Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Hymn to the Setting Sun (2)
HYMN TO THE SETTING SUN
[From a Papyrus of the nineteenth dynasty preserved at Dublin (see Naville, “Todtenbuch,” Bd. I. Bl. 19).]
A Hymn of Praise to Ra-Heru-Khuti (Ra-Harmachis) when he setteth in the western part of heaven. He (i.e., the deceased) saith:
“Homage to thee, O Rā [who] in thy sitting art Tem-Heru-khuti (Tem-Harmachis), thou divine god, thou self-created being, thou primeval matter [from which all things were made]. When [thou] appearest in the bows of [thy] bark men shout for joy at thee, O maker of the gods! Thou didst stretch out the heavens wherein thy two eyes[1] might travel, thou didst make the earth to be a vast chamber for thy Khus, so that every man might know his fellow. The Sektet boat is glad, and the Mātet boat rejoiceth; and they greet thee with exaltation as thou journeyest along. The god Nu is content, and thy mariners are satisfied; the uræus-goddess hath overthrown thine enemies, and thou hast carried off the legs of Apep. Thou art beautiful, O Rā, each day, and thy mother Nut embraceth thee; thou settest in beauty, and thy heart is glad in the horizon of Manu, and the holy beings therein rejoice. Thou shinest there with thy beams, O thou great god, Osiris, the everlasting Prince. The lords of the zones of the Tuat in their caverns stretch out their hands in adoration before thy Ka (double), and they cry out to thee, and they all come forth in the train of thy form shining brilliantly. The hearts of the lords of the Tuat (underworld) are glad when thou sendest forth thy glorious light in Amentet; their two eyes are directed toward thee, and they press forward to see thee, and their hearts rejoice when they do see thee. Thou hearkenest unto the acclamations of those that are in the funeral chest,[2] thou doest away with their helplessness and drivest away the evils which are about them. Thou givest breath to their nostrils and they take hold of the bows of thy bark in the horizon of Manu. Thou art beautiful each day, O Rā, and may thy mother Nut embrace Osiris . . .,[3] victorious.”