Hail to thee, great god in the East of Heaven, who enterest into the Bark of Rā in the form of the Divine Hawk and executest the decrees which have been uttered; thou who strikest with thy sceptre from thy Bark.
The Osiris N entereth into thy Bark and saileth peacefully to the Fair West; and Tmu saith to him: Art thou coming in?
Mehenit is millions upon millions in length from Amur to Ta-ur([5]) an endless river wherein the gods move.
([6]) ... whose path is in the fire; and they travel in the fire who come behind him.
Notes.
[1.] None of the oldest papyri yet known contain this chapter. This of itself is not an argument against its antiquity, and there is really no reason for supposing it to be less ancient than the chapter which precedes it. The latter portion of the text is, however, very corrupt and we have unfortunately no means as yet of correcting it.
[2.] O Rā. The name of the god is sometimes omitted in MSS. The context, however, requires its presence. It may nevertheless be asked: how can the Sun-god be said to be shining in the night?
The question might as pertinently be asked: how can Horus (in the very same line) be said to come forth in the night? The answer to both these questions is that the Sun, whether as Rā or as Horus or Osiris, shines in the night through the agency of Thoth, the Moon. For further information see Notes to next chapter.
[3.] Warriors
