Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Of Knowing the Souls of Pe
OF KNOWING THE SOULS OF PE
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 18).]
Another Chapter of knowing the Souls of Pe. The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:
"[Hail,] Khat, who dwellest in Khat, in Anpet,[1] and in the nome of Khat! [Hail,] ye goddesses of the chase who dwell in the city of Pe, ye celestial lands(?), ye stars, and ye divine beings, who give cakes and ale(?), do ye know for what reason the city of Pe hath been given unto Horus? I, even I, know though ye know it not. Behold, Rā gave the city unto him in return for the injury in his eye, for which cause Rā said to Horus, ‘Let me see what is coming to pass in thine eye,’ and forthwith he looked thereat. Then Rā said to Horus, ‘Look at that black pig,’ and he looked, and straightway an injury was done unto his eye, [namely,] a mighty storm [took place]. Then said Horus unto Rā, ‘Verily, my eye seems as if it were an eye upon which Suti had inflicted a blow;’ [and thus saying] he ate his heart.[2] Then said Rā to those gods, ‘Place ye him in his chamber, and he shall do well.’ Now the black pig was Suti who had transformed himself into a black pig, and he it was who had aimed the blow of fire which was in the eye of Horus. Then said Rā unto those gods, ‘The pig is an abominable thing unto Horus; oh, but he shall do well although the pig is an abomination unto him.’ Then the company of the gods, who were among the divine followers of Horus when he existed in the form of his own child, said, ‘Let sacrifices be made [to the gods] of his bulls, and of his goats, and of his pigs.’ Now the father of Mesthi, Hāpi, Tuamāutef and Qebhsennuf is Horus, and their mother is Isis. Then said Horus to Rā, ‘Give me two divine brethren in the city of Pe and two divine brethren in the city of Nekhen, who [have sprung] from my body and who shall be with me in the guise of everlasting judges, then shall the earth blossom and thunder-clouds and rain be blotted out.’ And the name of Horus became ‘Her-uatch-f’ (i.e., Prince of his emerald stone). I, even I, know the Souls of Pe, namely, Horus, Mesthi, and Hāpi.”