CHAPTER CLXIII.
Chapters brought from another book, in addition to the “coming forth by day.” Chapter of not letting the body of a man decay in the Netherworld, of rescuing him from the devourers of souls who imprison men in the Tuat, and of not raising his sins on earth against him, but of saving his flesh and his bones from the worms and from every evil-doing god in the Netherworld, so that he may go in and out as he likes, and do everything he desires without restraint.
—I am the soul of the great body which rests in Arohabu. I am protecting the body of Hanirta, the lord of motion, who rests in the marshes of Senhakarokana.
—O thou soul of souls, who art not unwilling to rise when thou restest in thy body which dwelleth in Senhakarokana! Come to Osiris N., deliver him from the Powers of the god whose face is terrible, who takes possession of the heart, and takes hold of the limbs; a flame rushes out of their mouths, so that they consume the souls.
—O he who goes to rest in his body, and then rises a burning heat, blazing even within the sea, and the sea goes up because of this burning vapour, at the time of the morning; come, bring thy fire; pour thy burning vapour on him who will raise his hand against Osiris N. for ever and ever.
—Hail, Osiris N., thy duration is that of the sky; thy duration is the duration of the ultimate circles,([1]) The sky holds thy soul; this earth holds thy figure.
—Deliver Osiris N. Do not let him be carried away by his enemies, to him who devours the soul, who raises evil accusations. Restore his soul to his body and his body to his soul.
—It is he who is hidden in the pupil, in the Eye of Sharosharo. Shapuarika is his name. He resides on the north-west front of Apt, in the land of Nubia, and he will never navigate towards the East.
—O Amon the bull, the scarab, the lord of the two eyes whose name is: he with the terrible pupil. Osiris N. is the image of thy two eyes, Sharosharo is the name of one, Shapuarika is the name of the other one. He is Shaka Amon, Shaka Nasarohaut; Tmu who illuminates the two earths is his true name. Come to Osiris N., he belongs to the land of Truth, do not leave him alone. He is of the land which is not seen again.
—Thy name is with the mighty Glorified.([2]) He is the soul of the great body which is in Sais of Neith.
Said on a serpent having two legs, and bearing a two-horned disk. Two eyes are before him, having two legs and two wings.
In the pupil of one is the image of one raising his arm, with the face of Bes, wearing his plumes, and having the back of a hawk.
It is painted with anti and shethu, mixed with green colour of the South, and with water from the Western Lake of Egypt; on a bandage of new linen, in which all the limbs of a man will be wrapped.
Thus he will not be driven away from all the gates of the Tuat; he will eat, drink, ease his body as if he were on earth; no outcry will be raised against him; his enemies will be powerless (?) against him.
If this book is read on earth,([3]) he is not carried away by the messengers, the wicked ones who do evil on all the earth; and he will not be wounded, he will not die from the blow of the king. He will not be taken to prison; for he will go in to his attendants and go out victorious, he will be free from the fear of evil doers who are on the whole earth.
Notes.
This Chapter begins with a general title applying to 163-5, and probably to other ones not included in the papyrus of Turin: “Chapters brought from another book, an addition to the coming forth by day.” This means that these chapters were not considered as belonging to the
“the coming forth by day,” the original Book of the Dead, which in old times ended with Chapter 149, and later on with Chapter 162.
The vignettes represent the figures described in the rubric for which the chapter was written.
Dr. Pleyte first discovered that this Chapter is a kind of dialogue, consisting of words spoken by the god, and a prayer addressed to him in favour of the deceased. The strange names which occur in the text lead us here also to Africa, since it is said of the deceased that he resides in Apt of Nubia, Napata.
[1.] A papyrus, in Turin of a woman, reads here
etc., “thy duration is the duration of the ultimate circles.”
Chuu. Renouf either keeps the Egyptian word, or translates: “the Glorious ones, the Glorified.” See [note 1], ch. 1, ch. 15, etc.
[3.] The amulet has also an influence on earth, it protects a man against hidden dangers, which arise not from men but from some invisible causes, and agents like those evil messengers, probably spirits, who might be called “angels.” I believe that
, “the blow of the king,” must mean some sudden illness like
. Dr. Pleyte also considers this part of the rubric as applying to a man’s life on earth; there is only this expression
which does not agree with this explanation, and would rather lead us to think that what is described in this part of the rubric takes place in the other world.