Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Of Transformation into a Hawk
OF TRANSFORMATION INTO A HAWK
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheets 13 and 14).]
The Chapter of making the transformation into a divine hawk. The chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:
“Hail, Great God, come now to Tattu! Make thou smooth for me the ways and let me go round about [to visit] my thrones; I have renewed(?) myself, and I have raised myself up. O grant thou that I may be feared, and make thou me to be a terror. Let the gods of the underworld be afraid of me, and may they fight for me in their habitations which are therein. Let not him that would do me harm draw nigh unto me, or injure(?) me, in the House of Darkness, that is, he that clotheth and covereth the feeble one, and whose [name] is hidden; and let not the gods act likewise toward me. [Hail], ye gods, who hearken unto [my] speech! Hail, ye rulers, who are among the followers of Osiris! Be ye therefore silent, O ye gods, when one god speaketh unto another, for he hearkeneth unto right and truth; and what I speak unto [him] do thou also speak for me then, O Osiris. Grant thou that I may journey round about [according to] that which cometh forth from thy mouth concerning me, and grant that I may see thine own Form (or forms), and the dispositions of thy Souls. Grant thou that I may come forth, and that I may have power over my legs, and that I may have my existence there like unto that of Neb-er-tcher who is over [all]. May the gods of the underworld fear me, and may they fight for me in their habitations. Grant thou that I may move along therein together with the divine beings who journey onward, and may I be stablished upon my resting-place like the Lord of Life. May I be joined unto Isis the divine lady, and may she protect me from him that would do an injury unto me; and let not anyone come to see the divine one naked and helpless. May I journey on, may I come into the uttermost parts of heaven. I exchange speech with the god Seb, I make supplication for divine food from Neb-er-tcher; the gods of the underworld have fear of me, and they fight for me in their habitations when they see that thou hast provided me with