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The Osireion at Abydos
CHAPTER 2. THE GREAT HALL. (Sections 10-19; plates 7-11)
10.
The Great Hall, the floor of which was more than forty feet below the
surface of the desert, was fifteen feet wide, thirty-four feet long,
and seventeen feet high. There were three doorways, one to the south,
leading to the South Chamber; one to the east, to the sloping passage;
one to the north, to the north passage. The North and South Walls were
covered with inscriptions. The West Wall is divided into three parts
vertically; the portion to the left hand is filled with a colossal
scene of the Vivification of Osiris; the middle portion contains part
of the Chapter of knowing the Names of Osiris; the right hand portion
is occupied with the figure of King Merenptah standing before a
heaped-up table of offerings, and making an offering of incense. The
wall had originally had a frieze of the klickcy ornament painted in
yellow, blue, green, and black.
The East Wall of the
hall had had the facing of stone quarried away in Roman times, so that
any decoration, either sculpture or painting, which might have been
there, had perished. The floor, as in the South Chamber and the
passages, was paved with blocks of sandstone. The roofing stones must
have stretched from wall to wall, the entire width of the hall, as
there are no pillars or other means of support. It is easy to see how
stones of such a size would impress the minds of visitors, and Strabo's
surprise is not to be wondered at.
Above the scene of
Osiris and Horus (pl.1) are two rectangular holes for driving in the
wedges by which the stones were split out of the walls by the Romans.
From the weather stains and marks of bird droppings, it seems that the
place must have (p.10) stood open and roofless for many years, though
it was filled up again in Roman times. Sufficient traces of colour
remained on all the sculptures to show that the background was white,
the hieroglyphs red and blue, and the figures of various colours. Many
of the details were added in the painting and do not appear in the
sculptures, as, for instance, the bracelets on the arms of Merenptah
and the striped garments of the figures of gods in the lists on the
West Wall.
Plate 7: The East Wall of the Osireion's Great Hall.
East side of the door: This inscription is part
of chapter 43, the Chapter of the Identification of Members. It is
noticeable that the name of Sety I occurs in the first part of the
inscription.
"[Chapter] of driving away the
slaughterings which are made in Henenseten by the King Men- Maat-Ra,
true of voice. Strong One of the White crown. Image of the gods. I am
the Child, {fojir times). O [Abu-ur, thou sayest this] day, 'The
Slaughter-block is prepared with what thou knowest, coming unto decay
(?). I am Ra, establishing praises; I am the great god within the
tamarisk-tree, the twice beautiful One, more splendid than yesterday
(?) {four times). I am Ra, establishing praises. I am going forth
[when] this Ra goes forth.
"The hair of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true] of voice, is as Nu.
"The face of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, [true] of voice, is as Ra.
"The two eyes of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true] of voice, are as Hathor.
"The two ears of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, [true] of voice, are as Upuaut.
"The nose of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true] of voice, is as Kenti-khas.
"The two lips of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, [true] of voice, are as Anubis.
"The teeth of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true] of voice, are as Serkt.
"The neck of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, [true] of voice, is as Isis.
"[The two hands] of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true] of voice, are as the Soul, the Lord of Deddu.
"The elbow of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, true [of voice, is as the Lady of Sais].
"The backbone of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, true [of voice, is as Set].
"The phallus of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, true of voice, is as Osiris.
"The flesh of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, true of voice, is as the Lords of Kheraha.
"The trunk of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, [true of voice], is as the Great One of Terror.
"The body and back of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, true of voice, are as Sekhet.
"The hinder parts of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, true of voice, are as the Eye of Horus.
"The legs of Osiris Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, true of voice, are as Nut.
"The feet of Osiris Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, true of voice, are as Ptah."
West side of tlie door: This is chapter clxxx of the "Book of the Dead," one of the many chapters of Coming forth by Day.
"[The
Chapter] of Coming forth by Day, of praising Ra in the West of Heaven,
of making praises to those who are in the Duat, of opening a road for
the Soul which is in the Underworld, of causing that it may walk with
wide strides in the Underworld, of making transformations as a living
soul b}' the king Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, son of the Sun, Hotep-her-Maat
Merenptah, true of voice. Hail, Ra, setting as Osiris with all his
diadems. The glorious ones, the gods, the people of the West [i.e. the
Dead], they praise him, the Image not [sie) unique of the secret
places, the Holy Soul of Khenti- Amentiu (?), Unnefer, he exists unto
eternity and everlasting. Beautiful is thy face in the Duat. Thy son
Horus is satisfied concerning thee. He speaks [lit. commands] for thee
the commanding words. Thou grantest that he may appear as thy pillar of
the Duat. Those who are in the Duat and of the steps of heaven are
bidden before thee (?) I am the guardian of the gate who walks behind
Ra. I have offered offerings in the Fields of Aaru, I have made
libations on earth and in the Fields of Aaru, weighing words like
Thoth. Hail, O gods, O ancestors, O Ra, lead ye my soul as ye lead the
begetter of mankind with you at the side of the soul of
Khenti-Amentiu."
(p.10) 12. The West Wall. On the left-hand
side is a scene of the Vivification of Osiris by Horus. Osiris is
enthroned within a shrine. The throne has the usual decoration of
horizontal lines, and in one corner is a panel of water-plants tied to
the symbol of union, emblematic of the union of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The base of the shrine is decorated with a border of ankh and tias
alternately. Osiris holds the crook, the scourge, and the uas, his
usual emblems. The face appears to have been worked in stucco or
plaster, which has fallen out. The stone was probably faulty just in
that place, and the stucco was used to cover up the bad part. We found
stucco used in this way in several places; and when the sculptures were
in good repair and freshly painted the join would not be noticed. In
front of Osiris are four little mummified figures standing on a lotus
flower with two leaves; these are the four children of Horus, who are
generally represented before the enthroned Osiris. Above them in the
corner of the shrine is the sun's disk encircled by a serpent from
whose neck hangs an ankh. The inscription over the head of Osiris
reads: "Osiris Khenti-Amentiu, Lord of Deddu, Ruler of Abydos." In
front of Osiris stands Horus wearing the double crown and holding in
both hands a long staff surmounted by an ankh, the sign of life. He
holds the ankh to the nostrils of Osiris in order that the dead god may
inhale life, and may live again. The name of Horus is inscribed beside
him; "Horus, avenger of his father, son of Osiris."
Plate 8:
West Wall of Great Hall, south end, showing Osiris enthroned at left
and Horus at right, holding an ankh on a long staff symbolizing life.
On the
undecorated portion of the wall, immediately below Horus, is the
graffito of a foot (pl.XII) with a Karian inscription beside it. It is
just the height at which a man, seated on the ground, could rest his
foot on the wall while marking out the shape. This graffito shows that
the building was used as a place of pilgrimage in Greek times, pilgrims
always leaving incised footmarks at the shrines which they visited. The
roof of the Temple of Seti at Abydos is covered with graffiti of
footmarks, sometimes with names as in this case, sometimes uninscribed.
Above the head of Horus, and also behind him, are three registers of
inscriptions, portions of chapter clx.xiii of the "Book of the
Dead,"the speeches of Horus to his father Osiris. Each line begins with
the words "Speech. Hail O, Osiris, I am thy son Horus," which I have
omitted in the translation.
1st line, I. "I come and I bring to thee life, stability, and strength for thy beautiful face.
2. "I come, giving homage to thee with vessels of water.
3. "I come and I overthrow thine enemies upon earth.
4. "I come and I make thy sacrifices in the Nomesof the South and North.
5. "I come and I make provision for thy altar upon earth.
6. "I come and I make sacrifice of offerings upon it.
7. "I come and I lead captive for thee thy enemies as bulls.
8. "I come and I overthrow thy enemies in all the gates (?).
9. "I come and I smite down all evil that belongs to thee.
10. "I come and I slay what thou hast done when thou hast transgressed.
11. "I come and I destroy those who are hostile to thee.
12. "I come and I bring to thee the South, seizing all boundaries.
13. "I come and I bring to thee the companions of Set, chains (?) upon them.
14. "I come and I establish for thee divine offerings from the South and North.
2nd line. 1. "I come and I plough for thee the fields.
2. "I come and I fill for thee the canals.
3. "I come and I build water channels for thee.
4. "I come and I bring thee cool-water from Elephantine.
3rd line. I. "I come and I cause that thou art strong upon earth.
2. "I come and I cause that thou art glorious.
3. "I come and I cause that thou art terrible.
4. "I come and I grant to thee that Isis and Nephthys shall stablish thee."
Plate 9: West wall, central portion of Great Hall of the Osireion
pl.9. The West Wall. Register I.
13.
I. Osiris Khenti-Amentiu. One of the chief titles of Osiris as
identified with Khenti Amcntiu, the western god, God of the Dead.
2. Horakhti, the Horizon-Horus. The Greek form of the name is
Harmakhis (Hor-em-akht), Horus in the Horizon. Horus is here identified
with the sun
(p.11) which is worshipped when on the
horizon, i.e., at its rising and setting. In the Dream-stele of
Thothmes IV, the king is represented worshipping a sphinx which is
called Hor-em-akht, and in the text of the stele the king relates how
the god (who is called both Hor-em-akht and Horakhti), appears to him
in a vision under the form of the Great Sphinx.
3. Nu,
the Primaeval Waters. Nu is often represented in the Book of the Other
World (Am-Duat) as a bearded man upholding the Barque of the Sun
(pl.XIII).
4. Maat, Goddess of Truth, Righteousness, and
Law. Her emblem is the ostrich feather which she wears on her head. In
scenes of the Psychostasia, the heart of the dead man is weighed
against the feather of Maat, while the figure of the goddess is often
represented on the support of the balance to indicate the strict
impartiality of the weighing. In mythological texts the gods are said
to live upon Maat, and the words used make it appear that they actually
ate Maat. This may account for the figures of the goddess of Truth,
which are constantly offered to the gods by royal personages, together
with offerings of food and clothing. Plutarch gives a curious
corroboration of this when he says that on the feast of Hermes the
Egyptians eat honey and figs, saying to each other at the same time,
"How sweet is Truth."
5. The Boat of Ra. The Egyptians
conceived of the sky and the other world as a more or less exact
facsimile of the world and the country which they knew. As the Nile
flowed through Egypt and formed the great highway, so a celestial river
flowed through the sky and the Uuat (the other world), and on this
river sailed the great boat in which the sun made his daily journey
from east to west, and at night followed the course of the river
through the Duat. The Boat of the Sun is figured on scarabs as a charm,
generally followed by the words En send, Fear not. M. Chassinat gives a
translation of a curious magical ceremony to protect the Boat of the
Sun. "Book of protecting the Divine Boat. To be said over the statuette
of Set made of red wax, on the day of the voyage of the Boat to Abydos;
after having bound it [the statuette] with hair of a black colour.
Place a harpoon upon it, and wrap it in a fishing-net, the two arms
having been cut off with a knife of black tes; then put it on a fire
with branches of /v//rt5i (cassia ?) under it." (Chassinat, Rec. de
Trav. xvi. 114.)
6. Atum. One of the gods of Heliopolis,
and generally identified with the setting sun. Ra, the sun-god, was
worshipped as Khepra at his rising and Atum at his setting. The
entrance to the sixth gate of the other world (pl.XIII) is decorated
with two poles, surmounted by the heads of Khepra and Atum as
symbolical of the position of the sun, which is then half-way between
his setting and his rising, and therefore partakes of the characters of
both deities.
7. The great cycle of the gods.
8.
The little cycle of the gods. Every great religious centre had its
greater and lesser cycle or ennead of gods. In the Pyramid of Pepi II
(/. 665), the great cycle of Heliopolis is said to consist of Atum,
Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. In chap, xvii
of the "Book of the Dead," Ra is said to create the cycle of the gods
out of his own names: "I am Ra at his first appearance. I am the great
god self-produced. His names together compose the company of the gods.
Who then is this? It is Ra, as he creates the names of his limbs, which
become the gods who accompany him."
9. Horus, Lord of the
Urert Crown. The Urert or Double Crown is the emblem of sovereignty
over the South and North. The semi-circular basket on which it is
placed has the phonetic value Neb, "Lord," and appears in the
Nebii-\^\\\& of the King, where the Uraeus and Vulture, emblems of
the goddesses of the South and North, are each figured upon this
sign.
10. Shu. Shu uplifts the sky-goddess, Nut, from
the embraces of the earth-god Geb. He is often mentioned in connection
with the goddess Tefnut, and together they are called the Double-Lion
deity.
11. Tefnut. The part which Tefnut plays in
Egyptian mythology is not yet clearly defined. An inscription at
Dendereh, of which Brugsch gives a translation [Dict, geog., 212),
implies that she was a foreign goddess:—"From the 28th of Tybi to the
1st of Mechir, [festival] of the voyage of this goddess [instituted] by
Ra. It was celebrated for her when she arrived at Bukem to see the Nile
of Egypt and the produce of the land of Egypt. When she appeared she
turned her back on the country of the the Sati (Asia)." Brugsch
identifies Bukem with the district lying between El Kab and the port of
Berenice on the Red Sea. One of the great trade routes from the Red Sea
to Egypt passed through this region, and the inscription implies that
the (p.12) worship of Tefnut came by this road from Asia into
Egypt.
12. Geb. The earth-god, husband of Nut, goddess
of the sky, and father of Osiris. His usual title is E7-pa Neteru,
Hereditary Prince of the Gods.
13. Nut. The sky goddess,
wife of Geb, and mother of five of the principal deities of Egypt.
Plutarch relates a legend that Nut fell under the displeasure of Ra,
the sun-god, who ordained that none of her children should be born on
any day of any year. Thoth, however, who loved Nut, played dice with
the moon and won from that luminary the seventieth part of everj- day;
he added these fractions together, and so obtained five whole days,
which he inserted into the calendar at the end of every year. These
five da}s belonged to no year, and therefore by this device Nut was
enabled to bring forth her children, Osiris on the first day, Horus on
the second, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth, Nephthys on the
fifth. No trace of this legend is found in any Egyptian writings, but
the intercalary days were observed as the birthdays of the five
children of Nut. This goddess is pictured raised on the hands of Shu,
her limbs drooping so that her hands and feet touch the ground. She
thus represents the vault of the sky; and, to carry on the imagery, she
is covered with stars, and the sun and moon are also figured on her
body. Other representations (pl.Xni) show her standing on the head of
Osiris to receive the dying sun when he enters the other world. The sun
is born anew of her e\ery morning, and dies in her arms at night. She
is often depicted on the inner side of the lid or on the floor of
coffins and sarcophagi, sometimes as a stately woman without attributes
(Sarcophagus of Sety I, pl.16), sometimes as a black woman strewn with
stars, her hands raised above her head, and thesun and moon pursuing
their course along her body. Occasionally she is represented as a cow.
{Tomb of Sety I, M.A.F. tiypogees Roy. T. iv, pl.17.)
14.
Isis. The myriad named, the greatest of all the goddesses of Egypt. She
was the daughter of Geb and Nut, born on the third intercalary day, and
was the sister and wife of Osiris, and the mother of Horus. Temples
were built and mysteries were celebrated in her honour, and she was
identified with all the goddesses of the Egyptian pantheon. The Greeks
called her Demeter owing to the resemblance of ritual in the worship of
the two goddesses. A common title of Isis is the Great One of Magic
Spells, and she was looked upon, even to the latest heathen times, as
supreme in magic. She revealed herself to her worshippers as Sirius,
the Dog-star, the brightest star in the heavens, whose appearance at
dawn heralds the coming of the inundation.
15. Nephthys.
Daughter of Geb and Nut, born on the fourth intercalary day; the sister
and wife of Set, and concubine of Osiris by whom she had one son, the
jackal-god Anubis. She does not appear to have had a separate worship,
but is almost invariably represented with her sister Isis, either
mourning over the dead Osiris, or standing behind the throne of Osiris,
the god of the Dead. When pictured as mourners, Nephthys stands at the
head of the deceased, Isis at the foot where she can look upon the face
of the dead. In the papyrus of the Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys,
which, like many late texts, preserves much of the ancient ritual,
directions are given for the proper recital of this h}mn of the two
sister-goddesses on the 25th da}' of the month Khoiak, which is one of
the days sacred to Osiris. "When this is recited, the place [where one
is] is holy in the extreme. Let it be seen or heard by no one,
excepting by the principal Kher-heb and the Sem-priest. Two women,
beautiful in their members, having been introduced, are made to sit
down on the ground at the principal door of the Great Hall. [Then] the
names of Isis and Nephthys are inscribed on their shoulders. Crj-stal
vases [full] of water are placed in their right hands, loaves of bread
made in Memphis in their left hands. Let them pay attention to the
things done at the third hour of the day, and also at the eighth hour
of the day. Cease not to recite this book at the hour of the
ceremony."(de Hokr.xck, Rec. Fast, xii, 125.) The \\ riter of the
papyrus appears to have supposed the ceremony to be so familiar to his
readers that he did not think it worth while to give any further
details. In the calendar of the Sallier pap\Tus, three days in the year
are devoted to the lamentations of Isis and Nephthys. On the i6th and
the 17th of the month Athyr the mourning takes place at Abydos; the
latter date is noticeable as being the same that Plutarch gives for the
treacherous murder of Osiris. On the 24th of Athyr there is an allusion
to a joyful ceremon)', "Procession of Isis and of Nephthys, who rejoice
to see Unnefer triumphant."(Chabas.)
16. House of the Kas of the Universal Lord.
17. The Storm of the Sky which raises the god.
18. The Hidden One, in her dwelling.
19. Khebt, the mummified form of the God.
20. The greatly beloved, with red hair (p.13)
21. The abundant in life, the veiled one.
22.
Her whose name is powerful in her works. These are the seven celestial
cows who, with their bull and the four heavenly rudders are figured in
chap, cxlviii of the "Book of the Dead,"the Chapter of Providing Food.
The name of the second cow, "Shentet-rest-neter "recalls that of the
cow-goddess Shenty, in whose presence some of the ceremonies in honour
of Osiris were performed (The translation of these names is from
Naville, P.S.B.A. xxiv, 313). For the goddess Shenty, see Caulfeild,
Temple of the Kings, pl.ix.
23. The Bull, the husband [of the cows].
24.
The Leader of Heaven, opening [the gate] of the sun's disk. The
beautiful rudder of the Eastern sky. In a papyrus of the XXth to the
XXVth Dynasty (Paris, No. 173, Wiedemann, P.S.B.A., xxii, 156) the four
rudders are represented by four ships with red sails, carrying
offerings to four towns, which stand for the four quarters of the
compass. The ship of the East sails to Kher-aha (Babylon, near
Memphis), and carries as an offering a libation jar with two jets of
water.
25. Ra making light in the Two lands. The
beautiful rudder of the Northern sky. The redsailed ship travels to
Busiris carrying linen as an offering.
26. The Shining
One (?) in the Temple of the Sand. The beautiful rudder of the Western
sky. The red-sailed ship goes to Memphis with offerings of fruit and
cakes.
27. Sharp of face (?) of the Red Ones. The
beautiful rudder of the Southern sky. The redsailed ship journeys to
Heliopolis with burning and smoking incense. Professor Wiedemann
remarks that the different offerings carried by the ships may have some
connection with the religious cult of each town.
28. Amset.
29. Hapl.
30. Duamutef.
31. Qebhsennuf.
These
are the Genii of the dead, the children of Horus, the gods of the four
cardinal points, under whose protection the internal organs of the dead
were placed. Amset, human headed, guarded the stomach and large
intestines; Hapi, ape-headed, guarded the small intestines; Duamutef,
jackalheaded, guarded the lungs and heart; and Qebhsennuf, hawk-headed,
guarded the gall bladder. The four genii often stand on a lotus which
springs from the throne of Osiris in the Judgment scene, and small
figures of them occur among the amulets placed on the mummy in the
coffin. The so-called Canopic Jars, which contain the viscera of the
deceased, have lids in the shape of the heads of these four deities.
The internal organs of Osiris were preserved as hoi}' relics in Upper
Egypt, those called Amset in the Serapeum of the eleventh Nome, those
called Duamutef at Slut in the Serapeum, of which the name was
Het-hau-Neter, House of the Limbs (or members) of the God. Allusions to
the four genii of the dead are innumerable in all mythological and
funerary texts.
32. Shrine of the South.
33. Shrine of the North.
These
two shrines are always mentioned together, and are probably merely
emblematic of the two great centres of religious worship, one in Upper,
the other in Lower, Egypt. Here the Shrine of the South has the form of
a funereal coffer, but in the temple of Bubastis, where Osorkon H
offers to the two shrines (Naville, Festival Hall, pl.iv, bis.) it is
the Shrine of the North which has this shape. If, as M. Naville thinks,
it had some mystical significance, it is probable that one is the
shrine of the living, the other of the dead, Osiris; in which case, the
earlier text, this of Merenptah, has represented them correctly, Osiris
being the living king in the north, the dead king in the south.
34. The Sektet Boat.
35. The Atet Boat.
These
are the two boats of the Sun; in one he made his daily voyage across
the sky from east to west, in the other he travelled through the Duat,
or other world, during the night. The Egyptians themselves appear to
have applied the names quite indifferently to either boat, so that it
becomes impossible to distinguish them. They were known in the Old
Kingdom, mention being made of them on the Palermo Stone in the reign
of Nefer-ar-ka-Ra of the Vth Dynasty. There are constant allusions to
them in the "Book of the Dead."Chapter cliii, the Chapter of Escaping
from the Net, is ordered to be recited "on a figure of the deceased
which is placed in a boat. Thou shalt put the Sektet boat on his right,
and the Atet boat on his left. Offerings will be made to him of cakes,
beer, and all good things on the day of the birth of Osiris
"(Naville).
36. Thoth. The scribe of the gods, the great
magician, always represented with the head of an (p.14) ibis. It is
Thoth who superintends the weighing of the heart before the Judgment
throne of Osiris, writing down the record upon his tablets, and
introducing the dead who have been proved sinless to the great god of
the dead. A common appellation of Thoth is Fendy, He of the Nose, in
allusion to the long beak of the ibis.
37. The Gods of the South.
38. The Gods of the North.
39. The Gods of the West.
40. The Gods of the East.
An
elaborate way of including all the gods. In the "Book of the
Dead,"chap, xv, we read, "The gods of the South and of the North, of
the West and of the East, praise thee [Ra],"and again, "the gods of the
South, the North, the West, and the East have bound Apep."In the
Pyramid texts, Unas calls on "Gods of the West, gods of the East, gods
of the South, gods of the North. O, four kinds of gods who enclose the
four pure lands "( Unas, I. 572).
41. The sitting gods.
Renouf [P.S.B.A. xix, p.108, note 5) explains this attitude as the
squatting position in which so many Egyptian figures are drawn. The
gods who appear in this posture are generally of inferior rank, the
great gods are either enthroned or standing.
42. The
gods of the offerings of food. These are the gods of the dead in whose
name offerings were made for the Ka of the deceased.
43. The Great House.
44.
The House of Flame. According to Renouf {P.S.B.A. xv, 69) every
Egyptian temple had a Great House and a House of Flame, "as most sacred
adyta at the extremity opposite the entrance. The former occupied the
central position, like the Ladye-chapel in our cathedrals, and the
latter stood by the side of it."The Papyrus of the Labyrinth says the
House of Flame "is the place where the lamp is lighted to show the way
to Osiris on his lake."I would suggest that it was also the chapel in
which the sacred spark was kindled on the festival of Uag (cf.
Inscriptions of Siiit).
45. The Road of the South.
46. The Road of the North.
47. The Road of the West.
48. The Road of the East.
On
the sarcophagus of Beb of the Vlth Dynasty (Petrie, Dendereh, pl.xxxvi,
13), sixteen mystic roads are cited, four to each quarter of the
compass, but I know of no other mention of the sacred Roads.
49. The gateways of the Duat.
50. The Secret Doors.
51. The guardian of the doors of the gateways of the Duat.
Doors
and gates had a special significance among the Egyptians, particularly
the gateways of the other world or the Duat. Chapter cxlv of the "Book
of the Dead "is entirely devoted to giving the names of the gates and
their guardians, without which knowledge the deceased could not attain
to Osiris. The "Book of Am-Duat "also carefully enumerates the names of
the gateways through which the sun had to pass, and also the names of
the guardians and doorkeepers of each gate.
14. I.
Register II. Osiris Khenti-Amentiu, Lord of Abydos. Under the name of
Khenti-Amentiu, the local god of Abydos, Osiris is worshipped as God of
the Dead. The chief centre of the cult was naturally at Abydos, the
sacred city where the head of the god was preserved as a holy relic.
This head with the long wig was the emblem of Osiris, and was carried,
raised on a long pole on a kind of litter, in the solemn processions in
the temple of Abydos. On the walls of the Osiris chapel in the temple
of Sety at Abydos two representations of the Sacred Head are shown; and
in the back part of the temple, where the mysteries were celebrated,
there is a third representation. In all three cases the long, hanging
wig, made apparently of lazuli beads, is a prominent feature. This
makes it probable that the head which was carried in processions was
merely a reliquary in which perhaps the relic was enclosed.
Professor
Petrie has pointed out that the origin of the name of Abydos is
derived from this Sacred Head. The hieroglyph which reads ab, and which
means emblem, is the head on a pole; the sign which follows, du, means
a hill; so the whole word Abdii means The Hill of the Emblem. Osiris,
who was at one time the chief deity of Egypt, afterwards fell from his
high estate as the god of all goodness, and became merely the spirit or
demon by whom enchanters worked magical spells; and the final mention
of him, under the name of Amente, in a Coptic text, shows that he had
reached the lowest point of degradation. "Death came, Amente following
him, who is the counsellor and the villain, the devil from the
beginning, man}' attendants of divers aspects following him, all armed
with fire, without (p.15)number, brimstone and smoke of fire coming
forth from their mouth."(Robinson. Copt. Apoc. Gospels, P- I57-)
2.
Osiris Unnefer, literally, the Good Being. One of the many names of
Osiris, but which appears to have come into common use only in the
XlXth Dynasty; from that time onwards it was the chief appellative of
the god. This name greatly impressed the classical authors who write on
the subject. Hermes Trismegistos (I quote from Menard's translation)
says, when speaking of Unnefer, "Dieu est le Bien et n'est pas autre
chose. Dieu et le Bien sont une seule et meme chose et le principe de
toutes les autres. Dieu est le Bien et le Bien est Dieu. Le Bien agit
par le moyen dusoleil, le Bien est le principe createur."Plutarch says,
"Osiris is a good being; the word itself, among its various other
significations, importing a benevolent and beneficent power, as does
likewise that other name of Omphis [Onnofris, Unnefer], by which he is
sometimes called."The word Unnefer has been noticed as still in use in
our own times. It was the name of a Coptic saint; thence it passed to
Spain under the form of San Onnofrio, after whom a town in Mexico was
called, from which town the mineral "onofrite "takes its name.
3. Osiris, the Living One.
4.
Osiris, Lord of Life. In papyri which contain this chapter, these
titles are, Ankhy, "The Living One,"and Neb Ankh, "The Lord of Life."A
difficulty here is that both these titles, which are almost entirely
destroyed, begin with Ankh. There is no reason to suppose that the name
Ankhy was twice repeated; it is almost certainl}' a mistake either of
the scribe or the sculptor, one or both of whom were very careless, as
the rest of the inscription shows.
5. Osiris-em-zer. A
very common title of Osiris is Neb-er-zer, "Lord to the Boundary,"i.e..
The Universal Lord, of which this appears to be merely a variant.
6. Osiris, chief of the town of Pu. Here, again, is a mistake
of the sculptor, for the papyri give Khenty (chief) instead of Khen.
Pe, or Pu as it is written here, is the Buto of the Greeks, a very
celebrated and holy city in the marshes of the Delta. It seems to have
been a double town, part being called Pe and part Dep; or possibly the
temple, and not the town, had the double name. The city was held sacred
because it was there that Isis fled to bring up her son Horus after the
death of Osiris. Hidden in the midst of the marshes the mother and
child were safe from the fury of their enemy Set, the murderer of
Osiris, and it was in this secure retreat that Horus remained till he
at last came forth as the "Avenger of his Father,"to do battle with the
Powar of Evil.
7. Osiris Orion. From early times Osiris
was identified with the constellation Orion. In the Pyramid texts Pepy
says, "Osiris comes to thee as Orion, lord of wine, in the good
festival of Uag; he to whom his mother said, ' Become flesh '; he to
whom his father said, "Be conceived in heaven, be born in the Duat,'
and who was conceived in heaven with Orion, who was born in the Duat
with Orion O Pepy, thou who art that great star which leans upon Orion,
go in heaven with Orion, journey in the Duat with Osiris Pepy has come,
and he honours Orion; he introduces Osiris in his place."
8.
Osiris Sepa. This very curious epithet has a centipede as its proper
determinative. It is the title of the mutilated Osiris whose body was
torn to pieces. It is sometimes found with the determinative of the
backbone, and is there often translated as "Relic."Brugsch (/??V/.
^a^^., 190) quotes from a text, of which he gives neither date nor
place, which mentions "the sceptre, the whip, and the glorious
Sepa"(with the determinative of the backbone) as relics of
Osiris.
9. Osiris in Tanent (see III, 6).
I0.
Osiris .... Meht-Ner. I cannot attempt to translate this title, which
in other te.xts is given as Mehenet, but here it is quite distinctly
ineht- Ner, with the determinative of a vulture.
11. Osiris, the Golden One (?) of Millions of Years.
12.
Osiris, the Double Soul of the Image. The Saite recension gives Eipcii,
the Two Princesses, i.e. Isis and Nephthys, instead oi Erpct, the
Image.
13. Osiris-Ptah, Lord of Life. This is a common
title of Ptah, who, as the triple god, Ptah-Sokar- Osiris, was the god
of the resurrection as well as of death.
14. Osiris,
Chief of Restau. The literal meaning of Restau is Mouth of the
Passages, meaning the Grave. All gods of the dead bear this
title.
15. Osiris, chief of [or, upon] the hill-country.
As Egypt was essentially a flat country, all foreign lands were, in
contradistinction, supposed to be hill}'. This title therefore shows
the dominion of Osiris over foreign countries.
16.
Osiris Anzety. Mr. Griffith has given an (p.16) interesting explanation
of this title {P.S.B.A. xxi, 278). "Anzeti means the god of the nome
Anzet, just as Zehuti (Thoth) means the god of the nome Zehut Anzeti is
therefore the figure of the anthropomorphic Osiris (Anzti) of Dedu . .
. . Osiris of Dedu seems, from his headdress, to be a god of birth, or
of renewed birth, while Osiris of Abydos (who always follows him in the
funerary formulae) is of death In somewhat later times the figure of
this Osiris is the regular determinative of Aty, 'ruling prince,' a
term applied only to the living being Osiris of Dedu is the living king
and a god of birth or generation, presiding over the nomes of the East,
or Sunrise, while Osiris of Abydos is the dead King and King of the
Dead, chief of the Westerners in the region of the Sunset."
17.
Osiris in Sehet. In other texts this name is given as Hesert, a
sanctuary in Hermopolis Magna. In the time of Rameses III there was a
secret shrine (kara slieta), dedicated to the worship of Osiris, in the
temple of Thoth in this place.
18. Osiris in Siut. Siut,
the L3-copolis of the Greeks, was the centre of the worship of the
jackalgod, Upuaut, who was identified with Osiris.
19.
Osiris in Uzeft. Here is another mistake of the scribe or sculptor. The
word should be Nezeft, a town in the Sethroite nome not far from
Pithom.
20. Osiris in the South. This word is
undoubtedly spelt Res, which means the South, and it is the same in all
the papyri; but it is very probable that in very early versions of this
chapter it was read Nekhen, for the title which follows is Osiris of
Pe, Pe being the religious capital of the North, Nekhen of the South.
The names of the two towns are constantly used thus in juxtaposition
when the writer wishes to express North and South. The sign for Nekhen,
a plant with two leaves at the base, is very like the hieroglyph for
South, the same plant with four leaves at the base, so it is not
unnatural that the two should be confused, especially as the meaning is
practically the same in this connection. In the early hieroglyphs
indeed no difference is made between the two signs. If this were the
South we should expect Osiris of the North to follow immediately after,
but in all papyri Osiris of the South and Osiris of the North have been
mentioned already.
21. Osiris in Pe. We have already had
a mention of Pe, the city of Isis in the marshes, but there it is in
opposition to Dep, which occurs further on, here it is opposed to
Nekhen. The two temples, one in Pe and one in Dep, were dedicated, the
one to Horus, the other to Uazt. Chap, cxii of the "Book of the Dead
"is concerned with the Spirits of Pe, who are Horus, Amset and Hapi;
chap, cxiii gives the Spirits of Nekhen as Horus, Duamutef, and
Qebhsennuf. In the Temple of Sety at Abydos, the Spirits of Pe and
Nekhen carry the king on a litter, and at Bubastis the Spirits of both
places are in attitudes of praise. The Spirits of Pe are hawkheaded,
those of Nekhen jackal-headed,
22. Osiris in Neteru.
Neteru is identified by Brugsch with Iseum, the modern Behbeit, a place
specially devoted to the worship of Isis, and through her to Osiris.
Neteru is often determined with the sign of a pool of water, and in the
Pyramid texts it is mentioned in connection with a lake. "Pepy has
washed himself in the four vessels filled at the divine Lake which is
in Neteru '"(1. 334).
23. Osiris in Lower Sais. The town
of Sais, which was sacred to the goddess Neith, was divided into Upper
and Lower, hence it is often called the Town of the North and South. In
Sais, Osiris bears the same name as at Busiris, Anzetj', the Living
God.
24. Osiris in the town of the Double god. The hawk
sign being an ancient symbol for God, this name probably means the town
of Horus and Set, which might mean the king, one of whose titles in the
early dj-nasties was Horus and Set. A tradition connects Aphroditopolis
with the god Set, who is said to have been buried there. The name of
the nome, in which Aphroditopolis stands, is written with the double
hawk, the town itself being written with the determinative of two
fingers or two sandals.
25. Osiris in Syene. We have
here the cult of Osiris at the most southerly point of Egypt. Plutarch
mentions Philae as a place specially sacred to Osiris, and the
Ptolemaic ritual inscribed in the temple at Dendereh gives directions
for the Osirisworship at Elephantine. The temple at Philae itself
preserves—or perhaps I ought to say, did preserve—inscriptions showing
that so late as the Roman period, the worship of Osiris played a large
part in the religious life of the place.
26. Osiris at
the Mouth of the Canal, i.e. Illahun. Osiris had a special worship in
the Fayum, and his most celebrated temple was at Illahun. As god of the
Fayum he is identified with Sebek and is depicted as a crocodile, as on
the sarcophagus of Ankhrui, which was found at Hawara in the Fayum
(Petkie, Haivara, pl.ii, p.21.) where there is a picture of (p.17) the
local Osiris, represented as a human-headed crocodile. The inscription
reads, "Says Osiris of many aspects, O Osirian prince Ankhrui, hidden
art thou in the great place of concealment on the west of the lake,
which thou rejoinest morning and evening, living for ever."Mr. Griffith
considers that the deceased is here "identified with the
Osiriscrocodile daily plunging in the lake."In the Dendereh ritual,
water from Illahun was used in the Osirian ceremony at Neteru. Osiris
being to some extent a water-god, it is only natural to find his
temples near a lake, as at Neteru and Illahun.
27.
Osiris in Aper. This place, which appears to mean "Town of
Provisions,"is not yet identified. In the "Lamentations of Isis and
Nephthys,"it appears to be near Sais, for Nephthys calls on Osiris, "O
god An, come to Sais. . . . Come to Aper; thou wilt see thy mother
Neith "[Records of the Past, ii, 123).
28. Osiris in Qefnu, or Qefdenu in other texts.
29.
Osiris Sokar in the Town of Pedu-sha. Osiris, the anthropomorphic god
of the dead, was identified both with Ptah and with the hawk-headed
Sokar; the three together forming the triple god, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris.
The dominion of Sokar is given in the 4th and 5th divisions of the
"Book of Am Duat,"but M. Jequier shows that the dominion of Sokar was
originally quite distinct from that of Osiris, and that the two have
been incorporated together in the "Book of Am Duat "by later
theologians. The Papyrus of the Labyrinth shows a connection between
the two gods: "This place, the temple of the god Sokar, at the mouth of
the canal (Illahun), is the town of Pi-bi-n-usiri (House of the Soul of
Osiris). When he enters the Great Green (the Lake) to see Osiris in his
lake, towards the south side of the canal, he rests at Heracleopolis
Magna and at Hermopolis Magna equally."(Brugsch, Dict. geog.
169.)
30. Osiris, chief of his town.
31. Osiris in Pegasu-re.
32. Osiris in his places in the North Land. It is unusual to have the North put first.
33.
Osiris in his places in the South Land. The older papyri give only
Osiris in the North, and Osiris in heaven, ignoring both the South and
the V earth.
36. Osiris in his places in the Mouth of the Passages.
34. Osiris in heaven.
35. Osiris in earth.
37. Osiris of the Two Great Ones. This probably refers to the sister goddesses Isis and Nephthys.
38. Osiris of Atef-ur. A place near Memphis.
39.
Osiris Sokar. In the temple of Sety at Abydos one part of the building
is dedicated to Sokar. Twelve of the titles which he bears there are
the same as those of Osiris in this inscription, Nos. ii, 27, 28, 29,
32, 33, iii, 5, 6, 14, 15, 18, 37 41. (Mariette, Abydos, i,
pl.4Srt.)
40. Osiris, Ruler, of Eternity. This is one of
the most frequent titles of Osiris, by which he is constantly called in
the "Book of the Dead "and in funerary stelae.
41.
Osiris the Begetter. In certain aspects, Osiris is supposed to be the
creator of all living creatures, the begetter of mankind.
42. Osiris of Agenu.
43. Osiris of the Makes sceptre.
44.
Osiris, Ruler of the Underworld. This region, Khertneter, is not the
same as the Duat, or Other World, into which the sun entered in the
evening and through which he travelled during the night.
45. Osiris, creator of all things.
46. Osiris, the good inheritor.
47.
Osiris, Lord of the Sacred Land. Ta-zeser, literally translated as the
Sacred Land, is a name for the cemetery. All gods of the dead,
therefore, bear this title.
48. Osiris, Lord of
Eternity. What the exact shade of difference is between Heq Zet (Ruler
of Eternity) and Neb Zet (Lord of Eternity) is not known, but evidently
a slight distinction was recognized, as this title, presumably a higher
one, is used twice in this inscription, in which only a selection is
given of the innumerable names of Osiris.
49. Osiris,
King of Everlastingness. Here is a similar title to the preceding.
Seten heh (King of Everlastingness) probably conveyed a different idea
from both Heq Zet and Neb Zet to the Egyptians, though to us the words
Eternity and Everlastingness, by which we translate Zet and Heh, have
the same meaning. The two words Zet and Heh may have the meaning of
"Eternity "and "Before Time,"the distinction between which was one of
the chief points in the Arian controversy in the fourth centurv.
50.
Osiris, eldest of the five gods. The meaning of this title is quite
obvious on referring to the legend of Nut, Osiris being the first of
the five gods who were born on the intercalary days. The name is rather
rare, but is known from the Vlth Dynasty.
(p.18) 51.
Osiris in the Hall of Truth of the Lord of the Two Lands, Ba-en-Ra
mer-Neteru, i.e. Merenptah. M. Maspero says that the Hall or Place of
Truth was the name of the Theban necropolis (Catalogue dii Miisee
egypticn de Marseille, pp.4 and 24), where the great ancestress of the
XVI Ilth Dynasty, Aahmes Nefertari, was buried. In that instance
however the name, Hall of Truth, stands alone, here it is specially
called the Hall of Truth of King Merenptah which makes it appear that
the reference is to the Judgment Hall either of the King, or of
Osiris.
15. Register III.
1. Osiris, Lord of Eternity.
2.
Osiris Aty. Another form of the name Anzety (<7.r'.). Mr. Griffith
{P.S.B.A. xxi, 278) says, "This word Aty (spelt with two crocodiles)
may indicate that the god was sometimes in crocodile form, or at least
connected with crocodiles."In quite late and Ptolemaic times, this
title is applied to Osiris of the Fayum (Petrie, Haivara, pl.ii,
Kahitn, pl.xxv).
3. Osiris Thetaty.
4.
Osiris, Lord of the Tomb (see II, 14"). Restau is literally the Mouth
of the Passages, an appropriate name for pyramids and rock-tombs whose
passages extend to so great a distance.
5. Osiris upon
the Sand. It is very tempting to translate this as Osiris of the
Bedawin {Herin Sha) instead of Upon the Sand {Her Shaii), but other
texts give Her-shau-ef (Upon his Sand) as a wellknown title of both
Osiris and Sokar.
6. Osiris in Thanent. Probably the
same as II, g. Brugsch supposes it to be near Memphis. In chapter xvii
of the "Book of the Dead,"we find that "he to whom saffron cakes are
brought in Tanent is Osiris."
7. Osiris in the hall of the
[sacred] cows. Cattle of every kind were largely included in the cult
of both Isis and Osiris; the cows being specially sacred to Isis, the
bulls, particularly the bull Apis, to Osiris. The Serapeum of the
Libyan Nome was called The House of the Cow.
8. Osiris in Nezyt, or Nedbyt in other texts.
9. Osiris in Sati (?). The word is partially obliterated.
10. Osiris in Bedesht.
11. Osiris in Depu. The sanctuary which, with Pe, is in the town of Buto.
12. Osiris in Upper Sais (see II, 23). A relic of Osiris was preserved in this town.
13. Osiris in Nept. An unknown place, generally written Nepert.
14. Osiris in Shennut.
15. Osiris in Henket. The Town of Offerings is not known except in this chapter of the "Book of the Dead."
16. Osiris in the Land of Sokar.
17. Osiris in Shau.
18.
Osiris in the Town of Fat-Hor. This curious name, which means The
Carrying of Horus, is probably given to some town where the carrying of
the god formed part of the ritual.
19. Osiris in the Two
Places of Truth. The duality of Maat or Truth is always insisted on in
Egyptian religious literature. The Hall of Judgment, where the heart of
the deceased was weighed before Osiris, is named the Hall of the Two
Truths, or the Double Hall of Truth.
20. Osiris in Han.
21. Osiris in the Town of the Soul of his Father.
22. Osiris in the Mehent house.
23. Osiris, Lord of Eternity.
24.
Osiris, in the Town of a Great Wind (Nif-ur). A name for Abydos. Osiris
is alwa3's connected with the North wind, one of the usual funerary
formulae is that he may grant to the deceased "the sweet breezes of the
North wind,"and in chapter clxi. of the "Book of the Dead,"which speaks
of the four entrances to heaven, that of the North wind is said to
belong to Osiris. The name of the town, however, is probably due to its
position, which is exposed to every breath of air from the North. Dr.
Walker has suggested that the sail-sign should be read Ta unless it is
actually spelt out as Nif, and that it interchanges with the sign for
land. Therefore he would read this name Ta-ur instead of Nif-ur. This
view is borne out by the spelling of Ta-ur in the inscription on the
north wall of the great Hall (pl.XI).
25. Osiris in the
Town of Tena. The word Tena, with the same determinative, is the name
of two moondays. One, or perhaps both, are sacred to Osiris, and were
specially observed at Abydos.
26. Osiris in the Town of Asheru. A place at Karnak, of which Mut was the great goddess.
27. Osiris in all Lands.
28.
Osiris in the House of the Pyramidion. One of the holiest places in the
temple of Ka at Heliopolis, to whose honour all obelisks, and
particularly the pyramidion on the top, were dedicated.
29. Osiris in the Great House. Another name for the great temple at Heliopolis.
30.
Osiris; Lord of LadJu, Upuaut of the North. (p.19) The identification
of Osiris and Upuaiit is proved by many passages in the "Book of the
Dead."At Abydos (Petrie, Abydos i'\) Upuaut was evidently the
original god, but was afterwards completely superseded by Osiris.
31. Osiris, the living Prince in the Land of the Lake, i.e. the Fayum (see III, 2).
32.
Osiris, Lord of might, smiting the fiend. The Sebau fiend figures
largely in the "Book of the Dead "as the enemy of Osiris, and therefore
of the dead in general. "The Sebau fiend hath fallen to the ground, his
arms and hands have been hacked off, and the knife hath severed the
joints of his body."According to Dr. "Erman, it was Osiris of Memphis
who conquered the enemy; "thine image is that which is seen at Memphis
when thine enemy falls under thy [sandals] "(A.Z. igoo, p.35).
33.
Osiris Hershefi in Henen-Seten. Hershefi,or Arsaphes in the Greek form,
was identified with Osiris from the Xllth Dynasty, and perhaps earlier.
He is generally figured with a ram's head, and wearing the head-dress
of Osiris, and the horns are so marked a feature that the name of
Osiris Hershefi is The Horned One. The name of his temple is
Aii-nid-cf, The Place where nothing Grows. M. Naville (Almas and
Paheri, p.7) gives some interesting derivations of the name Hershefi.
The name of the town itself appears to have been contracted from
Henen-Seten to Henensi, in which form it appears in the list of
Assurbanipal. In Coptic, it is still further contracted to Henes; and
the modern Egyptians, by placing a vowel before the aspirate, have
altered it to its present form of Ehnasya.
34. Osiris,
the Bull in Egypt. Here again we have the identification of Osiris with
the Bull, an identification which is most clearly seen in the worship
of Apis. Osiris is constantly called the Bull of the West, i.e. the
region of the dead; and at Bekhent, a town of Lower Egypt, he appears
to have been called the Bull without any further title.
35.
Osiris Nepra, Upuaut of the South. This is the most interesting of all
the epithets applied to Osiris, but in these short notes it is
impossible to discuss it fully {vid. inf. Osiris, in the Sed-festival).
Nepra is the god of ripe corn, with whom Osiris, in his character of
god of vegetation, is naturally identified. As early as the beginning
of the Middle Kingdom he received this title (Coffin of Anianitt,
pl.xxvii), and it occurs also in that storehouse of mythology, the Book
of the Dead.
36. Osiris in all his appearings. The
manifestations of Osiris were so numerous that his worshippers could
never feel sure that they had not overlooked some in a list of this
kind. It was therefore safer to end the list with a few epithets which
would cover all omissions and so avert the anger which the god might
feel at any neglect.
37. Osiris in all his houses of
Long Duration. Brugsch in his dictionary gives this word aliat,
determined with the sign of a house, as an equivalent for tomb or
grave. The title would then read Osiris in all his Tombs.
38. Osiris in [or, with] all his ornamentations.
39. Osiris in all his incarnations (births).
40. Osiris in all his actions.
41. Osiris in all his names. The extraordinary attempt at archaic spelling in this epithet is worth noticing.
42. Osiris in all his places.
43. Osiris in every place in which his ka desires to be.
44. Osiris, chief of the gods.
45. Osiris, Ruler of the cycle of the gods.
46. Osiris, the great One of Eternity.
47. Osiris, eldest son of his Father.
48.
Osiris, the Soul of the Gods. The souls of the gods are greatly
confused in the Book of the Dead. Osiris is said to have a soul of his
own as well as being the soul of other gods. In chapter xvii we find,
"I am he whose soul resideth in a pair of gods. What then is this ? It
is Osiris when he goeth into Deddu and findeth the soul of Ra; there
the one god embraceth the other, and becometh Two Souls."
49. Osiris, Ruler of the Underworld.
50.
Osiris, King of Amentet, i.e. the West, or Region of the Dead. Amentet
means Hidden, and is the epithet applied to the place in which the sun
is hidden from his worshippers. As he was supposed to die when he left
the eaith, the hidden place into which he entered became the region to
which the faithful went at death.
51. Osiris within the house of Ba-en-Ra Mer- Neteru.
16.
On the right of the wall is a figure of Merenptah standing before a
table of offerings (pl.10). In front of him is a small altar inscribed with his
name and titles. The table of offerings is in three registers
corresponding to the three registers which contain the divine names.
Among the offerings are the different joints into which the sacrificed
ox is divided,(p.20) the head, leg, ribs, heart, and even the whole
carcase, are represented.
The king holds a hawk-headed
incense-burner; the small pottery saucer, which held the burning
incense, is clearly shown. These saucers were used in order to save the
bronze burner from contact with the fire, by which it would soon have
been destroyed. Saucers of this kind, blackened inside, with charcoal
and incense, were found by Prof. Petrie at Tel el Amarna. The bracelets
on the king's arms are merely painted, not sculptured; an omission
which would not have been noticed when the whole figure was coloured.
The necklace is of a somewhat unusual form.
Above the
head of the king is a hawk with outstretched drooping wings, on one
side of it is the name, "Behdeti, lord of heaven; "on the other side,
"He gives all life like Ra."Over the king are his name and titles, "The
good god, son of Osiris, Lord of the Two Lands, Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru,
lord of crowns, Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, giving life like Ra."
In
front of Merenptah is an inscription, "Offering incense to all the
fathers, the gods."Behind the king is, "Protection, life, stability,
length of days, all health, all gladness of heart behind him, like Ra
for ever."
 Plate 11:
North end of the Great Hall of the Osireion at bottom left is the
crocodile-headed deity Neby, and at bottom right, the vulture-headed
diety Nery.
17. pl.11. The North Wall.—These inscriptions are
portions of chapter 146 of the "Book of the Dead," the Chapter of the
Hidden Pylons.
Right: "[Call aloud] O Osiris King
Ba-en-Ra mer- Neteru, true of voice, on arriving at the first pylon,
the Lord of Tremblings, [Lofty] of Walls, Lady of Overthrowings,
arranging Words, repulsing storms, preventing injuries [to him who]
goes along the road. Its doorkeeper, Nery is his name. Says the Osiris
the King Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, true of voice: [Behold] me, I come. Says
this guardian of the gate, saying: What says the Osiris the King ....
Verily, he being pure I am pure. How ? [By] these waters in which Ra
purified himself when he was clothed [on] the east of heaven. Thou art
anointed. How ? [With] nier/ict, Iiati and asit ointments, and the
clothing which is upon thee and the staff which is in thy hand is Pass
thou on."
Below is a shrine in which is the vulture-headed
deity Nery, wearing two feathers on the head, and holding the ankh. On
the top of the shrine is a decoration of alternate feathers and
snakes.
Left: "Call aloud, O Osiris King Ba-en-Ra mer-
Neteru, true of voice, at the second pylon, the Lady of Heaven,
Mistress of the Two Lands, Neby, Mistress of the Sacred Land. The name
of its guardian is Mes-ptah-peh. He saj's, I made a road. Behold me, I
come, saying: What says the Osiris, the King Ba-en-Ra mer-Neteru, lord
of crowns, Hotep her-Maat Merenptah, true of voice ? verily, thou
being purified I am purified. How ? [By] these waters in which Osiris
purified himself when he was placed in the Sektet boat and the Atet
boat. He went forth at Ta-ur, he descended upon him who is in Ta-ur.
Thou art anointed. How ? [With] ointment and with perfumes of the
festivals, and the clothing which is upon thee, and may there be
bandages to thee. The staff in thy hand is thy henbeii staff. It is
proclaimed for thee because thou knowest it, viz. the name of Osiris
the King Ba-en- Ra mer-Neteru, son of the Sun, of his body, his
beloved, lord of crowns, Hotep-her-Maat Merenptah, true of voice before
the Lords of Eternity."
Below the inscription is a
representation of a shrine containing a crocodile-headed figure wearing
two feathers on the head and holding the sign of life. The name is
Neby, determined with the sign of fire. Along the top of the shrine is
a looped snake.
[Continue to chapter 3]
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