Chapter CXLVIII

G1iving sustenance to the deceased in the Netherworld, and delivering him from all evil things.

2Hail to thee who shinest as living soul, and who appearest on the horizon, N. who is in the boat knows thee; he knows thy name, he knows the names of the seven cows and of their bull; they give bread and drink to the glorified soul. You who give sustenance to the inhabitants of the West, give bread and drink to the soul of N., grant that he may be your follower, and be between your thighs.

3(Then follow the names of the seven cows.)

4The house of the ka, of the inviolate god,

5The storm of the sky, which raises the gods,

6The hidden one in her dwelling,

7Chebt the mummified form of the god,

8The greatly beloved, with red hair,

9The abundant in life, the veiled one,

10She who is powerful in her works, or on her pedestal,

11The bull ... of the Netherworld.

12(Then the deceased calls on the four rudders of the sky, the four cardinal points.)

13Hail! divine form, the good one, the good rudder of the Northern sky.

14Hail! thou who goest round and pilotest the double earth, the good rudder of the Western sky.

15Hail! the shining one, who dwellest in the house of the devouring monsters, the good rudder of the Eastern sky.

16Hail! the inner one who dwelleth in the house of the red ones, the good rudder of the Southern sky.

17Give bread and drink, oxen, geese, all things good and pure to N. Give him sustenance, give him joy, may he rest on the earth, and may he be victorious on the horizon of Annu, in the Tuat, in the sky, and on the earth, eternally.

18Ye fathers and mothers, gods of the sky, and of the Netherworld, deliver N. from all things pernicious and evil, from all harm and evil, from the cruel huntsman and his swords, and from all evil things; and order what is to be done to him by the men, the glorious ones, and the dead, in this day, in this night, in this month, and in this year.

19Said by a man, when Rā is put before these gods, painted in green, and standing on a wooden board, and when they give him the offerings, and the sustenance which is before them, bread and drink, geese, and frankincense, and when they present mortuary gifts to the deceased before Rā.

20(The book called) giving sustenance to a deceased in the Netherworld, delivers a man from all evil things. Thou shalt not read to any other man than thyself the book of Unnefer. He to whom this has been read, Rā is his steersman and his protecting power, he will not be attacked by his enemies in the Netherworld, in the sky, on the earth, and in every place he goes, for (the book) giving sustenance to the deceased has its effect regularly.