I am free from obstruction; and I come that thou mayest see me in the house where I repeat the ancient ordinances and words, as a guidance wherewith thou shalt guide posterity.([2])
Notes.
[1.] This chapter (which is repeated in Chapter 139) is like the repetition of an important passage in Chapter 110. But the differences are very considerable, and it is for criticism to decide the question of priority between the two recensions.
Whichever be the earlier recension, the present one is of very great interest and importance. It is found on two of the most carefully written papyri of the eighteenth dynasty. But the most interesting feature is the mythological allusion at this date (at latest) to an astronomical phenomenon, with reference to which later researches may furnish fresh evidence.
The speaker in this chapter is said (not merely implied, as in Chapter 110, see [note 5]) to be Thoth, who is the measurer of all things in heaven and earth, and the author and regulator of all science. He is here said to have established the equilibrium
between the Divine Pair, Horus and Sutu; that is Day and Night. Such an equilibrium, strictly speaking, never exists except at the Equinoxes.
But the most important passage is, “I have rescued the Âtu from his backward course.” The