upon the funeral couch which hath come to its place of rest, upon the happy day of the god whose heart resteth, who maketh his place of alighting [thereon]. I am he who cometh forth by day; the lord of the bier which giveth life in the presence of Osiris. In very truth the things which are thine are stable each day, O scribe, artist, child of the Seshet chamber, Nebseni, lord of veneration. I clasp the sycamore tree, I myself am joined unto the sycamore tree, and its arm[s] are opened unto me graciously. I have come and I have clasped the Utchat, and I have caused it to be seated in peace upon its throne. I have come to see Rā when he setteth, and I absorb into myself the winds [which arise] when he cometh forth, and both my hands are clean to adore him. I have gathered together [all my members], I have gathered together [all my members]. I soar like a bird and I descend upon the earth, and mine eye maketh me to walk thereon in my footsteps. I am the child of yesterday, and the Akeru gods of the earth have made me to come into being, and they have made me strong for my moment [of coming forth]. I hide with the god Aba-āāiu who will walk behind me, and my members shall germinate, and my khu shall be as an amulet for my body and as one who watcheth [to protect] my soul and to defend it and to converse therewith; and the company of the gods shall hearken unto my words.”
if this chapter be known [by the deceased] he shall be victorious both upon earth and in the underworld. he shall do whatsoever a man doeth who is upon the earth, and he shall perform all the deeds which those do who are [alive]. now it is a great protection [given] by the god. This chapter was found in the city of khemennu inscribed upon the block of iron in letters of lapis-lazuli which was under the feet of this god.
In the rubric to this chapter as found in the Papyrus of Mes-em-neter, the chapter is said to have been “discovered in the foundations of the shrine of the divine Hennu boat by the chief mason in the time of the King of the North and of the South, Hesepti,[1] triumphant,” and it is there directed that it shall be recited by one who is ceremonially pure and clean,
- ↑ A king of the first dynasty. See of the 64th from the Papyrus of Nu, also the rubric to the longer version infra, p. 47.
