he hath seen, and he doth not repeat that which he hath heard in the secret places. Hail, let there be shouts of joy to the Osiris Nu, who is of the divine body of Rā, as he journeyeth over Nu, and who propitiateth the Ka of the god with that which he loveth. The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, is a hawk, the transformations of which are mighty (or manifold)."[1]
[this chapter shall be] recited over a boat four[2] cubits in its length and made of green porcelain [on which have been painted] the divine sovereign chiefs of the cities; and a heaven with its stars shall [also] be made, and this thou shalt have made ceremonially pure by means of natron and incense. and, behold, thou shalt make an image of ra in yellow(?) color upon a new plaque and set it at the bows of the boat. and behold, thou shalt place an image of the khu which thou dost wish to make perfect [and place it] in this boat, and thou shalt make it to travel about in the boat [which shall be made in the form of the boat] of ra; and he shall see the god ra himself therein. let not the eye of any man whatsoever look upon it with the exception of thine own self, or thy father,[3] or thy son, and guard [this] with great care.[4] [now these things] shall make the khu perfect in the heart of ra, and it shall give unto him power with the company of the gods; and the gods shall look upon him as a divine being like unto themselves; and mankind and the dead shall look upon him and shall fall down upon their faces, and he shall be seen in the underworld in the form of the radiance of ra.
OF MAKING PERFECT THE KHU
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 17).]
Another Chapter of making perfect the Khu.[5] The Osiris Nu, the overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, triumphant, saith:
“Homage to thee, O thou who art within thy divine shrine,
- ↑ The Papyrus of Nebseni has, “The Osiris Nebseni is the lord of transformations in the presence of the hawk of gold.”
- ↑ The Papyrus of Ani has “seven cubits.”
- ↑ The words “or thy father” are from the Papyrus of Ani.
- ↑ These words are from the Brocklehurst Papyrus (see Naville, op. cit., Bd. II. p. 334). There are three copies of this rubric extant and no one of them is complete!
- ↑ In the Papyrus of Nebseni the title of this chapter reads: “The Chapter of embarking in the boat of Rā and of being with those who are in his following.”
