Chapter XVII

C1hapter whereby one cometh forth by day out of the Netherworld. Let the words be said:

2I am he who closeth and he who openeth, and I am but One.

3I am Râ at his first appearance.

4I am the great god, self-produced;

5His Names together compose the cycle of the gods;

6Resistless is he among the gods.

7I, who am Osiris, am Yesterday and the kinsman of the Morrow.

8A scene of strife arose among the gods when I gave the command.

9Amenta is the scene of strife among the gods.

10I know the name of the great god who is here.

11Herald of Râ is his name.

12I am the great Heron who is in Heliopolis, who presideth over the account of whatsoever is and of that which cometh into being.

13Who is that? It is Osiris who presideth over the account of all that is and all that cometh into being, that is Endless Time and Eternity. Endless Time is Day and Eternity is Night.

14I am Amsu in his manifestations; there have been given to me the Two Feathers upon my head.

15Who is that, and what are his Feathers? It is Horus, the avenger of his father, and the Two Feathers are the Uræi upon the forehead of his father Tmu.

16I have alighted upon my Land, and I come from my own Place.

17What is that? It is the Horizon of my father Tmu.

18All defects are done away, all deficiencies are removed, and all that was wrong in me is cast forth.

19I am purified at the two great and mighty Lakes at Sutenhunen, which purify the offerings which living men present to the great god who is there.

20Who is that? It is Râ himself.

21Which are the two great and mighty Lakes? The Lake of Natron and the Lake of Māāt.

22I advance over the roads, which I know, and my face is on the Land of Māāt.

23What is that? The road upon which father Tmu advanceth, when he goeth to the Field of Aarru, approaching to the land of Spirits in Heaven.

24I come forth through the T’eser gate.

25What is that? This gate of the gods is Haukar. It is the gate and the two doors and openings, through which father Tmu issueth to the Eastern Horizon of Heaven.

26O ye who have gone before! Let me grasp your hands, me who become one of you.

27Who are they? Those who have gone before are Hu and Sau. May I be with their father Tmu, throughout the course of each day.

28I make full the Eye when it waxeth dim on the day of battle between the two Opponents.

29What is that? The battle of the two Opponents is the day upon which Horus fighteth with Sut, when he flingeth his filth upon the face of Horus, and when Horus seizeth upon the genitals of Sut, for it is Horus who doeth this with his own fingers.

30I lift up the hairy net from the Eye at the period of its distress.

31What is that? The right Eye of Râ in the period of its distress when he giveth it free course, and it is Thoth who lifteth up the net from it.

32I see Râ, when he is born from Yesterday, at the dugs of the Mehurit cows? His course is my course, and conversely mine is his.

33What is that? Râ and his births from Yesterday at the dugs of the Mehurit cows? It is the figure of the Eye of Râ, at his daily birth. And Mehurit is the Eye.

34I am one of those who are in the train of Horus.

35What is that—‘one of those in the train of Horus’? Said with reference to whom his Lord loveth.

36Hail, ye possessors of Māāt, divine Powers attached to Osiris, who deal destruction to falsehood, ye who are in the train of Hotepeschaus, grant me that I may come to you. Do ye away the wrong which is me, as ye have done to the Seven Glorious ones, who follow after the Coffined one, and whose places Anubis hath fixed on that day of ‘Come thou hither’!

37Hotepeschaus is the divine Flame which is assigned to Osiris for burning the souls of his adversaries. I know the names of the Seven Glorious ones who follow the Coffined one, and whose places Anubis hath fixed on the day of ‘Come thou hither.’ The leader of this divine company,

38‘An-ar-ef, the Great’ is his name; 2, Kat-kat; 3, the Burning Bull, who liveth in his fire; 4, the Red-eyed one in the House of Gauze; 5, Fieryface which turneth backwards; 6, Dark Face in its hour; 7, Seer in the Night.

39I am he whose Soul resideth in a pair of gods.

40It is Osiris, as he cometh to Tattu, and there findeth the soul of Râ; each embraceth the other, and becometh Two Souls.

41The pair of gods are Horus, the Avenger of his Father, and Horus, the Prince of the City of Blindness.

42I am the great Cat, who frequenteth the Persea tree in Heliopolis, on that night of battle wherein is effected the defeat of the Sebau, and that day upon which the adversaries of the Inviolate god are exterminated.

43Who is that great Cat? It is Râ himself. For Sau said, He is the likeness (Maȧu) of that which he hath created, and his name became that of Cat (Maȧu).

44The night of conflict is the defeat of the children of Failure at Elephantine. There was conflict in the entire universe, in heaven and upon the earth.

45He who frequenteth the Persea tree is he who regulateth the children of Failure, and that which they do.

46O Râ, in thine Egg, who risest up in thine orb, and shinest from thine Horizon, and swimmest over the firmament without a peer, and sailest over the sky; whose mouth sendeth forth breezes of flame, lightening up the Two Earths with thy glories, do thou deliver N from that god whose attributes are hidden, whose eyebrows are as the arms of the Balance upon that day when outrage is brought to account, and each wrong is tied up to its separate block of settlement.

47The god whose eyebrows are as the arms of the Balance is “he who lifteth up his arm.”

48Deliver me from those Wardens of the Passages with hurtful fingers, attendant upon Osiris.

49The Wardens of Osiris are the Powers who keep off the forces of the adversaries of Râ.

50May your knives not get hold of me; may I not fall into your shambles, for I know your names; my course upon earth is with Râ and my fair goal is with Osiris. Let not your offerings be in my disfavour, oh ye gods upon your altars! I am one of those who follow the Master, a keeper of the writ of Chepera.

51I fly like a Hawk, I cackle like the Smen-Goose, I move eternally like Nehebkau.

52Oh Tmu who art in the Great Dwelling, Sovereign of all the gods, deliver me from that god who liveth upon the damned; whose face is that of a hound, but whose skin is that of a man; at that angle of the pool of fire; devouring shades, digesting human hearts and voiding ordure. One seeth him not.

53This god whose face is that of a hound and whose skin is that of a man: Eternal Devourer is his name.

54Oh Fearful one, who art over the Two Earths, Red god who orderest the block of execution; to whom is given the Double Crown and Enjoyment as Prince of Sutenhunen.

55It is Osiris to whom was ordained the Leadership among the gods, upon that day when the Two Earths were united before the Inviolate god.

56The junction of the Two Earths is the head of the coffin of Osiris whose father is Râ the beneficent Soul in Sutenhunen, the giver of food and the destroyer of wrong, who hath determined the paths of eternity.

57It is Râ himself.

58Deliver me from that god who seizeth upon souls, who consumeth all filth and corruption in the darkness or in the light: all those who fear him are in powerless condition.

59This god is Sut.

60Oh Chepera, who are in the midst of thy bark and whose body is the cycle of the gods for ever; deliver me from those inquisitorial Wardens to whom the Inviolate god, of Glorious Attributes, hath given guard over his adversaries, and the infliction of slaughter in the place of annihilation, from whose guard there is no escape. May I not fall under your knives, may I not sit within your dungeons, may I not come to your places of extermination, may I not fall into your pits; may there be done to me none of those things which the gods abominate; for I have passed through the place of purification in the middle of the Meskat, for which are given the Mesit and the Tehenit cakes in Tanenit.

61The Meskat is the place of scourging in Sutenhunen, the Tehenit is the Eye of Horus.... Tanenit is the resting place of Osiris.

62Tmu buildeth thy dwelling, the Lion-faced god layeth the foundation of thy house, as he goeth his round. Horus offereth purification and Sut giveth might, and conversely.

63I have come upon this earth and with my two feet taken possession. I am Tmu and I come from my own Place.

64Back, oh Lion with dazzling mouth, and with head bent forwards, retreating before me and my might.

65I am Isis and thou findest me as I drop upon my face the hair which falleth loosely on my brow.

66I was conceived by Isis and begotten by Nephthys. Isis destroyeth what in me is wrong, and Nephthys loppeth off that which is rebellious.

67Dread cometh in my train and Might is in my hands. Numberless are the hands who cling fast to me. The dead ones and the living come to me. I defeat the clients of mine adversaries, and spoil those whose hands are darkened.

68I have made an agreeable alliance. I have created the inhabitants of Cher-âbat and those of Heliopolis. And every god is in fear before the Terrible, the Almighty one.

69I avenge every god against his oppressor, at whom I shoot my arrows when he appeareth.

70I live according to my will.

71I am Uat’it, the Fiery one.

72And woe to them who mount up against me!

73What is this? “Of unknown attributes, which Hemen hath given” is the name of the Funereal Chest. “The Witness of that which is lifted” is the name of the Shrine.

74The Lion with dazzling mouth and with head bent forwards is the Phallus of Osiris [otherwise of Râ].

75And I who drop the hair which hath loosely fallen upon my brow—I am Isis, when she concealeth herself; she hath let fall her hair over herself.

76Uat’it the Fiery is the Eye of Râ.

77They who mount up against me, woe to them, they are the associates of Sut as they approach.

78a. Berlin Museum. No. 1470. b. British Museum. No. 9901.