IF THIS CHAPTER BE KNOWN [BY THE DECEASED] HE SHALL BE VICTORIOUS BOTH UPON EARTH AND IN THE UNDERWORLD. HE SHALL DO WHATSOEVER A MAN DOETH WHO IS UPON THE EARTH, AND HE SHALL PERFORM ALL THE DEEDS WHICH THOSE DO WHO ARE [ALIVE]. NOW IT IS A GREAT PROTECTION [GIVEN] BY THE GOD. THIS CHAPTER WAS FOUND IN THE CITY OF KHE-MENNU INSCRIBED UPON THE BLOCK OF IRON IN LETTERS OF LAPIS-LAZULI WHICH WAS UNDER THE FEET OF THIS GOD.
In the rubric to this chapter as found in the Papyrus of Mes-em-neter, the chapter is said to have been “discovered in the foundations of the shrine of the divine Hennu boat by the chief mason in the time of the King of the North and of the South, Hesepti,(40) triumphant,” and it is there directed that it shall be recited by one who is ceremonially pure and clean, and who hath not touched women, and who hath not eaten flesh of animals or fish.
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 13).]
THE CHAPTER OF KNOWING THE “CHAPTERS OF COMING FORTH BY DAY” IN A SINGLE CHAPTER. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Osiris Nu, triumphant, begotten of the overseer of the palace, Amen-hetep, triumphant, saith:
“I am Yesterday and To-morrow; and I have the power to be born a second time. [I am] the divine hidden Soul, who createth the gods, and who giveth sepulchral meals to the divine hidden beings [in the Tuat (underworld)], in Amenti, and in heaven. [I am] the rudder of the east, the possessor of two divine faces wherein his beams are seen. I am the lord of those who are raised up, [the lord] who cometh forth from out of the darkness. [Hail,] ye two divine Hawks who are perched upon your resting-places, and who hearken unto the things which are said by him, the thigh [of the sacrifice] is tied to the neck, and the buttocks [are laid] upon the head of Amentet. May the Ur-urti goddesses (_i.e._, Isis and Nephthys) grant such gifts unto me when my tears start from me as I look on. ‘I know the abysses’ is thy name. [I] work for [you], O ye _Khu_s, who are in number [four] millions, [six] hundred, and 1,000, and 200, and they are [in height] twelve cubits. [Ye] travel on joining the hands, each to each, but the sixth [hour], which belongeth at the head of the Tuat (underworld), is the hour of the overthrow of the Fiend. [I] have come there in triumph, and [I am] he who is in the hall (or courtyard) of the Tuat; and the seven(?) come in his manifestations. The strength which protecteth me is that which hath my _Khu_ under its protection, [that is] the blood, and the cool water, and the slaughterings which abound(?). I open [a way among] the horns of all those who would do harm unto me, who keep themselves hidden, who make themselves adversaries unto me, and those who are upon their bellies. The Eye shall not eat (or absorb) the tears of the goddess Aukert. Hail, goddess Aukert, open thou unto me the enclosed place, and grant thou unto me pleasant roads whereupon I may travel. Who art thou, then, who consumest in the hidden places? I am the Chief in Re-stau, and [I] go in and come forth in my name of ‘Hehi, the lord of millions of years [and of] the earth’; [I am] the maker of my name. The pregnant one hath deposited [upon the earth] her load. The door by the wall is shut fast, and the things of terror are overturned and thrown down upon the backbone(?) of the _Bennu_ bird by the two _Samait_ goddesses. To the Mighty One hath his Eye been given, and his face emitteth light when [he] illumineth the earth, [my name is his name].(41) I shall not become corrupt, but I shall come into being in the form of the Lion-god; the blossoms of Shu shall be in me. I am he who is never overwhelmed in the waters. Happy, yea happy, is the funeral couch of the Still-heart; he maketh himself to alight upon the pool(?), and verily he cometh forth [therefrom]. I am the lord of my life. I have come to this [place], and I have come forth from Re-āa-urt the city of Osiris. Verily the things which are thine are with the _Sariu_ deities. I have clasped the sycamore tree and I have divided(?) it; I have opened a way for myself [among] the _Sekhiu_ gods of the Tuat. I have come to see him that dwelleth in his divine uræus, face to face and eye to eye, and [I] draw to myself the winds [which rise] when he cometh forth. My two eyes(?) are weak in my face, O Lion[-god], Babe, who dwellest in Utent. Thou art in me and I am in thee; and thy attributes are my attributes. I am the god of the Inundation (_Bāh_), and ‘Qem-ur-she’ is my name. My forms are the forms of the god Khepera, the hair of the earth of Tem, the hair of the earth of Tem.