Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Dominion Over Elements (1)
DOMINION OVER ELEMENTS
[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 16).]
The Chapter of breathing the air and of having dominion over the water in the underworld. Osiris Ani saith:
“Open to me.” Who art thou? Whither goest thou? What is thy name? “I am one of you.” Who are those with thee? “The two serpent goddesses Merti. Separate thou from him, head from head, when [thou] goest into the divine Mesqen chamber. He letteth me set out for the temple of the gods who have found their faces. ‘Assembler of Souls‘ is the name of my boat; ‘Making the hair to stand on end‘ is the name of the oars; ‘Goad‘ is the name of the hold; ‘Making straight for the middle‘ is the name of the rudder; likewise [the boat] is a type of my being borne onward in the pool. Let there be given unto me vessels of milk, together with cakes, and loaves of bread, and cups of drink, and flesh in the Temple of Anpu.”
if he (i.e., the deceased) knoweth this chapter, he shall go into, after coming forth from, the underworld of the [beautiful amentet]. DOMINION OVER ELEMENTS
[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 16).]
The Chapter of snuffing the air, and of having dominion over the waters in the underworld. Osiris Ani saith:
“Hail, thou sycamore tree of the goddess Nut! Grant thou to me of [the water and of] the air which dwell in thee. I embrace the throne which is in Unnu (Hermopolis), and I watch and guard the egg of Nekek-ur (i.e., the Great Cackler). It groweth, I grow; it liveth, I live; it snuffeth the air, I snuff the air, I the Osiris Ani, in triumph.”
DOMINION OVER ELEMENTS
[From Lepsius, “Todtenbuch,” Bl. 23.]
Another Chapter. Osiris Auf-ānkh, triumphant, saith:
“Let the gates of heaven be opened for me by the god [Thoth] and by Hāpi, and let me pass through the doors of Ta-qebh[1] into the great heaven,” or (as others say), “at the time,” [or (as others say)], “with the strength(?) of Rā. Grant ye, [O Thoth and Hāpi,] that I may have power over the water, even as Set had power over his enemies on the day when there were storms and rain upon the earth. Let me have power over the divine beings who have mighty arms in their shoulders, even as the god who is apparelled in splendor and whose name is unknown had power over them; and may I have power over the beings whose arms are mighty.”
PRESERVATION OF THE SOUL
[From the Papyrus of Ani (British Museum No. 10,470, sheet 15).]
The Chapter of not letting the soul of a man be taken from him in the underworld. Osiris, the Scribe Ani, saith:
“I, even I, am he who came forth from the water-flood which I make to overflow, and which becometh mighty as the river [Nile].”
- ↑ I.e., The “land of cold and refreshing water.”