CHAPTER CVIII.
Chapter whereby one knoweth the Powers of the West.
In respect of the Hill of Bachau([1]) upon which heaven resteth, it presenteth itself([2]) three hundred cubits in length([3]) and two hundred cubits in breadth.
Sebak, the Lord of Bachau, is at the east of the Hill, and his temple is upon it.
There is a serpent on the brow of that hill, five hundred cubits in length, three cubits of his forepart are pierced with swords.
I know the name of this serpent on his hill: “He who dwelleth in his own flame” is his name.([4])
Now, at the close of day([5]) he turneth down his eyes to Rā; for there cometh a standing still in the Bark and a deep slumber within the ship. And now he swalloweth three cubits of the Great Water.
Then Sutu is made to flee with a chain upon him of steel([6]) and he is forced to vomit all that he hath swallowed. Then Sutu is put into his prison.
And then he saith with Words of Power:—
Away with thee! Steel, which art made fast upon my hand. I remain in thy prison, the Bark sails on and thou seest the path; but thine eyes close, [thine eye is delivered to me], thy head is veiled,([7]) and I go on and stay thy steps.
I am the Manful one, who veileth thy head and who cooleth the hollow of thy hand: thy strength is my strength.
I am the Master of the Words of Power.
Who is this who hath been delivered to me?
This Bright One, who cometh on his belly, on his hind parts and on the joints of his back.
Lo! then, I come, and thy might is in my hand. It is I who carry away thy might, that I may come and seize upon the Tunnels of Rā who is united to me at sunset as he goeth round heaven.([8])
But thou art pierced with hooks, as was decreed against thee of old.
I know the powers of the West, they are Tmu, Sebak the Lord of Bachau, and Hathor, Mistress of Sunset.
Notes.
The chapters 108, 109, 112, 113, and 114 being so analogous to each other, in form, matter, style, and composition, and each being concerned with the divine Powers
of some locality, it is interesting to know that one at least of these chapters is found on a monument of the Middle Empire. The others are probably not less ancient, and the text published by Dr. Golenischef (Zeitschr. f. Aegypt. Spr., 1874, p. 84) from the Sarcophagus at St. Petersburg already bears manifest signs of antiquity.
Another sign of antiquity as regards the present chapter may be seen in the numerous forms in which it has come down to us. These are so different, and sometimes so irreconcileable, that it seems evident that tradition has handed down very corrupt texts, and that the original meaning of this chapter had been entirely lost at a very early date and cannot be discovered now. The oldest text is the shortest of all, but it is both imperfect and incorrect. The earliest papyri differ greatly from the later ones. But both the earlier and the later papyri have the 149th chapter which contains another recension of the 108th, and chapter 111 in the Turin and later papyri is another form of it.
[1.] The Hill of Bachau.
has for determinative the sign
which connects the word with the Coptic ⲃⲟⲩϩⲓ ‘eyelids.’ In the later texts the word has for determinative either a woman or a cow in the act of parturition, as if it were connected with
and its variants, with which
another name of the Dawn is identified.
[2.] Presenteth itself,
. This Egyptian verb is always expressive of activity, and perhaps ought never to be translated being.
are ‘things which are,’ but
are ‘things which spring[spring] forth’ ‘come to light.’
[3.] The oldest text (which is here the best authority) does not give the dimensions of the hill, but only of the serpent. The earliest papyri give the dimensions of both, but make the hill so absurdly small that the serpent could not rest upon it. Later papyri beginning with Pf have corrected the texts so as to give the hill a length of 300 cubits, or
(each of which is 100 cubits long). They omit the statement that the cubit in question is of 7½ palms (the Royal cubit being of 7 palms), and also the interesting mention of the
“balance (or measurement) of the earth.” The relation of this ‘balance’ to the rest of the sentence is not clear, because the MSS. differ as to the preposition which precedes.
The Papyrus of Nebseni gives the hill 300 cubits in breadth. The Todtenbuch of Turin reads 370
in length, and 140 cubits in breadth.
[4.] The serpent’s name is not mentioned in chapter 111, nor is it in the earliest text. But in chapter 149 the usual name is
, more fully written
in the Papyrus of Nebseni. The determinative
commonly attached to the name of Âpepi, expresses the meaning ‘sword smitten,’ ‘shot with swords,’ ξιφόκτονος. We might otherwise have understood the term in the sense of ξιφοκτόνος, ‘slayer with swords.’ The Papyrus of Sutimes Pd calls the serpent
‘knife-wounded.’
The proper name
, also written
, Māṭes, an epithet of Âpepi, or of Sutu, also means “pierced with swords.” But the expression itself seems sometimes to be found in the active sense, “piercing like a sword.”
[5.] Close of Day, when daylight has come to ‘a stand’
. This is the reading of the papyri. The oldest reading is
‘at the time of sunset.’
[6.] The earliest text says nothing of this, though it mentions the “prison of Sutech,” in a passage corresponding to what the papyri include in the ‘Words of Power’ which follow. The Turin Todtenbuch says that, “Sutu is put into his prison, and that a chain of steel is put upon his neck.” Pictures of the serpent with the chain upon him will be found in Bonomi, Sarcoph., plates 10 and 11.[[93]] There is an evident fusion in this chapter, in its later form at least, as in chapter 39, of the personages of Sutu and Âpepi.
[7.] Thy head is veiled. The ‘veiling of the head,’ and ‘closing of the eyes’ of the sun are of course mythological terms for night time. But the mythological event was celebrated on the festival called
.
[8.] Chapter 111 stops at the word “Sunset.” And after this, the text in chapter 149 changes the third to the first person, and reads: “But I go round the heaven whilst thou art pierced with hooks,” as if Rā were replying to the words of Sutu. This, I confess, appears to me to offer a better sense than that of chapter 108. And I should now alter the word “stabber” in the first line of chapter 39 to “pierced with hooks.”
[93]. On this picture (plate 11) may also be seen an interesting illustration of chapter 39; the scorpion goddess putting the chain upon Âpepi, in front of whom are the divinities to execute, with swords and hooks, the decree passed against him. The children of Horus are also seen occupied in the execution.