net.([1])

O he who turns backwards, mighty of heart, who spreads his net before him, who entereth the earth! O you the fishermen sons of their fathers([2]), who go round in the midst of the stream, you will not catch me in your net, in which you catch the disabled, and you will not carry me away in your canvas, in which you take away the evil ones in the earth; the frame of which reaches the sky, and the weights of which are on the earth.

For I will come out of its meshes and shine like Hunnu (Sokaris). I will come out of its bars([3]) and shine like Sebak. I shall fly against you like a fisher whose fingers([4]) are hidden.

I know the fork([5]) which belongs to it. It is the great finger of Hunnu (Sokaris). I know the stake([6]); it is the leg of Nemu([7]). I know its pointed head, it is the hand of Isis. I know the name of its blade; it is the knife of Isis with which she cut the meat for Horus.

I know the name of the frame and of the weights. They are the feet and the legs of the Sphinx([8]).

I know the name of the ropes with which fishing is done; they are the bonds of Tmu.

I know the names of the fishermen who are fishing. They are the worms([9]), the ancestors of the blood drinkers([10]), who pour their flow on my hands, when the great god the lord listens to the words in Heliopolis, in the night of the 15th of the month([11]), in the temple of the moon.

I know the marked space([12]) in which they are enclosed. It is the soil of iron on which the gods stand.

I know the name of the divine supervisor who takes hold of the fishes, and marks them on the tail. He is the supervisor of the divine property.

I know the name of the table on which he lays them (the fishes); it is the table of Horus.

He sits alone in the night; nobody sees him; the future ones([13]) see him, and the present ones give him their acclamations.

I shine like Horus; I govern the land, and I go down to the land in the two great boats. Horus introduces me into the house of the Prince([14]).

I have come as a fisher; the fork has been given into my hand; my blade is in my hand, my knife is in my hand. I come forth; I go round about, and I entangle in my net.

I know the name of the fork which closes the mouths vomiting (fire?). It is the great finger of Osiris.

The fingers (prongs) which hold fast, they are the fingers of the ancestors of Rā, the claw of the ancestor of Hathor.

I know the strings which are on this fork, they are the bonds of the lord of mankind.

I know the name of the stake; the thigh of Nemu. Its point is the hand of Isis, its coil, the cord of the first-born god, its cordage the rope of Rā.

I know the name of the fishermen who are fishing; they are the worms, the ancestors of Rā, the creatures([15]), the ancestors of Seb.

When what thou eatest is brought to thee, what I eat is brought to me. Thou eatest what is eaten by Seb and Osiris.

O([16]) thou who turnest backwards, mighty of heart, who fishes and entangles him who enters the earth; O you fishers, sons of their fathers, and ye fowlers who are in Nefer-sent; you will not catch me in your nets, and you will not entangle me in your meshes, wherein you catch the disabled, and where you catch those who are in the earth; for I know it (the net), its frame above, and its weights below. Behold, I come, my stake is in my hand; the point is in my hand, the blade is in my hand.

I come, I arrive to my ... (?) I have come myself; I have come to bind it, to put it in its place. My knife is sharpened. I put it in its place.

The stake which is in my hand is the thigh of Nemu; the fork which is in my hand is the fingers of Sokaris; this point which is in my hand is the claws of Isis; the blade which is in my hand is the knife of Nemu.

Behold I have come, I sit in the boat of Rā, I sail on the lake of Cha([17]) and on the lake of the Northern sky.

I hear the words of the gods. I do what they are doing, I give praises to their persons, I live as they live.

N. appears on the ladder which was made for him by his father Rā, when Horus and Sut take hold of him.

Notes.

In the Theban version the Chapter of the Net is divided into two, 153A and 153B, which have different titles and different vignettes. 153A is called the “Chapter of coming out,” or, as might be translated, “of escaping from the net.” The vignettes represent a clap-net, used for waterfowl. The second Chapter is called “the Chapter of escaping from those who catch

,” which, from the etymology, might be translated foul or fetid fish. There the vignette represents a drag-net containing fishes, and drawn by apes.

It is probable, one may suppose, that originally one Chapter referred to the fowlers, the

, who use the clap-net, and the other to the fishermen, the

, who use the drag-net. But in the form in which these Chapters appear in the three best texts where they have been preserved, London, 9900 (Aa), Paris, III, 93 (Pb.), and the papyrus of Nu, fowlers and fishermen are mixed together.

The text of 153A is very corrupt, and seems to differ greatly from the original. The variants between the chief documents are considerable, and show that the understanding of it was nearly lost. It probably had two different versions, which have been cast into one, since after the first two-thirds it begins over again and nearly repeats itself.

The Turin text contains only 153A, and that even much shorter, but it is followed by a rubric, which is absent from the Theban version.

The translation is made from the three above-named documents.

The vignette of 153A, in the papyrus III, 93, of the Louvre (Pb), shows a clap-net drawn by four men. Behind it comes the deceased, holding in his hand two instruments mentioned in the text: the

and the

, called

each of them consists of different parts having a distinct name.

In the papyrus of Nu the deceased is seen drawing the rope of the net.

In the vignette of London, 9900 (Aa), he is supposed to do the same.

[1.] Among the dangers to which the deceased is exposed is that of being caught in a net by hidden genii, who will treat him as is done to water-fowl or fishes. But he escapes from this peril, because he knows the names of the fowlers and fishermen who intend to attack him, and also of the net itself, and of the various parts of which it consists. All these names are mystical; they are connected with some divinity, and this gives them a magical power, owing to which the deceased can make his escape.

[2.] I suppose this means fishermen, sons of fishermen.

[3.] Litt. the hands: the bars, the sides of the frame of the net.

[4.] The fingers are often mentioned when we should say the hand. The act or the wound is attributed to the fingers. “Whose fingers are hidden,” means he who hides the hand with which he will strike.

[5.]

. The instrument in the hand of the deceased. Though the determinative is

, it does not necessarily mean that it is made of wood; it may be the determinative of weapons in general. It has prongs, which are compared to nails or claws, so that it probably is a weapon like the bident for spearing fishes, the tines of which are held together by a string (Wilkinson, Manners and Customs, 2nd edition, Vol. II, p. 107). Otherwise it is not unlike a netting needle (Wilkinson, loc. cit., p. 175). If it is a weapon, one does not very well understand why it is said to belong to the net.

[6.] The

is evidently the stake or peg to which the end of the clap-net is fastened. But it must be noticed that in the vignette of London, 9900, this peg is a dagger. Therefore[Therefore] one may speak of its pointed head

(Brugsch, Dict. Suppl., p. 85), and of its

, blade.

[7.] Nemu is perhaps a local name of Horus (Brugsch, Dict. geog., p. 71).

[8.]

. “The god in Lion form” (Renouf) is the name of the Sphinx (Sphinx, Vol. V, p. 193).

[9.] See Chapter 149, [note 5].

[10.] We know from an inscription at Dendereh that the

, the drinkers, feast on blood,

(Brugsch, Dict. Suppl., p. 18).

[11.] The late recension of Chapter 153 ends here, and does not contain 153B. It is followed by this rubric:

Said on a figure of the deceased which is placed in a boat. Thou shalt put the Sektit boat on his right, and the Âtit boat on his left. Offerings will be made to him of cakes, beer, and all good things, on the day of the birth of Osiris. He to whom these things have been done will be a living soul for ever, and will not die a second time.

[12.]

. I consider this word as derived from

, which means to mark an object with a cut or with fire, for a religious purpose, or simply as an indication of property. A little further it is spoken of fishes

“marked on the tail.”

[13.] We have here the opposition between

“those who are,” and

“those who are not,” that is, those who are not yet, the future ones. The negative, which often expresses the idea of anteriority, is one of the usual ways of rendering the future; that which has not yet taken place, which is to come. An official of the XIIth dynasty says: “the king

made me his commissioner of works, having charge of present and future work” (Zeitschr., 1882, p. 8, note). It is said of Isis that “she issues her directions for what is and what will be”