Appendix
(From the Papyrus of Nekhtu-Amen, ed. Naville, I, 5)
THE
CHAPTER OF MAKING THE SAHU TO ENTER THE TUAT ON THE DAY OF THE
FUNERAL, WHEN THE FOLLOWING WORDS ARE TO BE SAID: Homage to thee,
O thou who dwellest in the Holy Hill (Set-Tchesert) of Amentet!
the Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, whose word is true,
knoweth thee, he knoweth thy name. Deliver thou him from the
worms which are in Ra-stau, which live upon the bodies of men and
women, and feed upon their blood, for Osiris, the favoured
servant of the god of his city, the royal scribe Nekhtu-Amen,
knoweth you, and he knoweth your names. Let the order for his
protection be the first command of Osiris, the Lord to the
Uttermost Limit, who keepeth his body hidden. May he give him
release from the Terrible One who dwelleth at the bend of the
River of Amentet, and may he decree the acts that will make him
to rise up. Let him pass on to him whose throne is placed within
the darkness, who giveth light in Ra-stau. O thou Lord of Light,
come thou and swallow up the worms which are in Amentet. Let the
Great God who dwelleth in Tetu, and who is himself unseen, hear
his prayers, and let those who cause afflictions hold him in fear
as he cometh forth with the sentence of their doom to the Divine
Block. I the Osiris, the royal scribe, Nekhtu-Amen, come, bearing
the decree of Neb-er-tcher, and I am the Horus who taketh
possession of his throne for him. His father, the lord of all
those who are in the Boat of his Father Horus, hath ascribed
praise unto him. He cometh bearing tidings....... let him see the
town of Anu. Their chief shall stand on the earth before him, the
scribes shall magnify him at the doors of their assemblies, and
thy shall swathe im with swathings in Anu. He hath led heaven
captive, and he hath seized the earth in his grasp. Neither the
heavens nor the earth can be taken away from him, for, behold, he
is Ra, the firstborn of the gods. His mother shall nurse him, and
shall give him her breast on the horizon.
© 1999 Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli