Egyptian Literature/The Book of the Dead/Address to the Gods of the Underworld
ADDRESS TO THE GODS OF THE UNDERWORLD.
[From the Papyrus of Nu (British Museum No. 10,477, sheet 24).]
[Then shall the heart which is righteous and sinless say:] [1]
The overseer of the palace, the chancellor-in-chief, Nu, triumphant, saith:
“Homage to you, O ye gods who dwell in the Hall of double Maāti, I, even I, know you, and I know your names. Let me not fall under your knives of slaughter, and bring ye not forward my wickedness unto the god in whose train ye are; and let not evil hap come upon me by your means. Oh, declare ye me right and true in the presence of Neb-er-tcher, because I have done that which is right and true in Ta-mera (Egypt). I have not cursed God, and let not evil hap come upon me through the king who dwelleth in my day. Homage to you, O ye gods, who dwell in the Hall of double Maāti, who are without evil in your bodies, and who live upon right and truth, and who feed yourselves upon right and truth in the presence of the god Horus, who dwelleth in his divine Disk: deliver ye me from the god Baba who feedeth upon the entrails of the mighty ones upon the day of the great judgment. Oh, grant ye that I may come to you, for I have not committed faults, I have not sinned, I have not done evil, I have not borne false witness; therefore let nothing [evil] be done unto me. I live upon right and truth, and I feed upon right and truth. I have performed the commandments of men [as well as] the things whereat are gratified the gods, I have made the gods to be at peace [with me by doing] that which is his will. I have given bread to the hungry man, and water to the thirsty man, and apparel to the naked man, and a boat to the [shipwrecked] mariner. I have made holy offerings to the gods, and sepulchral meals to the Khus. Be ye then my deliverers, be ye then my protectors, and make ye not accusation against me in the presence of [the great god]. I am clean of
- ↑ These words are added from Brit. Mus. No. 9,905. Other papyri introduce the address with the words: (1) “To be said when [the deceased] cometh forth victorious from the Hall of double Maāti;” (2) “To be said when he cometh forth to the gods of the underworld;” (3) “The words which [are to be said] after the Hall of double Maāti.”