CHAPTERS CXLV AND CXLVI.
The knowing of the pylons of the house of Osiris, in the Garden of Aarru.
The first pylon([1]) (is named): the lady of trembling whose walls are high, the lady of destruction, who directs the words which drive away the storm, she who forces back the violent([2]) coming towards her. The name of the doorkeeper is: the brave.
The second pylon (is named): the lady of heaven, mistress of the world, the consuming one, the lady of mankind, who counts the human beings. The name of the doorkeeper is: Meshept.
The third pylon: the lady of altars, rich in offerings, with whom all the gods are gathered, on the day when they sail to Abydos. The name of the doorkeeper is: the anointer.
The fourth pylon: she who holds the knives, the mistress of the world, who destroys the enemies of the god whose heart is motionless, who gives advice, who is free from impurity. The name of the doorkeeper is:[is:] the bull.
The fifth pylon: the flame, the lady of the words of power([3]), who gives joy to him who addresses his supplications to her, to whom no one who is on earth([4]) will come near. The name of the doorkeeper is: he who coerces the rebels.
The sixth pylon: the lady of light, who roars loud; whose length and breadth are not known, and the like of whom never was found from the beginning. There are serpents on her, the number of which is not known; they were born before the god whose heart is motionless. The name of the doorkeeper is, the consort.
The seventh pylon: the shroud which enwrappeth the dead; the monster who seeks to hide the body. The name of the doorkeeper is: Akesti.
The eighth pylon: the burning flame whose fire is never quenched; she who is provided with burning heat, who sends forth her hand, and slaughters without mercy. Nobody goes near her for fear of being hurt. The name of the doorkeeper is: he who protects his body.
The ninth pylon: the foremost, the Mighty One, the joyous who gives birth to her lord; whose circumference is 350 measures([5]); she who shines like southern emerald, who raises Besu, and encourages the dead, she who provides her lord with offerings every day.
The tenth pylon: she with a loud voice; who shouts curses to those who make supplications to her; the very brave, the dreadful, who does not destroy what is within her. The name of the doorkeeper is: he who embraces the great god.
The eleventh pylon: she who renews her knives, who consumes her enemies, the mistress of all pylons, to whom acclamations are given in the daytime and in the twilight. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The twelfth pylon: she who addresses her world and destroys those who come through the morning heat, the lady of brightness, who listens to the words of her lord every day. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The thirteenth pylon: Isis extends her two hands upon her; she lightens the Nile in its hidden abode. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The fourteenth pylon: the lady of fear, who dances on the impure, to whom the Haker festival is celebrated on the day of the hearing of yells. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The fifteenth pylon: the evil one, with red hair and eyes, who comes out at night, who binds her enemy all round, who puts her hands over the god whose heart is motionless, in his hour (of danger), who goes and comes. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The sixteenth pylon: the terrible, the lady of the morning dew, who throws out([6]) her burning heat, and sprinkles her sparks of fire over her enemies when she appears. She who creates (reveals?) the mysteries of the earth. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The seventeenth pylon: she who revels in blood; Aahit, the lady of the uauai plants. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The eighteenth pylon: she who likes fire, who washes her knives, who loves cutting heads, the welcome one, the lady of the palace, who slays her enemies in the evening. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The nineteenth pylon: she who directs the morning light in her time, and observes the midday heat, the lady of the books written by Thoth himself. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The twentieth pylon: she who is within the cavern of her lord, who covers her name, and hides what she creates, who takes possession of hearts, which she swallows. She will prepare the enwrapping of the dead.
The twenty-first pylon: she who cuts the stone by her word, and sacrifices him on whom fall her flames. She follows the hidden counsels.
Notes.
Chapters 145 and 146 are two versions of the same text. They are the chapter of the arrival of the deceased to the
of the house of Osiris. It is difficult to know what these
really are. Renouf translates the word by pylon. At the same time he says they are not mere gates, but keeps or holds. I shall use his word pylon; but the word which seems to me to convey most exactly the meaning is a cell, since each of the
has an inhabitant. There are various versions of these chapters. The oldest, No. 146, is found in several papyri, and has been translated from Lc. (Leyden), the only one which has the chapter complete. It consists of 21 paragraphs, each of which begins with a sentence giving the names of the pylon. It is followed by that of the
, which I translate, with Renouf, the porter or doorkeeper though I should prefer, he who is within the door, since the vignettes show that the so-called porter or doorkeeper is the god who occupies the cell. There are 21 pylons, out of which the papyri give us a certain number. Brugsch finds in their names those of some of the hours of night or day; but the fact of their being 21, absolutely precludes the idea of these pylons being the hours.
The papyrus of Nu in the British Museum gives a slightly different version of this chapter 146. Each pylon is introduced by these words, “said by Nu when he arrives at the first pylon: I have arrived, I know thee, I know the name of the god who guardeth thee; the lady of trembling, &c., is thy name, the name of the doorkeeper is the brave.” The other version which constitutes chapter 145 shows that the god who guardeth the pylon and the doorkeeper are the same person.
Chapter 145 is the same text which has been spun out a little more. We have no older copy of it than the fragments in the tomb of Meneptah Siphtah and queen Tauser, which give us only eleven pylons, with a very incorrect text. As for the Turin text, it is so hopelessly corrupt, especially in the most important part, the names, that I did not attempt to translate it. Then chapter 145 is the text of Nu for 146 still more developed. In the version of the royal tomb, each paragraph is called: “The salutation of Osiris, the king, to the pylon: I know thee, I know thy name, I know the name of the god who guardeth thee.” Then follow the name of the pylon, and that of the god, and after having said them, the deceased describes the purifications he goes through, the oils with which he has been anointed, and the text ends with these words: pass on, thou art pure.
It is curious that both in 145 and 146 there is a change at the pylon No. 11. In our text, Lc, the name of the doorkeeper disappears, and each time, after the name of the pylon, we find these words:
. In 145 the name of the doorkeeper is still mentioned, but this sentence takes the place of the description of the purifications and ointments which occurred in the previous paragraphs. I should translate these words: she will direct or prepare the enwrapping or clothing of the dead. I think that the dead is supposed to wear a different garment at each pylon, which is provided to him by the pylon itself.
A still more detailed version of 145 is found in the Paris papyrus Pg, of which we have only a very short fragment. At each pylon there is a dialogue between the deceased and doorkeeper, who asks whether the deceased has been purified, in what water, with what oil he has been anointed, which garment he wears, which stick he holds in his hand.
Chapters 145 and 146 are among the most incorrect texts of the Book of the Dead, and until we have new copies of the old versions, there will always be a large measure of conjecture in any attempt to translate them.
. Being feminine, the name is that of a woman or a goddess.
. One of the names of Hathor, the consort of Thoth at Hermopolis (Mariette, Dendérah, II, pl. 27, 15).
. Renouf translates, “words of power.” I should prefer “magic power.”
[4.] I read with the Turin text
.
. According to Lepsius, the σχοινιον, 40 cubits.
[6.] I read with the text of chapter 145 in the royal tomb
.
The vignettes vary considerably, according to the papyri. In Lc all the pylons are alike, with a god sitting inside; evidently the artist was free to draw them according to his fancy. The vignettes of the papyrus of Ani, and, still more, Pc, are remarkable for their fine colours.