Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Beating Back the Crocodile (1)

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BEATING BACK THE CROCODILE

[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 5).]

The Chapter of beating back the Crocodile that cometh to carry away the Charm from Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, the son of the overseer of the palace, Amen-hetep, triumphant, in the underworld. He Saith:

“Get thee back, return, get thee back, thou crocodile-fiend Sui; thou shalt not advance to me, for I live by reason of the magical words which I have by me. I do not utter that name of thine to the great god who will cause thee to come to the two divine envoys; the name of the one is Betti,^[1] and the name of the other is ‘Hra-k-en-Maāt.’^[2] Heaven hath power over its seasons, and the magical word hath power over that which is in its possession, let therefore my mouth have power over the magical word which is therein. My front teeth are like unto flint knives, and my jaw-teeth are like unto the Nome of Tutef.^[3] Hail thou that sittest with thine eyeball upon these my magical words! Thou shalt not carry them away, O thou crocodile that livest by means of magical words!”

[In the Turin Papyrus (Lepsius, op. cit., Bl. 16) the following lines are added to this chapter:]

“I am the Prince in the field. I, even I, am Osiris, who hath shut in his father Seb together with his mother Nut on the day of the great slaughter. My father is Seb and my mother is Nut. I am Horus, the first-born of Rā, who is crowned. I am Anpu (Anubis) on the day of reckoning. I, even I, am Osiris the prince who goeth in and declareth the offerings which are written down. I am the guardian of the door of Osiris, even I. I have come, I have become glorious (or a Khu), I have been reckoned up, I am strong, I have come and I avenge mine own self. I have sat in the birth-chamber of Osiris, and I was born with him, and I renew my youth along with him. I have laid hold upon the Thigh which was by Osiris, and I have opened the mouth of the gods therewith, I sit upon the place where he sitteth, and I write down the number [of the things] which make strong (?) the heart, thousands of loaves of bread, thousands of vases of beer, which are upon the altars of his father Osiris, [numbers of] jackals, wolves, oxen, red fowl, geese and ducks. Horus hath done away with the sacrifices of Thoth. I fill the office of priest in the regions above, and I write down there [the things] which make strong the heart. I make offerings (or offerings are made to me) at the altars of the Prince of Tattu, and I have my being through the oblations [made to] him. I snuff the wind of the East by his head, and I lay hold upon the breezes of the West thereby. . . . I go round about heaven in the four quarters thereof, I stretch out my hand and grasp the breezes of the south [which] are upon its hair. Grant unto me air among the venerable beings and among those who eat bread.”

if this chapter be known by [the deceased] he shall come forth by day, he shall rise up to walk upon the earth among the living, and he shall never fail and come to an end, never, never, never.

1. I.e. “He of two teeth” (or two horns); the Saite Recension (Lepsius, op. cit. Bl. 16) reads “Bent,” i.e., “ape.”
2. I.e., “Thy face is of right and truth.”
3. We should probably add the word “tep” and read “Tep tu-f,” “He that is upon his hill,” i.e., Anubis.