ADORATION OF THE GODS OF THE QERTI
[From the Papyrus of Ptah-mes (Naville, op. cit., Bd. I. Bl. 142).]
A Chapter to be recited on coming before the divine sovereign chiefs of Osiris to offer praise unto the gods who are the guides of the underworld. Osiris, the chief scribe and draughtsman, Ptah-mes, triumphant, saith:
“Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in the Qerti, ye gods who dwell in Amentet, who keep ward over the gates of the underworld and are the guardians [thereof], who bear and proclaim [the names of those who come] into the presence of Osiris, who praise him and who destroy the enemies of Rā. Oh, send forth your light and scatter ye the darkness [which is about] you, and look upon the face of Osiris, O ye who live even as he liveth, and praise [ye] him that dwelleth in his Disk, and lead [ye] me away from your calamities. Let me come forth and let me enter in through your secret places, for I am a mighty prince among you, for I have done away with evil there, and I have beaten down the obstacles(?) [which have been set up] in Amentet. Thou hast been victorious over thine enemies, O thou that dwellest in thy Disk; thou hast been victorious over thine enemies, O Thoth, who producest(?) statutes; thou hast been victorious over thine enemies, O Osiris, the chief scribe and draughtsman, Ptah-mes, triumphant; thou hast been triumphant over thine enemies, O Osiris, thou Governor of Amentet, in heaven and upon earth in the presence of the divine sovereign chiefs of every god and of every goddess; and the food(?) of Osiris, the Governor of Amentet, is in the presence of the god whose name is hidden before the great divine sovereign chiefs. Hail ye guardians of the doors, ye [gods] who keep ward over their habitations(?), who keep the reckoning and who commit [souls] to destruction, who grant right and truth to the divine soul which is stablished, who are without evil in the abode of Akert, who are endowed with soul even as is Rā, and who are . . . as is Osiris, guide ye Osiris the chief scribe, the draughtsman, Ptah-mes, triumphant, open ye unto him the gates of the underworld, and the uppermost part of his estate and his Qert. Behold, make [ye him] to be victo-
